We awoke in our room with an ocean view to heavy rain. It was blowing about 40 MPH and cold. We could hardly get the car door open and settled for our drive. Blackpool is a very interesting beach town with a lot of things to see. But not today. They have a huge 540 foot tower on the beach that resembles the Eifel tower. It was built in the 1880s. It towers over the town. We turned on the wipers and left.

We got on the M6 heading north. We got off and detoured through the Lake Country. By now the rain had stopped and the sun was out. There are storybook looking roads, fields and villages. The roads are very narrow and toss and turn, up and down. There are rock walls right up to the edge of the road on both sides and cars pass each way with mirrors almost touching each other and the walls. I loved it.

We stopped in Ambleroside. A cute little town. There is a house there that is built over a bridge that was built in the 1600s. Jan knew of it because there is a model of it in the miniature museum in Tucson where she is a docent. It was just big enough to hold Jan, a guide and me. We stayed there 30 minutes and learned far more about the house and the area than we will ever remember.

We headed toward Cardiff. In the year 130 BC the Romans built the Hadrian Wall. A wall all the way across the country. It had over 200 forts, was 15 feet high, 9 feet thick and 70 miles long. We wanted to find parts of it that are still standing. They are there somewhere but we didn’t find them. With more time searching I am sure they are there. But looking was fun as we were on little farm roads up in the hill covered with bright green grass and sheep and surrounded by rock walls.

We drove into Scotland toward our hotel. My GPS ran me down an alternative road from the main A road. It wound up into the Scottish mountains. We had 40 miles of fantastic twisty roads. The road just followed the terrain with surprises hid half way around some corners. And no traffic. Wonderful.

We arrived in Stanraer on the Scottish coast. We catch the ferry to Belfast near here in the morning. Our room is in a beautiful B&B with huge window looking out over the bay. Had Scottish beef pie and Ale for dinner.