Coast to Coast, Day 0

Tom and I were minding our own business, having a salad at the Beaverton Bakery stand at PDX, waiting to board our plane. Frank & Mary were off getting pounds (as in British money versus the Beaverton Bakery kind). We were munching on our said salad when a PDX worker asked us if the scarred and battered briefcase and backpack at the next table were ours. They weren’t. The worker hollered (hollered!) to the Beaverton Bakery people, “Call security about this briefcase and backpack. They’ve been here for about 20 minutes and no one has come back for them.” Hmmm, I thought, perhaps we should move. Before I could say Mack-the-Knife, Tom said this very thought out loud.




I don't know who these people are







During the next 20 minutes from a table a discreet distance away, we observed … nothing. No ka-boom, no security people, nobody to claim the bags. Anticlimactic, but that’s anticlimax I can live with. In any event, we weren’t bored.

Mary and Frank are our traveling companions. Jonathan will be joining us a couple days into the walk.

There are so many things that could go wrong -- weather, missed connections, lost luggage -- but we didn’t expect things to go astray so soon. At our gate, we heard an announcement paging Mary. Oh, oh. When she returned, she explained that the airlines had checked Frank in twice but they had missed her. Since there is only one of Frank and Mary was definitely along for the ride, everything eventually got sorted out. In the meantime, we had been double-franked! (That’s a stamp joke, my father was a postmaster, oh..never mind.)

I was thinking: boy, howdy, I sure will be fit at the end of this trip. I thought this as I ate my way through my salad and a snack before the plane even took off. I thought this as I ate my way through the snack, lunch, snack, dinner, and breakfast on the airplane. I continued to think this through the two half-pints, snack, and dinner at the quaint pub in St. Bee’s. Total walking distance at the end of the first day: one mile.

Random thought #1: How did F&M manage to get all their stuff into two tiny suitcases. Our two large suitcases and backpacks and tote are crammed to the gills. Of course, maybe they aren’t carrying a jar of peanut butter, 36 Luna bars, three hot water bottles, six books, and a computer.

Random thought #2: What was I thinking when I decided to wear my hiking boots onto the plane? (I was thinking they were heavy and bulky and if I wore them they wouldn’t take up all that room in the suitcase, the room I’d need for a jar of peanut butter, 36 Luna bars, three hot water bottles, six books, and a computer.) I forgot that I’d have to take them off to go through the security line. Sorry, sorry, sorry, I murmured, as I held up the line while I struggled out of my boots and struggled to get my computer out of my backpack, and further held up the line while they inspected my (empty) metal water bottle.

Actually, the trip has run smoothly so far. All our planes were on time, the flights were smooth, we found a driver to take us to St. Bee’s. The latter was the best group decision we made. I can’t imagine how we would have coped with getting a train from Manchester, transferring to another train, and walking with all our luggage (!) to the B&B -- and all for the same price as getting the car and driver who delivered us to our door. F&M happily chatted with the driver during the three-hour trip to St. Bee’s. Tom and I alternated prodding each other in the back seat to stay awake. We were largely unsuccessful and snoozed most of the way. I’ll pay for it when I wake at 3 a.m.





Left: Our luggage waiting to be let in.
Right: Frank calling the B&B. He’s pointing to the bell that’s ringing.






Random observation #1: The rain (and hail) came pelting down as we drove to St. Bee’s. It fell harder and faster the closer we got, which leads to:

Random thought #3: I could have gotten this in Portland. It’s hard to enjoy the sights while you’re walking if you’ve got your head down all the time because you’re trying to avoid the sideways pouring rain.

We arrived a little early at The Fairladies’ Barn, our St. Bee’s accommodation. No one answered the doorbell. Frank got out his phone and called the number we had for the B&B. We burst out laughing as we could hear the phone ringing inside, a bell conveniently located outside as well. Of course, no one answered the phone. Hmm, we collectively thought.

Fortunately, it had stopped raining as we entered St. Bee’s, and the sky was moderately blue. (Obviously, the weather can turn on a dime here.) As we were contemplating hiding our luggage in the large hydrangea bush next to the front door and wandering off, a woman burst through the garden gate with a bucket of cleaning supplies. Oh, she said. Oh, we said. “Didn’t anyone answer the door,” she asked. No, we assured her, no one had. After she let us in, a teenage boy hurried through the entryway. “Didn’t you hear the doorbell, then?” she asked. He didn’t pause as he answered, “No.” “Teenagers,” she muttered.

To stave off both hunger and sleepiness, we explored St. Bee’s. We walked a half mile to the beach where our adventure is to begin tomorrow. We bought funny postcards. I took a million photos. Here are some of them.






















Left: Aw, shucks, we missed the comedy team of Chuck & Albert by one day. Center: At the St. Bee’s priory. Right: Acquiring the traditional pebble to carry to the other end of the trip. The hill in the distance is where the hike begins.

Lastly, every good travel story should end in a pub, and so ours did. The Manor is where we had our first pints of brew, in my case “Old Speckled Hen,” a hearty pale ale. We instantly met a fellow hiker and his wife, who was dropping him off -- and picking him up at the end -- and laundering his dirty socks mid-walk. They were from Edinburgh and taught me how to correctly pronounce my favorite single malt scotches. We talked mystery books set in Scotland. They told me about a hike in Scotland that travels through many distilleries. That’s the one for me next time, I said. Slainté.

With Lura & Divvy, in the foreground, at The Manor.