Holiday at The Lakes in September

This morning John bought our tickets to England for an 8 day hiking trip in the Lake District.

So here is the sequence of how this plan evolved:

• 7/2/09 John received an email from one of his college friends, also named John, that the previous day he had accepted a new job and he and his family will be moving back to Sidney, Australia in early 2010. John B, his wife Nicolette and daughters Ellie and Jasmine currently live in London. He works in finance and will be opening the Asia /Pacific office for his new company.
• 7/2/09 John N : Congrats... hope all is well.
• 7/2/09 John B: any interest in one last trip to Europe before we wander out
• 7/27/09 John N: hey Bert found cheap flights what does September look like for you? (I started looking when I realized we most likely aren't traveling to China in 09)
• 7/28 John B: Pretty open after 1st week
• 7/30 John N: We booked flights ... here's the dates. Initial thoughts are fly in, take train to Lake District and meet up with you later in trip. Look forward to seeing you, Nic and the girls.
• 7/30 John B: Cool. Been too long. We can recommend stuff. "Believe it or not, the girls are driving up to the Lake District as I write this... I'm joining them tomorrow evening for the weekend so we should have plenty to discuss. Cheers.
• 7/30 John N: "great. gladly take the advise of the 'advance party' "

So we have been having so much fun reading and researching this trip. Here is some of what I have learned:

The Lakes District, also known as The Lakes or Lakeland in 2,630 square miles located in rural northwest England. The population is about 500,000, unemployment listed as 2% and about 63,000 people are employed in the tourism industry. Tourism is the largest source of income for the region. It is estimated that about 14 million people visit the Lakes annually. Interestingly the sheep population is estimated to be around 2 million. This area is a mix of lakes, mountain, forests, woodlands and a whole lot of quaintness in general.

Here is what The Lonely Planet Guidebook we bought today suggests to bring for this trip:

1. good hiking boots with plenty of tread
2. good rain jacket "all those green pastures and lush dales come at a price; the Lake District is officially the wettest place in England and receives twice the national rainfall average"
3. comfortable day sack to carry goods
4. up to date map
5. binoculars (we just got some good lightweight ones from an event earlier this year), camera (now I really have a reason to get one w/ a functioning flash), and spare memory.
6. plenty of spare socks
7. taste of warm ale
8. calm attitude for queues

The Lake District is one of 14 National Parks in the United Kingdom. The Lakes lies entirely in the county of Cumbria and is one of England's few mountainous areas. This area was made famous during the 19th century because of poetry and writings such as William Wordsworth and Beatrix Potter.