Norris and Mary on the St Johns Bridge

Taken when they were in town in May.

Jim and His Dad

Taken when his parents were in town in May.

The Bridge of the God's

One of the cool bridges across the Columbia River Gorge between Washington and Oregon. Taken when Jim's parents were in town in May.

Tif modeling the hat she made

Go Tif!

This Makes Me Happy Too

This Makes Me Happy

Off Road?

Melinda (our snotty lisping navigation voice) says we are off road, but really we weren't.... this time!

After Off Roadin' on Doon Hill

Dirty, dirty, dirty.

The Tuna Boat - aka Audi A6

This is the tuna boat. It was big with a horrible turning radius. It was almost impossible to park even under the best conditions. But it sure could haul ass. Plus is got killer gas mileage - diesel.

The Scary Road Coming Down from Doon Hill

It does not look as impressive in the picture as it was in real life! It was several miles long, and only one car could get through. Also it was one way in and one way out. Melinda had given up at that point. When I took this picture I had the car pushed over into the hedge.

Doon Hill

Hillside of Sheep and Stone Walls

Tynemouth Castle & Priory

Tynemouth Castle & Priory

Tynemouth Castle & Priory

Tynemouth Peir

The Grand Hotel at Tynemouth

Cullercoats Bay

Whitley Bay

Lighthouse at St Mary's Island

Jellyfish at Whitley Bay

Newcastle Police Headquarters

Neat Little Courtyard

Newcastle

The Sage Gateshead

Its a theater and concert hall.

Gateshead Millennium Bridge

This is a pedestrian/bike bridge across the Tyne. It rotates on its side to let boats pass under it.

The Swing Bridge

This is looking toward the Newcastle side of the River Tyne. The High Bridge is in the background... it is under construction.

Over the bridge to Newcastle from Gateshead

Making it to Scotland!

I woke up at the crack of dawn and explored Newcastle before heading to the coast. I think Newcastle is awesome. I went by the old site of the Newcastle Ale brewery, and the area by the river was so cool. There were lots of cobblestone streets and neat architecture. Too bad it was drizzling all morning, but it was still really cool, and I was able to walk around.

I went out to Tynemouth which is on the coast. The weather had cleared a bit so I got to see the gorgeous views. I stopped off at the Tynemouth castle and priory... it was pretty awesome. I then went to Whitley Bay and went out on St Mary's Island to see the lighthouse. I was able to walk out on the causeway to get to the lighthouse, but it was a good thing that I did not spend much time out there because the water was rising. By the time I headed back the water was lapping up on the walkway. My next destination was Hartley Island. I took off from the main road and went winding through a pretty little farming community. I popped over a hill and was faced with three parked cars and water. I guess they were waiting for the water to recede so they could drive over to the island. So I had to back up the hill and turn around. No Hartley Island for me!

I headed up the coast through Blyth, Newbiggin-by-the-Sea, Alnwick, to Berwick-upon-tweed. Berwick-upon-tweed is a completely walled city. It is surrounded by a motte, and it is at the mouth of the Tweed river. The wall looked very impressive when I crossed the bridge over to the city. The buildings were incredible there.

I then headed up into Scotland, still skirting along the coast. I got to Edinburgh mid afternoon, and it was pouring rain. I drove around a bit, but the traffic was horrendous, and it was very crowded. I got out and walked around a bit, but soon gave up when the rain became really hard. I headed out for the long trek back to Manchester, where I was spending the night to fly out the next morning.

The Bridge over the Tyne River

The Tyne River

Newcastle

"You can't help but read this"

Licorice! Licorice! Licorice!

The first alarm clock I've had in a hotel room!

What's with the instant coffee?

It is everywhere here.

In room tea service

The Bathroom

The Hilton Newcastle

The Smart Car sports car

The Banana Lamb in Trafford

Not very good to use it as a landmark. Apparently it has been moved several times.

Trafford

Off the Dock

My Walk Down the Dock

Liverpool Morning Traffic

Princes Dock

I hate Round Abouts

Friday morning after breakfast I had some time to kill so I took a walk down Princes dock. It was a beautiful sunny morning, some of the few bits of sun we have had this trip. Hey… how come I always seen to leave gorgeous weather in Portland to go somewhere with nasty weather? It is really cool, everywhere we go people offer us tea. When we saw one guy who did not we said to each other, “how rude!”.

We started at a university in Liverpool then we went to a hospital in Trafford. On the way to Trafford we went through a series of no joke at least 10 round abouts even though we were on a straight course for the highway. I think I have FINALLY mastered the round about model. Maybe. I still get honked at sometimes, but I think that is probably due more to me not staying in any particular lane. In the afternoon Annemari had to catch a flight to Helsinki so I went to the last hospital by myself. That is when the torrential rains started. There had been severe storms around the area most of the week, but we had escaped most of them. Not today.

After I left Manchester I headed out for Newcastle. It was several hours away, but I thought it would be a good stopping point for the night since I did not want to drive to Edinburgh in the dark. In fact I wasn’t sure I was going to get to Edinburgh at all because I was more interested in driving up the east coast. I had researched some hotels to find some that were decently priced and seemed okay. There are very few of the brands I’m used to here. I had the street names on most, so I thought for sure I could find them between that and the hotel search on the sat nav. Yeah right! I wasn’t too keen on staying right down town, but those were pretty much my only options. When I got to Newcastle, the first hotel I went to was the Malasion. It was desorated sort of art neuviox. It was all black and purple inside, and it smelled heavily of candles… what were they hiding? It seemed kinda run down too. The rate was about $225 per night, and I knew I could do as well or better if I could find one of the others. So I began the search for a hotel. I had seen the Hilton as I came into town, but I sat in the car park and couldn’t find anything in the sat nav. I was tired, hungry and starting to panic. I finally identified the Hilton and ended driving in circles trying to find the entrance. Melinda was absolutely no help. I could have sworn at one point that she was yelling at me. She even kept talking after I turned her off… ho-bag. The hotel was right on the Tyne river so that was no easy feat. I was happy with my choice though. It was a bit more expensive, but the room was nice, quiet, and clean. I had a nice meal including cheese plate and headed off to bed.