Walking from heaven into a picture book!

Before I launch into today's spectacular walk, here are a few shots of the Lion Inn where we stayed last night.  I had Tara stand in the doorway so you could see how low the ceiling beams are:

This is only one small section of the dining rooms

The Lion Inn

We were are dumbfounded when we saw the dining rooms because there is NOTHING anyway near here in any direction and yet the dining room filled up last night.  We had a lovely dinner with our trekking buddies Jonathon and Barry.

The day dawned clear, crisp and gorgeous!  A poor group of 12 arrived last night completely soaked after walking hours in pouring rain behind us.  They had walked for 20 miles.  I'm so glad we had divided the route up and missed the rain completely.

This morning we were able to see the vistas all around us that we shrouded in mist when we arrived.  In this picture you can see the Lion Inn way in the distance.  We began the day walking around the valley.

Our first stop was at Fat Betty's to make a long-awaited contribution of very heavy protein bars we have been carrying all the way from Stockton! It's another walkers tradition here - take or leave treats.  We were thrilled to "leave".

Fat Betty's.  Note the beautiful blue sky.

Then on through the high moors.  They remind me of the desert, at first glance it looks barren and lifeless, but when you look closely it's beautiful and full of interesting sights.  I have been a bit disappointed about not seeing some fauna I was looking forward to, red squirrels, deer, curlew, badgers, stoats, hares and foxes, but I have loved the grouse and their sweet little calls.  They were all over the moors this morning singing us along our way. I also enjoyed seeing these little creatures:

This one's for you, Annie.  Black banana slugs.  This is a little one.

The sky this morning reminded me of the north Texas sky-a huge blue dome with puffy white clouds and  unobstructed 360 degree views.  I love the stark contrast between the moors and the lush green river valleys.  We were sad to learn from an expert guide we met along the way that this is prime grouse-hunting land; in fact, the mysterious structures I posted yesterday turn out to be like duck blinds for hunters. The grouse nest in the heather, making nests from the grasses you can see in this photo.  People pay 500 pounds to have a champagne breakfast and then have "beaters" scare the grouse into the air so they can shoot them. So sad.  Where is the sport in that?  and the grouse are so cute.

We arrived in Glaisdale about 1:30.  It's a very cute village that slopes down steeply into a place called Beggar's Bridge where some of our new-found buddies were staying.  We walked today with a couple from the Washington DC area who have been weaving in and out of our days since the beginning.  In so doing we were reminded of another guideline for trekking, "Don't be gabbing whilst yer walkin'." Since we had ignored this good advice we lost our way twice and added at least 2 miles to our walk today, but we enjoyed the company so it was worth it.

Glaisdale.  Here is another very clever British convenience.

Beggar's Bridge:  In the 17th century, Thomas Ferris, a humble pauper, was courting the daughter of a wealthy local squire.  In order to win her hand he thought he needed to improve his standing in the community, so he decided to set sail from Whitby and make his fortune on the high seas. The night before he put his plan into action, he went to visit his beloved to say goodbye, but the river that lay between them was swollen by heavy rains and his plan for a romantic farewell were dashed. The story has a happy ending, though. Thomas returned from the seas a wealthy man and married his sweetheart and used part of his fortune to build Beggar's Bridge so other young lovers from the neighborhood would not suffer the same torment he had that stormy night.

This may just be ones of those couples!

From this point we entered a wooded wonderland.  If it weren't for the occasional commercial airliner passing above us I would have remained lost in the dream of a picture book world:

And then we emerged from fairyland onto the road again, finding a sign to Egton Bridge.  We still love those Coast to Coast signs!

Entering Egton Bridge:

Now THAT's a hedge!

and just around the bend in the road from our B&B, the Broom House:

These last two are for you, David G!

and this is our room:

Unfortunately after we moved in.

View out our window.

Can you see the railroad tracks in this photo?

The sitting room downstairs.

and LOOK, I'm so close to my daughter Gina and her beautiful family in RIPON:

Tomorrow we are walking to Grosmont (pronounced Gro-mont), through this gorgeous village, to catch the Hogwart's Express to Whitby.  It's the 40th anniversary of the North York Moors Railway this weekend. What a wonderful coincidence.  Then after exploring Whitby, and hopefully avoiding vampires, we will walk the coastline path to Robin Hood's Bay where we will reunite with all the other stalwart walkers we've met along the way and celebrate together at dinner.

Tune in tomorrow.  We may end up on King's Cross Platform # 9 1/2!