So we decide to squeeze in a trip to see England’s Lake District and leave behind this bright blue sky in Edinburgh.

We go with Rabbie’s Trail Burners a local tour group hosting small group tours in Scotland and England. Our group of 14 includes people from Italy, Canada, China, Germany, Australia, South Africa, and us. 

Our small bus makes its first stop in Scotland near where Sir Walter Scott lived and, specifically to check out the view of the countryside he most enjoyed stopping to see.

A good friend, David Erskine, the Lord of Buchan, had a statue of William Wallace erected at this point because Scott so much admired Wallace. 

Next stop is in Jedburg where we check out the ruins of the Abbey of Jedburg. King David I had the abbey built in the 12th century to exhibit both his power and the independence of the Scottish church. 

The border crossing is marked by a large stone.

It’s really windy here but the view is spectacular. Driving on, we see sheep, lots of sheep. 

And cattle. Most of these are Belgium Blues, the muscular-legged cattle  

We reach Hadrian’s Wall about 20 miles south of the border. 

The wall was originally 18 feet tall until farmers started borrowing rocks from it. Very impressive considering it was also 70 miles long and wide enough to ride a horse on.

Back on the bus, we continue south while our driver James tell us about the major fault line in this area where Scotland and England smashed together after the land mass of Scotland broke off the North American continent a zillion years ago. 

More sheep but this photo shows the proliferation of stone walls in the countryside.

So now it’s raining and blowing and we’re driving on narrow country roads that curve left and right, and go up and down but we finally reach Hartside Summitt. The drive along here is supposed to be one of the ten best in the world.

Finally we reach Keswick (pronounced without the “w”) in the Lake District and the row houses are mainly B&Bs.

Our place for the night is the Dorchester House with lovely flowers in the garden.

Dinner is fish and chips and wonderful sticky toffee pudding. I got 12,000 steps today on my Fitbit even though sitting on a bus a lot so it’s okay. 

Tomorrow more Lake District.