7 September 2019, Saturday Thames Path day 6, Newbridge to Oxford Day 22 of travel There are several items around Rose Revived about Newbridge in West Oxfordshire County. There is a sign indicating 40 miles from the source of the Thames and 154 miles to the barrier in London. The sign also heralds (from a time long ago) the early announcement of the opening of The Rose Revived by the new owners. "Redecoration of the facility, with all the amenities currently available, makes the inn quite desirable." Cross the road is a sign for the meadow and discovery of the lower windrush path and valley. Our taxi driver meets us at about 9:30 for transport back to the Ferryman Inn at Bablock Hythe to begin our walk and reduce the distance into Oxford by about three ... read more

5 September 2019, Thursday Day 4 Thames Path, Lechlade to Tadpole Bridge, day 20 of travel Riverside Inn with its paddle boat swans as well as live swimming swans was our start for the day. Across the bridge and along the pasture we walked. The Halfpenny Bridge toll booth is right on the bridge at the Riverside Inn. One of the few remaining historic toll booths but no longer a toll bridge. Traffic is busy on these one lane bridges controlled by traffic lights. After a short walk we come to St John's Lock. This is now the resting place of Father Thames statue. We cross and pass several bridges, some are made of wood, others are made of stone. As we pass through the fields and meadows we also come across the first of the ... read more

3 September 2019, Tuesday Day 18 of travel, day 2 on Thames Path, Ewen to Crichlade. After breakfast at the Thames Head Inn we took the taxi to Ewen, where we started our walk along the Thames Path. This is where we had left off yesterday. The walk was across grassy meadows and fields, dodging left and right, as the the river snaked its way through the valley. We passed by some stately Cotswold stone homes and fences. This stone is a creamy yellow colour. There are beautiful flowers in the gardens and along the path. The river through here is only a small ripple of water and pools. We came to our first mini weir and several groups of swans. The partially cloudy sky provided some great reflection of the trees and clouds where the ... read more

1 September 2019, Sunday Day 16 of travel. Meeting Jo Finestead, Norma Wiebe and Karen at Heathrow. Train to Kemble. Ibis Hotel in Reading was comfortable on 13th floor. The hotel is really funky and clientele punk rock. After breakfast Hotel I walked to the train station to take the Railair bus to Heathrow. The 0945 bus left me, my backpack and 2 bags at Heathrow terminal 3 but Not my Tilley's Hat! Ugh. Norma arrived at 0615 on United flight from ORD in terminal 2, enjoying the arrivals lounge before meeting us at terminal 3 arrivals. Karen and Jo were 2 hours late on their American flight landing about 1050. We wheeled our bags to train station and bought tickets to Kemble. It was just before this I realized I had left my hat. But ... read more

30 August 2019, Friday. Day 14 of trip day 10 of Coast to Coast. Kirkby Stephen to Keld. Leaving County of Cumbria entering County of Yorkshire and the Dells. The 4-mile + climb out of Kirkby Stephen to the 9 standard Riggs on the mountain top was a struggle. This set the theme for today's walk. We had a very delightful breakfast at the Jolly Farmer. Mark met us and we had a photo send off. In Kirkby Stephen the bags have to be ready to go at 8 am. As soon as we left town we were greeted by an extremely strong Southwest wind. Do not know officially but it was well over 60 miles per hour. It was so strong that it made it very difficult to stand much less walk in it. It ... read more