Walking Cliffs & Coves

Well, we've had a week of fantastic scenery and sights. The coastline is breathtaking more often than not and ever changing. The villages along the way with their stonework buildings and slate or thatched roofs are picturesque and old.  We had dinner in a pub that had been built in 1756, and it wasn't the oldest building built in it's village, Westleigh- the church was. The churches are usually the oldest buildings in any of the villages, most of them built 600 years before. Everything is draped, clothed, or consumed with vegetation. In the forests, there's ivy on the trees. In the fields, anything that hasn't been mowed or grazed recently is overgrown with vines, shrub, or ferns. I'd thought I was used to veg, but I was wrong. I feel like I've been overexposed to chlorophyll. The plants seem gentler or more civil here, less pokey, clawy, or prickly than at home. Matthew invented a game he calls 'Nettled or Not',  where he sticks his han...

Finally, onto the trail and doing something I'm familiar with!  So happy to have done with all the stressors- catching trains, planes, taxis, reading time tables, jet lag, and just plain strangeness. There was some neat stuff too though, flying over the Arctic circle and seeing the midnight sun, the Greenland ice sheet, the inside of a 777. Then there were some neat but kinda strange things like watching a fellow in the airport high on something dragging a wheeled suitcase down an up-escalator. His emotional progression was a cool thing for Matthew to witness. First, triumph when he spied the escalator and abandoned the staircase for it. Then confusion and puzzlement when the bottom landing stubbornly kept out of reach. Then anger. For some reason, he thought the suitcase was responsible. He wrestled with it, it resisted, he prevailed but the effort and energy expended to secure his victory tipped him over into rage. When he reached flat ground, he banged it on the floo...

Here's the stuff I'm planning to carry 630 miles.. Clothing.             ·               Walking shoes      ·          Camp flip flops      ·          3 pairs ankle socks       ·          3 pairs crew socks      ·          3 pairs undershorts      ·          Handkerchief      ·          Zip off pants      ·          Compression leggings      ·          Quick dry tee shirt              ·        ...

 Hey guys!  We're off soon to hike the Southwest Coast Path in England and I'll be posting pictures and trip updates to this blog.  I'll get some pics onto Facebook but the blog format seems easier when I want to say anything other than "Look at me!"  And for those of you who know me and my photography skills don't worry, I won't be hiking alone.  I'll get good pictures from Rhonda and Matt for Facebook and for posting here too. Posts and pictures will be on the main page, ordered from most recent to oldest.   Touching this little hamburger bun thing will show you what time it is in England right now, in case you want to give us a call or something.   Below the Time gadget is where you can sign up to follow the blog for updates, and below that is another of my awful selfie photos and an 'about me' blurb. Touching the menu bar here where it says More. .. opens a page menu. And there you'll find... "Where are they?" a map showing t...