Another fine day on the moor!

Today was another beautiful day in Devon. D&P tell us this is the first summer since 2003 that the weather has been this nice!

We were up a tad earlier, but had another good night’s sleep, and were greeted by Peter’s usual splendid country breakfast of homemade oatmeal with fresh strawberries followed by crumpets with any variety of jam or marmalade you could want.

We then headed out for Tavistock, about a half-hour away, where there is a nice little indoor market, much like a flea market back home. After a quick bit of shopping, we headed off for a drive through the middle of Dartmoor. But first, we decided we ought to sample the wares at the Trout & Tipple, a pub we’d passed on our way into Tavistock that featured a banner touting its real ales. Below is a photo of the happy samplers (minus the one behind the camera).

Today’s moor tour included less walking and more driving, but we took in myriad sights such as ancient double stone lines, old abandoned quarries, and Dartmoor Prison, not to mention lots of wild ponies and free-range sheep & cattle.

Then it was back to the cottage for a little down time before Deb served up another spectacular dinner which we ate out in the garden under a clear late-evening sky.

What an absolutely fabulous day!

Blackhall Cottage

Day two began with 14 hours of sleep (no typo)! Take that, jet lag!! So after a wonderfully late breakfast/brunch, we had to zoom off for our daily moor-walk. Peter & Deborah took us to see a stone-circle (older than Stonehenge) and some incredible ancient granite bridges (called “clappers”) which were somehow laid across the waterways hundreds of years ago. I took photos with my better camera, so you’ll have to wait to see those later…

After a short stop in the charming little village of Chagford (for ice cream, no less) it was back to Blackhall Cottage for tea and a little rest. Now we’re just back from a splendid dinner at one their favorite pubs, where Mal & I had our first ‘real ale’ of the trip. Heaven! We were even treated to a rare spectacular sunset on the drive home (again, photos of that later)!

Here’s a photo of the entrance to Blackhall Cottage that I took yesterday. I even fixed it up a bit in the Photoshop Mobile app! Until tomorrow, enjoy…

Day one: Dartmoor

So, after a long and tiring series of flights, we have arrived at Deborah & Peter’s ‘Blackhall Cottage’ in England. After settling in, having a nice cup of tea, and watching the exciting finish to the US-Algeria World Cup game, we even had time for a short hike on the moor!

I hope to get time later to post some stories from our travels yesterday, since we had some very interesting interactions, but right now it’s time for dinner!