Whew!

It only took about 20 hours here and there over the past five days but we now have reservations for each and every night of our walk.  There are a couple of small problems left to be worked out.  For example, I've booked a place and even paid in full via my credit card, which is rare because most of these establishments are so small that they only accept cash, but I can't figure out where the hell it is!!  Or what it is!!  All I know is that I've paid someone for a twin room, two evening meals, two breakfasts and two packed lunches for the next day.  It would be great if I could figure out where the bloody hell it is.  That might prove helpful at the end of a 14 mile day.  I could be wrong.

I'm not sweating that small detail tonight.  I am quite happy knowing we have a safe, warm and dry place to lay our heads and fill our bellies each night.  So what if I don't know where one of those places is?

Then there's the small problem of getting from Manchester Airport to St. Bee's.  The train's website won't allow reservations to be made this far in advance so please remind me in April to see to that or we'll be screwed come June 9th.

Our plan is to fly into Manchester June 8th and spend the night.  We'll be jet lagged and only interested in a shower and bed.  We'll sleep late, have a look around and then hop a train (hopefully) to St. Bee's on the 9th.  It's only about a 3 1/2 hour ride so we'll arrive in plenty of time to wander around town, buy last minute supplies and have a couple of pints at the Coast to Coast Pub.  Then on the morning of June 10th, our amazing adventure begins!!

Lovely...Lovely

I will never tire of hearing the normal, day-to-day language of the average Englishman!!!  I love the words they chose and how they chose to put them together.  It is "brilliant" and "lovely".

I spent several hours on Skype today making reservations for our nightly accommodations. .I spoke with so many "lovely" people who, when I said I'd like to make a reservation replied "Lovely then...let me check the good ole diary".  In the background were noises of pints clinking, loud voices with lovely accents, and dishes clanking.  It all made me want to climb through the phone lines and be a part of their magnificent noise. Throughout the conversation, they interjected the words "lovely" and "brilliant" at the oddest and most wonderful times!

We now have confirmed nightly accommodations for the first 10 days of our walk.  That in itself took at least 3 hours as many of the places I intended to stay are already booked.  That is inconvenient but not all of these people mucking up my plans are Coast to Coasters.  It is the beginning of the school holiday and the Lake District (through which we will travel for the first week) is where all of these Brits want to be.  All that means is that we will meet many lovely and brilliant Brits.

We are Coast to Coasters and therefore we are tough old broads.  Even if one of us is only 13...she is a broad and she is tough.  Never mind the old.  I have enough of that for both of us after just having celebrated my 44th bday last week.  I have enough old to go around.

Making Progress!!

Funny how the little things can get you going.  I received a very pleasant email from yet another guy at Columbia Sportswear (one of the 7 companies I've asked for a sponsorship).  He said our walk sounded amazing and he wished Lauren and I all the best.  He then referred me to his counterpart at Columbia International.

So you see, we've successfully passed two layers of review at Columbia!!  That's the most promising progress we've had yet - in terms of sponsorship.  A maybe is infinitely better than a no.  At least in my book.

Our local Bass Pro/Worldwide Sportsman has yet to acknowledge our request, the rat bastards.  It might have something to do with the fact that I worked at their seaside restaurant as a server for a year and I left on... less-than-friendly terms.  In fact, I ratted out the restaurant management to Bass Pro HQ regarding some dishonest and unfair practices.  I can only assume they hold a grudge. I, however, have put all that unhealthy drama behind me and since I didn't really expect anything from them, I am not disappointed.

This is one instance where setting one's goals very low is a good idea.  Aim for nothing and then, when you get nothing...you got exactly what you aimed for!!!  I should be a motivational speaker and Life Coach with ideas that like, eh?

Keep your body parts crossed that Columbia comes through for us.

What the hell?

I should have purchased our airline tickets in October...when they were going for about $400 round trip from Miami to Heathrow.  I waited too long and now they are almost $1,000 for one round trip ticket.  $^*%#@!!

So....I decided to get another part time job to offset the costs of this trip, which will probably total about $6k.  That's being conservative.  Really.  Now you understand why I'm chasing sponsorships in the form of free hiking boots and/or other hiking gear.

I'm pleased to say that I've landed a job that I really, really enjoy and while at one point I considered finding a job just to fund the walk and then not returning to it, that is no longer the plan.  I'm back in the financial saddle and its a great view.  I love this kind of work so it doesn't seem like work.  After an 11 hour day, I'm still happy and ready to hit it again tomorrow.

Now the real problem is....when in God's name will we train!?!?!?

Sponsorships!

The rising costs of airline tickets have forced me to try to find economies.  Given a 17 day walk in a foreign country, sleeping each night in a hostel/farmhouse/B&B, eating 3 squares, cold pints, afternoon tea and biscuits, trains and buses from Manchester airport to our starting point/from our ending point...that's not an easy task.  Its a given that we have to sleep under a roof each and every night and we need plenty of chow to fuel ourselves for the next day.  (I must maintain my fighting weight, don't cha know?)

I had what I thought was a brilliant idea!  I've asked several companies to sponsor our walk in the form of a pair of free hiking boots, rain gear, backpacks, trail food, etc.  I've actually received positive feedback from SCARPA North America and semi-positive feedback from Columbia.  It gives a girl motivation to keep pressing.

I think we're a unique team (Mother 44/Daughter 13) on a unique journey.  200 miles in 17 days in a foreign country on a poorly marked trail with nothing more than a guide book and a compass to find the way across mountains and through the boggy moors.  What a great opportunity for a company to field test hiking equipment for the average joe!  Tell me please, who is more average than this team??!!?

Keep your eyes and fingers crossed that at least one company will see fit to sponsor us in one way or another.  If not, we'll be in flip flops and swim suits....perhaps a wet suit would be helpful?

Eureka!

We are investing in a bag carrying service.  For approximately 7 lbs per day per bag, a van will pick up our bags in the am and deliver them to our next stop by 4pm the same day.  In my opinion, completely worth the price.

We will only need to carry on our backs the immediate necessities; rain gear, first aid kit, space blanket, flash light, water, snacks, cell, maps, compass, saline, contact case, extra contacts, toilet paper, tissues, extra layers, waders, bug spray and wine key...yeah, so what? I consider a wine key a necessity.  You probably would too if you were walking 200 miles on a trail with very little to no markings.

Anyway, I feel much more confident about climbing through the Lake District knowing that the bulk of our things will be bumping along in the back of a van while we toil up and over the mountains. (Okay, the Brits call them "hills" but where we live in the tropics, these are definitely mountains!)

I've decided to change my walk from mid July to mid June in the hopes that it will be easier to find someone to cover my responsibilities at work whilst I trudge the trail and day dream.  My daughter's last day of school is the 7th of June so I think we could easily be on our way by the 11th.  Although we have great friends near London, it makes no sense to fly into Heathrow.  Rather, we shall fly into Manchester and take the train.  I'm still working the details but they will no doubt require a train and a bus from Manchester to deliver us to St. Bee's.

At this point, we are 5 months from our adventure and the time has come to buy hiking boots and begin to break them in.  I hate spending money on things just for this walk but I recognize that boots are probably the most important item we'll take and they have to be of high quality or we will suffer and perhaps not finish our quest.  Since not finishing is out of the question, I will spend whatever is needed to protect our little piggies.

This is where our walk will end...Robin Hood's Bay on the North Sea

The C2C Route.