- Millennium Trip to the UK -
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We flew from Chicago to Manchester on an extremely empty flight.  I awoke shortly before landing in the UK with a vision of clouds and rain.  After all, this was England and not a tropical paradise.

Day One. Sunday, December 26, 1999

A quick zip up the M6 motorway for 150 miles led us through Greater Manchester, Lancashire, and eventually Cumbria.  On the drive up I saw things I had never seen before.  It wasn't that they hadn't been there before, it just seemed like I was viewing the country for the first time in a long time.  I saw things that I had never appreciated before and it felt good.  As we drove through the Howgill Fells I had a warm, secure feeling inside that made me feel like I had never been away.

Ellie and I then experienced our second Christmas Day with the Rumney clan.  We got to meet a niece and nephew that we had never seen before.  Luke seemed to take to us like a duck to water, he spend the day wiping his nose on us and generally omitting vast amounts of juice on us.  Kayleigh, however, didn't really take to the uncle who had fuzzy stuff growing on his face and only began getting close to me just as we were leaving.  Then there is Beth, who remembered us easily and now has a new nightmare to fear... whisker burn from her uncle.  It was a great day, to see my Mam, Dad, Brothers, Sister-in-Laws, and nieces and nephew was the best present I think I got this year.

Day Two.  Monday, December 27, 1999

A tourist trip to Keswick to pick up outdoor gear.  The rare "quiet day" of the holiday.

Day Three. Tuesday, December 28, 1999

After a truly early start to the day, Ellie and I embarked on our first outdoor adventure of the vacation.  We scaled both Bow Fell and Esk Pike from Brotherikeld.  The final mile of this was up a steep incline in drifting snow before cresting the coll at Three Tarns.  At this point I believe Ellie was close to quitting and the look on her face told me she was at the point of swearing at me.  She stuck with it however and we continued to bag the first peak of the day.  At this point we joined the throngs of people scurrying (slogging) toward the summit of Bow Fell at a height of approximately 3000 feet.  From here we continued on to Esk Pike and then from Ore Gap we headed back toward the Great Moss (N54⁰26.33 W3⁰12.25).  We had planned on taking in Scafell Pike, but the weather was turning and the light was fading.  As it was, there was still six miles of walking to get back to the car and we had about an hour of daylight left.  My first and only mistake of the day occurred when I decided to stay high on fell instead of following the valley floor back down.  We had to cross a bog which wasn't exactly dry !!  Then, as we entered a farmyard we found that the only way forward was along a track which would eventually lead us to the road.  As it happened, there was a short cut which we missed.  Back at the car we realized that things were only getting worse.  The days heat had melted some ice and snow.  Now, as the temperature dropped, it was refreezing on the road which made the driving horrendous.

Day Four.  Wednesday, December  29, 1999

Back on the road !!  Head for Ingleton to meet up with Iain, Rick, Arthur, and Eric for a caving trip down Notts Pot via the Center Route.  It felt good to be underground.  We stayed the night in a bunkhouse next to the Station Inn high on Chapel le Dale.  After a brief bollocking off Ellie because we had not called to let her and David (Eric's delinquent brother) know we were out of the cave enjoying a quick beer at another pub before getting back.

A groggy but clean start to the day enjoying yet another greasy breakfast in one of Ingleton's finest eateries.  Although exceedingly hung over (I speak for myself), we eventually came to the conclusion that we had to do something.  Arthur decided that Ellie should be offered a trip down Gaping Gill via the easy entrance of Bar Pot.  Although not exactly enthusiastic about the whole thing, Ellie did well and negotiated the entrance pitch with little difficulty.  Thanks should be made to Arthur for a splendid job at helping Ellie get down the pitches.  The crawls between Flood Entrance and the main chamber were extremely draughty.  On reaching the main chamber we found it was a wash out with West Pot taking an incredible amount of water.  It wasn't a place to hang around for long.  The exit was uneventful apart from Ellie realizing that she can make her body do things she never thought possible.  Including a vertical squeeze which led to freedom.

In the evening we frequented the old haunts of The New Inn, The Marton Arms, and The Hill Inn.  On arrival at the Hill Inn we found that a few more friends had arrived in the shape of Greg (no pun intended), Martin, Slim, Trish, Seth, and Simon.  Lots of beer was consumed in the traditional old style.  Iain reminded us all that when we all get together we return to the college years of the early nineties.  Ellie has reminded me that if we had met in the early nineties our meeting would have been brief.  Strange things went on that night including the picture shown to the left of this text.  A rather energetic squeeze through the wheel also reared its ugly head.  Slim took the title in under five seconds.  Later in the evening Simon showed us how he could pebble dash a whole bathroom.  Rick and Arthur hopefully didn't hear Ellie's attempts to share the same single bed with me.  Her attempts failed and she ended up being a draft excluder for the night.  Although this isn't something we talk about much.

Day Six.  Friday, December  31, 1999

I'm not a college student anymore and I had a headache to prove it the next morning.  Ellie (still mad at me from the night before) drove the 3 hours north to Edinburgh.  We met up with Claire and Dave.  This is where we spent the dawn of the New Millennium.  We took a brief trip along the over crowded Princes Street and then watched the fireworks over Edinburgh Castle from The Mound.  We listened to a piper strangle the animal he was hugging... he did a fine job of it too and he added to the experience.  The picture show to the right of this text was taken seconds before the beginning of the year 2000 and shows Ellie, Dave, and Claire.

Day Seven.  Saturday, January 01, 2000

This was it.... no different really to any other day.  No computer melt down and no nuclear weapons heading toward Washington DC from Russia or anyone else the Americans have upset.  A great day for a walk up Arthur's Seat to clear the cobwebs from our cloudy heads.  A pleasant way to spent the day in great company.

Day Eight.  Sunday, January 02, 2000

On the move again heading back south toward Claughton nr Preston, Lancashire.  An old work colleague had invited Ellie and I to stay with her family.  The trip to their home took some six and a half hours.  Now I remember what I hate about English roads and traffic.  However, welcoming arms were awaiting us and I can't say how great it was to spent time at Jane and Antony's home.  I was a little wary however when my pint of Boddingtons sat ominously on a table build in 1772.  Not "old" for English people, but the Declaration of Independence wasn't signed until four years after it as built.

Day Nine.  Monday,  January 03, 2000

A short trip down the road to Preston and my old lodgings of Fulwood.  Ellie and I walked around Preston  for a while, reminiscing the seven years I had lived there and eating fish and chips from Umberto's Chip Shop.  Our evening was spent in the pleasant company of Brendan and Steph who also put us up for the night.  Or was that put up with us ???

Day Ten.  Tuesday, January 04, 2000

A short trip south to Chester brought us to Iain and Emma's house followed by a relaxing evening with friends.  We also took a short trip to Wales.... we had now visited England, Scotland, and Wales on this trip.  I was now suffering from a serious bout of the crud and ready to be in one place for a while.

Day Eleven.  Wednesday, January 05, 2000

We were awoke to the noises of little people wondering who was sleeping in their attic bedroom.  Cameron's innocent "Wake up silly billy, it's morning time!" makes us laugh even now, months after we returned from the trip.  It was time to head home to Cumbria again.

Day Twelve.  Thursday, January 06, 2000

Trying to recover, Ellie and I took time to have a lazy day.  Which was a mistake, because it was a beautiful day to get out and about.  Ellie bonded with my mam and I spent some time with my dad doing this and that.

Day Thirteen.  Friday, January 07, 2000

We attempted to walk the Newlands Round in the Lake District.  For better or worse, we bailed out about a mile and a half in with increasing cloud, gusting wind, and a normally easy ridge looking rather nasty.  So we headed to the dam about 700 feet lower in the valley and ate our sandwiches crouched low out of the wind and the now driving rain.  By the time we began our trek back to the car it had began raining hard.  An hour later, cold and wet, we arrived back at the car and headed back to the coast.

Day Fourteen.  Saturday, January 08, 2000

The last full day of our trip was spent doing last minute jobs and saying our goodbyes to everyone at home in Cumbria.  A sad time really, our next long trip to England will not occur until the summer of 2001.  

Day Fifteen.  Sunday, January 09, 2000

On the road by five thirty in the morning and on a plane out of Manchester four hours later.  It was raining of course and the trip ended that way it had begun.

Thanks to all those people who offered their homes to us.  Without you it would not have been the same.  It was great to see you all.  Sorry if I gave you the virus I was breeding.

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