Lake District, June, Day 1

It was a bit of a slow start this morning as we were packing and loading for three weeks; we move on from the Lakes to Mull and Iona on 24th June.  We left home in the tail end of the mini heat wave and drove through temperatures of 29C.  Apparently it reached 34C in Grimsby later in the day and when we stopped at Doncaster services we could have been in the south of France.  Things were not to stay like this, however, by the time we reached Scotch Corner the temperature at dropped to 18C and black clouds loomed on the horizon to the west.  These were not the only blackclouds, however, as on our way up the A1 there were warnings of a 20 minute delay on the A66.  We decided to continue as we felt that we could easily lose 20 minutes if we diverted through the Dales and we knew that there were problems on the M6.  In the event our delay was a good hour and, as far as we could see, there was no cause for it.  As we drove higher over the Pennines, the temperature dropped to 14C and dark cloud became drizzle and then heavy rain.  As we descended to Brough and then along the Eden Valley to Kirkby Stephen it begain to clear and things were not too bad when we arrived at the site at 5.00 pm.  the van had been serviced while we were on journey (the engineer had been delayed 2 1/2 hours on the M6!) and it was fabulous to find that he had left things set up for us.  It was also satisfying to know that all was good with the van and we had no damp!!! 

Having unpacked it was time for a beer, spag bol and a bottle of red before an early night.