. . . of mice and men often go awry.”  How appropriate that this quote is from Robert Burns, one of Scotland’s most celebrated and well-known poets, seeing how our plans to see Scotland did not pan out.   

Our time in the Lake District began what we planned to be a two-week “road-trip style” jaunt through northern England and southern Scotland.  We reserved all of our lodging before we left home because our time there was going to be during the busiest travel season of the year for both countries – July and August usually have the nicest weather and it is during their summer break from school.  This was the plan: 

• 3 Nights/2 Days in the Lake District, England
• 2 Nights/1 Day in Oban, Scotland to see the Western Isles
• 2 Nights/1 Day in Perth, Scotland to see southern HIghlands
• 3 Nights/2 Days in Edinburgh
• 1 Night/1 Day in Alnwick to see the Castle
• 4 NIghts/3 Days in York to have some down time, see the Yorkshire Dales, York and James Herriot sites.

We assumed and hoped by that point in our trip that we would have the energy and stamina to move around quite a bit so we could see several places because we would have had three weeklong stays since leaving home:  First on the Queen Mary 2, then in London and last in The Cotswolds.

I was skeptical of the plan when we made it.  I sensed that the packing and unpacking was getting to everyone while we were in the Cotswolds and tried to find different lodging reservations so we could consolidate the two shorter stays in Scotland, but was unsuccessful – there was nothing available where we wanted to go or even close to where we wanted to go.  I finally gave up and we headed to the Lake District.  When Arlie felt bad the whole time we were in Keswick, I knew a seven hour travel day to Oban was not going to work and suggested we cancel Oban; Scott agreed.  

As I mentioned, there wasn’t room for us to stay past our reservation in Keswick. Scott scoured Hotels.com (our preferred on-the-fly booking website) and finally found us a room for two nights in Carlisle, a non-touristy city just outside the Lake District that’s also near Hadrian’s Wall.  We were grateful there was a room that would accommodate us all (finding lodging for five people is sometimes difficult) and headed there after our Latrigg hike and picnic.  It turned out to be a DUMP.  I like to call those-type of rooms “I’d Rather Be Camping Rooms.”  When I camp, I don’t expect everything to be clean and nice.  I get the benefit of being in nature and I find setting up camp and cooking outdoors fun.  The outdoors aren’t supposed to be clean.  I plan to wear flip flops in the shower.  On the other hand, I don’t plan to wear flip-flops in the shower in a hotel.  I did here – just in case. 

I’ll spare you the details, but you could say “it was character building.”   Unfortunately, I’m not sure any of us did build character there.  In fact, I think we needed some character repairs after two trying nights.  I got through it by telling myself (and maybe the kids) “we’re lucky to have a place to stay” and “it’s just for two nights.”   The gift from our stay there:  we all now have an “At least it isn’t like Carlisle” phrase to help us be grateful for some place we find ourselves that is not ideal.

Our time outside the room in Carlisle was enjoyable.  The hotel was close to a nice pedestrian shopping area where we were able to get some goods that we needed and make a trip to the post office.  Also, the parish church we went to for mass on Sunday morning was so friendly and welcoming.  It was almost like being at home.   

We also took nice day trips the Saturday of our Carlisle weekend:  Scott, Abe, Arlie and I went to see Hadrian’s Wall and John went on a solo trip to Crewe to see a Railway Museum he wanted to see.  By that time, we had been using trains and buses as our transportation for almost a month and he’d become confident in using the rail apps and navigating train stations, etc.  He had a fantastic day seeing something he loves, talking to people with the same interests and knowledge and he even got to operate one of the model layouts.  We were happy and proud of him for exercising some independence.  https://www.crewehc.co.uk/

Since Perth, Scotland, is relatively close to Carlisle, we decided to keep our reservations there and took the train after lunch on Sunday.  It was in Perth that we discovered THE SECRET TO FAMILY PEACE – stay tuned:)