That Feeling

Before i start talking about what I've been up to the past couple of days....
Steve, his sister, and I headed off to this local place in their town to play pool. About 2 minutes after we get there 2 of his friends walk in and stand in front of me with huge smiles like i should know them already. It took me about 10 seconds but i realized that i did! It was 2 guys who Cale and I met while in Cairns, Australia. I worked with the one guy, Liam, and the other, Andy, just lived in town at the same time we did and often came into my work. Andy also dated one of the girls i worked with so i talked to him quite a bit since he was always around. I didn't realize but they both only lived a few minutes from Steve and met when they all were travelling. It was really nice to see them and catch up! Kind of a piece of my Aussie trip inside my Euro trip!

Day 3 and 4:

One thing i now appreciate about England is the vivid green colours. I guess that's what we can thank the rain for - such bright green that it's almost florescent! I was able to see plenty of that over the past couple days.

The Lake District was beyond beautiful! Such picture perfect rolly hills and stone walls holding in herds of sheep. I've done more walking than i'm sure i've ever done in my entire life. It was definitely worth it for the views but i'm also hoping for the nicest legs and super fit bod to come out of all of it!

To my shock the night before our trip to the lakes, i finally understood that Steve planned to camp while we were there. When he said "we'll camp out in the lake district" i sort of took it as an english figure of speech... but when he started talking about tents i finally understood that he was speaking very literally. It didn't make sense to me since i think the weather is probably typical for the middle of October and to top it off it decides to rain every 20 minutes. BUT i am glad to say that i lived to tell the story - all toes and limbs still intact! It was definitely a mission to sent the tent up. It took us probably about an hour and 3 different attempts, however, we finally figured it out and brought enough bedding for the entire campgrounds so we slept quite warmly! :)

The little buildings that make up the towns that surround the lakes are mostly made of dark, moss-covered, slate type stone which gave it a very uniform, clean,  and comfy kind of feel.  I didn't really care to go into many of the shops because i loved the look of the outside of them so much! We went on a few hikes and strolls by the lakes. There were ducks and swans  by the water close to town and i saw a lady living my worst nightmare. She had pigeons perched all up her arm and even on her head then swans that were almost as tall as me surrounding her on all sides. I was severely grossed out!! No idea why she would put herself in that situation and i definitely did not feel bad when she started going "ow, ow". Yuck! That would probably classify as the worst day of my life. I took a few pictures but that might take a while for me to get them on my computer until i make it to an electronics store. I never looked before i left home but apparently my new little computer doens't have a slot that fits my memory card from my camera so i'll have to buy a cord or something.

Last night after we figured our tent out we went back into this little town called Ambleside and went to a local pub for a quiz night. We didn't come close to winning or even feeling slightly good about ourselves. I've never felt more ignorant in my life. Steve's been out of England for over a year and i've never been so we both weren't exactly up to date on our current affairs. Most questions were about English politics or celebrities and it showed me how little i know about any other country outside of North America. It was still fun but kinda makes me feel like i should buy a book and learn a thing or two!

So, I got "that feeling" today. The feeling i've been waiting for since i left Australia. We were walking on this path that had an amazing view of a lake to my right and a gorgeous view of the mountains and hills on all sides. The sky was blue with fluffy white clouds that cast the odd shadow over the hills changing the colours just slightly. The sun was on my face and i was overwhelmed with this complete feeling of peace and contentment. That is exactly what i've been looking for. It's hard to explain and i'm sure some people get the same feeling but just in different ways. For me, it's always when experiencing something new, not having a care on my mind, just truly enjoying what i'm doing and where i am. It's these moments that remind me why i believe in God because i just know that nothing this amazing in life could have happened by chance. It's also then that i wish everyone i knew could be right there with me so i don't have to try and explain "that feeling"... so everyone can experience it for themselves.