Bags are packed, we are on our way

We been up since 4AM in an effort to acclimate ourselves to England's time zone. Lucy seemed quite happy that we were awake at this hour. At 8AM I didn't think I'd make it without a nap but so far have avoided that.

I gave Nancy T. the keys this morning. She is going to house and pet sit while we are away. Jim M. is taking care of any tenant emergencies. All of our family knows how to reach us. It seems we are more prepared for this trip than usual.

This is my 7th trip to Europe, but 1st time with only carry on luggage. If it works out well could be our strategy for China. Our flight left Cincinnati at about 8PM and Atlanta around 10:30. This is the sun setting. And a picture of how comfortable flying is for John. Which is why I looked into cost of "flat out" flights (for China). But last time I checked rates were around $6.0 K and we are way too frugal for that kind of fare.

So the flight from Atlanta to London is about 8 hours. Off topic ... but Vietnam is also on my list of places I want to visit sometime in the future.

Anyhow, we both watched some tv .. John all 4 shows of Mad Men, I watched one and thought the design was great but I was getting tired by the time I got around to it. I watched a memorable This American Life titled John Smith. I was able to sleep, unfortunately John was not.

Info as we were getting closer to London, a picture of the London Eye and the Bridge as well as aerial view of Kew Gardens.

A couple hours after we arrived in London we caught a train from Euston Station to Cumbria.

We arrived at the Red Lion, oldest in Hawkshead 15C, in time for dinner. So 21 hours after leaving our home we had dinner at this cute little B&B and met the most interesting couple, Janice and Dennis who were sitting next to us. They are from Kent. They met when they were 15 (Dennis) and 16 at a dance and have been married for 50+ years. Dennis is retired now but worked for the BBC for many years. They had many interesting stories including one involving a threating message from the IRA based on some work he had produced. Just amazing to think 21 hours earlier we were in Cincinnati.

We met Lynn, she and her husband Paul own the Red Lion, at breakfast the next morning. Lynn and Paul have only been innkeepers for 4 months. Paul is a retired footballer. They own a 6 year old pudgy black lab whose name is Buster and like them not a bit shy. Our Cumbrian breakfast included Cumbrian sausage, bacon, fried egg, toast and coffee. It was a lot but we skipped lunch to hike all day and have a nice meal at dinner. We did a little exploring around Hawkshead, an itty bitty village that self promotes itself as " the prettiest village in the Lake District." Immodest for sure but it is very pretty. The attached video was taken just outside our Inn. The first building is Beatrix Pottery Ticket office, next building is our Inn, the Red Lion, next cream color building is Beatrix Potter's Gallery which was her husband, William Heelis's law office.