Vistas and blistahs! (bg)

Where do I begin? Ok let’s start at 6:30a when Michelle and I begin a steep ascent just to get us back onto the Costwold Way. Heart starter. At the top we’re greeted with the first windy (and somewhat chilly) day so far. Nonetheless we were in high spirits bc we knew we needed to be with 16+ miles ahead of us. Of course reaching the top also meant the obligatory panorama selfie - which never, Ever, EVER captures the magnificence of the actual scene. That said, here ya go (zoom in and you might get a sense of how high up we were):

And so the journey begins and interestingly, we did see a few other group of walkers tackling the entire Cotswold Way. But the vistas…oh, the vistas…

Here’s a cool overhead of the Cheltenham horse track (which looks like it features steeplechase)

And also at the top of the Cleeve Hill expanse is a golf course, teaming with sheep. Hey, play it as it lies buddy!

So everything’s going great. Michelle and I packed snacks to get us thru critical “no services” points. Our feet started registering their displeasure at around the thirteen mile mark but happily a cafe was there to give us breather. Home stretch - 4 miles to our (delightful, by the way) Hotel Georges in Birdlip. Consult the map, hang a right where the trail meets a busy road under construction, and we should be about 2 miles away. (Sfx: GAME SHOW BUZZER). After walking a mile downhill on a busy loud highway- JUST LIKE THE MAP SAID- we realize we are totally buggered (a little local flavor). Turns out we are 1. On the wrong side of an impassible highway. 2. Walking further away and further downhill with every step.

No problem call a cab, right? In the English countryside, you’d have a better chance being knighted by the King then getting a cab in an obscure location.

Our options and fate were clear. Walk another quarter mile away from our destination and then find a cut thru road under the highway. And THEN, it will be an additional 1.7 miles with an 800 foot ascent. Michelle’s feet were in pretty bad shape at this point but she pretended bravely. I wasn’t loving my dogs either - and was kinda feeling the dreaded blister forming.

So we start the climb, only to pass a couple of houses, when we catch a glimpse of a woman exiting her car in her driveway. Michelle goes into what can only be described as Michelle mode and calls over…”Pardon me, but is there any chance we might be able to pay you for a ride up the hill to Birdlip?” “Just a sec, I just have to help my dog from the car. He was just at the vet”, she responded in a friendly tone.

Michelle and I watch as she carries her clearly not 100% pooch into the house. So help me, if our feet weren’t just this side of chopped liver, we’d have slinked away from the house in shame, but this was about survival. Moments later Sally (we came to learn) comes out, starts re arranging her car and apologizes for its condition, and as we collapse in tour respective seats, I tell her “Sally, this is nothing short of a limousine!”

And so we are delivered, literally and spiritually to our hotel, rested, showered and ready for a (now amateur level) 10 miler tomorrow.

Best, Bill (and Michelle)