It is so weird to stay at a hostel again, but with a family. The Hawkshead Hostel had quite a few families and wasn't just 20-something's but an older crowd. We had a 6 person room to ourselves and then switched to a 3 person room. The reason we stayed there was because all the camping areas had either a 2 or 3 day minimum or more and/or were booked up for the weekend. And the B&B's were either booked or around $400+\night. Just craziness! The Lake District is popular and expensive as a result (there really aren't a ton of places to stay). Personally, I was glad that we weren't camping since it was pouring rain (even if the rate for Sat. Night in a room that didn't include towels and had shared showers with hot/cold issues and smelly bathrooms in the hall was the same as the rate we were paying for a 5 star 2BR apartment/2bath rental in Edinburgh!).
It was still quite rainy this morning so we headed to nearby Ambleside, full of cafes. You have to get these little clock wheels that you turn to the time and place on the dash (you can only park for an hour). We headed to the Rattle Gill Cafe since the receptionist at the hostel recommended them and their tasty cakes. We ordered the cake sampler plate where you got to pick 5 different kinds of cake. My favorite was the almond pear cake. The pieces were quite substantial!
Then we re-parked and went to look at the most photographed Bridge House by the old Mill (Ambleside used to be a Mill town). Apparently at different times it had housed a cafe and a 6person family! Ethan and I climbed the tiny swirling stairs to go sit in the top part.
We were going to peruse the shops but Hailey was losing it and didn't seem to want to sleep in the hiking pack (we didn't have room to bring the stroller since our car was packed to the gills with all of our camping gear). So we set out on a drive to see several of the lakes in the area (and Hailey took her nap in the car). So gorgeous! Loads of sheep everywhere! I was surprised at how many black sheep I saw as well. You don't really see them that often in the rest of England but they don't seem as rare here.
Some sheep taking a rest by the side of the road:
The sun came out in the afternoon and we took a nice little hike with gorgeous views. There are all sorts of little Tarn walks and little hikes off the side of the road. These flowers are plentiful and some sheep were hanging out up there as well:
Outside the shale mine, looking down on the valley winding road:
We ordered some pizza, grabbed some wine and had a little picnic dinner on the lawn at the hostel (apparently you aren't allowed to have wine on the premises but we got away with it this time):
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