Staycation!

Had 4 days jolly left to burn so i booked august bank holiday week off. 5 days for the price of 4. Bonus!

Weather is shockingly good for a bank holiday. It was a bit shaky over the weekend but all good now.

Started the week off in proper tourist mode. I've lived in york 15 years and, i'm ashamed to say, i've never done ANY of the touristy stuff. Most of it is free to residents too which makes it completely inexcusable!

Kicked off tuesday with a visit to the yorkshire museum. Honestly i was pretty much blown away. Romans, vikings and dinosaurs. What more could you want? They've just had a 2m quid refurb and it shows. Defo worth a visit. I enjoyed an AV presentation on the 2000 year history of york, stamped a roman coin (albeit paper) and weighed myself against a dinosaur. The best bit for me though was the fact they've called the school canteen 'diner-saurus'. Genius!

Did a full circuit of the city walls, stopping off at the art gallery for a nosey. That's free to everyone so you should all pop in for a visit.

Wednesday involved a trip to the museum gardens to eat a packup lunch, followed by a trip to york castle museum. The dungeons, under the museum, are mint. All the actors are doing their best black adder auditions. Dick turpin is a dead ringer for prince regent. The jailer does a great nanny and there's more than one baldrick, as you'd expect. They're all completely over acting, but in a good way. Those crazy thespians.
On thursday i packed the bike up and headed over to the lakes. Well you gotta make the most of your time off. Mick recommended castlerigg hall campsite near keswick so that where i headed and that's where i am now. Had a pleasant ride across the a59 and a65, rather than the quickest route over the a66. It took about 3 hours all in, including a fuel stop. Lots of speed camera signs but very few cameras. No need to speed though, just take it steady and enjoy the views.

Arrived 4ish and took a wander down into keswick to get my bearings. It's only 15 mins away via a steep path through the woods.

Back to the tent for tea and a bottle of wine. It's a great campsite. Spotlessly clean. They don't accept groups but the bike wasn't any problem. 9 quid a night for me and bike. Dog friendly too, although i don't think they're quite ready for bessie yet. If you're not into your camping then they have a few camping pods. They're cool little single room wooden huts. Like a tent, but they're insulated and heated, plus added benefits like electricity and a balcony. Great idea, but i like to rough it under canvas.

The campsite looks down over keswick and derwent water. You get some ambient light from across the lake but the sky is crystal clear. You can pick out the milky way. Sat staring up trying to work out if it's the clearest sky i've seen and must of seen 5 or 6 satellites passing overhead in quick succession. That's pretty impressive.

The shop is well stocked. Eyed up some sausage and black pudding for breakfast then i'll be off to the hills for a good stroll me thinks.

I believe i'm officially on a 'staycation' this week. Let's see what tomorrow brings. Night night...