Our first flat day of walking! Yay! A few slopes, but nothing like the mountains of the Lakes District which we have now left behind. Today was the first day of mostly farmed fields, stone walls, and hard to find stiles. We stepped out of the door of our hotel (the best yet, great bed, deep bathtub) and began the walk through a churchyard and some cow pastures only to have to turn back to get Anita's sweater she had left at the B&B. After visiting the ruins of an abbey, one of many ravaged by Henry VIII, Vinnie managed a wrong turn resulting in dead reckoning across a few fields during hay mowing operations. We bought more bread and cheese in Shap, then continued across more open moorland. The wind was heavy and in our face for most of the day but we didn't hit the rain that is moving towards us. Went past Robin Hoods grave but it wasn't but a pile of rocks, not impressive. Hit the George Hotel in Orton around 3 pm. We are supposed to have rains tonight, and possibly during the walk tomorrow. We'll see. Bodies are doing fairly well. Not so many muscle problems, and the various blisters and rubbed spots can be taken care of by the considerable pharmacy that we are carrying. Tried a new rememdy told to us by a friend who skipped walking yesterday (she had a great excuse...wish one of us had thought of it - her hiking shoes "fell" apart) of using wool that you gather as you walk. You take this wool and wrap it around your hurt bits, like toes, heels etc, and amazingly enough it works! Anita removed all her various tapes, bandages and blister pads and replaced them with wool today and it was marvelous! Even the blister area did not hurt!
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