Start:  Painswick

Stop:  Middleyard

Distance:  10 miles

We are seriously settling in now.  We didn’t even leave this morning til 11:00.  Instead of heading out right away we meandered through the quaint little village of Painswick, had a coffee and visited with some folks from northern Florida who had rented a cottage for a week nearby.  Fortunately we were quickly accepted as Americans (being from California), ONLY because I had been raised in North Carolina and soon dropped into the southern drawl each of them had.  The couple were quite taken that we were actually walking through the Cotswolds, as indeed, I am also at times.  Sometimes, I am walking along and I seriously just want to stop and cry I’m so overcome with emotion and gratitude for all that I am experiencing and able to do.  I think I would be very content to get up every day, slip into my boots, grab my stick and head for the nearest path through the woods up into the hills.  I feel incredibly loved and immeasurably blessed to be able to do this walk.  Here are all the reasons why . . .

A day in the life of a grateful Cotswold walker:

Leaving Painswick

 

trees blooming . . . and yes, birds even singing (I was told just the other day, “Even the birds are quite happy, aren’t they (now that spring has finally come)?”

And, yes, they really are!

 

Through pathways leading in between backyards of neighborhoods . . .

 

out to the fields . . .

 

up the hills, past the cows, and through the next stile  . . .

 

through many different woods . . .

 

and types of woods . . .

 

and country lanes  . . .

 

and passing by the ever present rock walls.  and daffodils.

 

Climbing yet one more hill . . .

 

and finding the perfect spot for lunch . . .

 

and every once in awhile, we happen upon a lunch wagon…with oh yeah, a diet coke!

 

passing through woods, woods, and more woods…

 

. . . and hundreds and hundreds of wildflowers . . .

 

. . . and beauty beyond description or words.

 

. . . occasionally a dog to pat or a person to meet . . .

 

And once we really thought we had taken a seriously wrong turn when we saw a river dumping into an ocean!  But nope, it was the Severn River which flows into a channel, then into a sea, and then into the Atlantic Ocean.  You can even see Wales across the river in the far distance.

 

We cross manyl different types of stiles and gates . . . most, of course, honoring all dogs with their own pass through.

 

… and more and more flowers to see . . .

 

and cows to maneuver past . . .

 

and freshly tilled fields to cross . . .

 

an occasional railroad track to cross over . . .

 

dropping us into the next village . . .

 

leading over a river . . .

 

to cross a seldom encountered motorway . . .

 

only to be led once again back up into the hills . . .

 

. . . where there are flowers . . .

 

and more gates to go through and fields to cross . . .

 

… and creatures to encounter . . .

 

to cross one more field, to climb one more hill, to experience one more wood, leading to one more vista . . .

and victories to be won!

The Cotswold Way:  Chipping Camden to Bath 105 miles.  We are well over half way…as of today we have about 50 miles to go!

 

Start:  Cleeve Hill

End:  Painswick

Mileage:  only 10 miles!  Piece of cake!

Day 4 was another fantastic day.   I can say that now that we’ve gotten accustomed to packing our “rucksacks” (backpacks) the night before, filling water bottles and making sure that we have everything we need for the day.  It was again gorgeous…sunny, bright, no wind.  Hills…up and down…challenging, but oh so worth it when you get to the top for the view and oh so worth it when you get to the valley and see the little stone cottages and streams and encounter civilization once again.  We tagged off and on with the Sisters, the ones who helped us find our way on Day 2, the Californians, and three hilarious middle-aged British sisters who it soon became quite obvious which was the elder as maps and directions were “discussed.”

We are starting to get quite a rhythm hiking all day and are more relaxed and less intimidated by the maps or guidebooks or working or not working google map…or how many miles we need to travel to our next destination.  Instead we take our time, stop to visit locals or other walkers, take pictures, take a layer off or put one on.  We take our time, smell the roses…well, if there were any, but there’s so much to stop and look and experience along the way.  Sometimes friends have commented that they can’t imagine being with their husbands all the time like Roger and I are.  I guess we do have our moments, but generally, we get along fine.  Especially, when we travel for work, we are constantly together and have been given tons of grace to not only do it but really enjoy our time together.  This vacation, though, it really different…hour after hour walking mostly it’s just the two of us.  You  might think we’d run out of things to say, but so far that hasn’t been a problem.

For example, just before we left, my chiropractor asked me if Roger and I were doing this walk as a pilgrimage (like the Via de Santiago in Spain).  I told him not really, but then the more I thought about it, I thought since we are doing a long distance walk, what a great time to be more spiritually intentional in some way.  So, we spent some time thinking about what our walk could or would look like.

I’m not sure exactly what a “real” pilgrimage really is, and the reality is that most of our days are pretty consumed with looking for the next acorn donned signpost or reading the guidebook to make note of anything of interest coming up, or at a minimum, checking in with (google map) to see if it’s working today and if the “blue dot” is still on the red trail.  Other than all of that, here’s what we’ve come up with for our long walk:  first, each day one of us gets a turn to talk about and invite a conversation about a characteristic of God.  For example, yesterday’s topic was God as a creative God.  We talked about God’s creativity in coming up with solutions to our “problems” or even our very lives that we never could have imagined, and His creativity in our every day life and who or what we get to encounter.  Then, there is obviously, God as the One who is so incredibly creative to come up with shapes and sizes and colors of well, everything:  people, places, things…etc., etc.  I’m sure you could add to our ongoing list.

Then, secondly we each answer three questions:

1.  First question is a marriage question.  For example, today’s was, “What is something you would like to add into our life together?  And then, what is something you would like to see us let go of?”

2.  Second question is a coaching question.  Today’s:  “What is something that you would like to do to bring more fulfillment to you personally while we are working in Africa?

3.  Third question is a recovery question.  Today’s topic was acceptance, so the range of discussion went from everything from the past, present, possible future unrealistic expectations, situations, longings.

Lots of time to think.  Lots of time to focus.  Lots of time to listen.  Time to feel and experience and be.  I have Roger’s undivided attention, and he has mine!!  Relationship.  To be known and to know.  What a great gift.

May you receive the gift you desire today as well.

Every steep climb has an amazing view!

 

If there are no sheep present, there are always telltale signs that they’ve been here anyway!

 

Walking is a very common British pastime, and what’s walking unless you have a dog, too, which most of them seem to…hence the need for doggie doors at most of the people pass-throughs, too!

 

One wood after another….

 

wild garlic ready to blossom open by the hundreds.

 

Checking in with Rick…

 

we actually walked from that high ridge all the way to where we were standing when I took this!

 

Our path dumped us out at the far end of a fairway where a ball landed right near me. Thankfully, the golfer’s partner saw the top of Roger’s red cap and waited to hit his ball.  Loud and burley, with rosy cheeks and firey red hair, he yelled out to us that he was Norwegian so we’d sure as heck better look out.  Thankfully he waited for us to climb the long hill before slamming that ball who knows where…and thankfully, too, he was grinning ear to ear, highly humored by the two Americans traipsing across the golf course.

 

The end of our journey for the day, the quaint little town of Painswick.

 

St. Mary’s in Painswick…another piece of stunning architecture and history.

Start:  Cleeve Hill

Finish:  Crickley Hill

Mileage:  14 miles

OK, here’s the thing…walking the Cotswold Way is basically hiking up one enormous hillside to walk along the top of the escarpment where you can see into the valley below where there is often a village and beyond that another enormous hill.  So, it may have taken a few ups and downs, but we’ve wised up. When we see a ridge with a line of trees across the top, you can bet that’s just where our path will lead us.  The English seem to think the best way to go from one place to another is by a straight line.  So instead of using switchbacks that we have come to appreciate at home, they take you straight up and then straight down with little meanderings through beautiful woods to take your mind off the last descent or the upcoming climb!

On one of the high ridges today we had a great conversation with an Englishman only too willing to chat away while his dogs raced here and there chasing rabbits and butterflies.  After awhile he took off and continued his biweekly outing.  About 10 minutes later we rounded the next bend and there he was talking with a couple.  I knew it had to be the couple that we had already been told at the lunch wagon we happily happened on earlier in the day.  The owner had told us that not only 20 minutes before, there had been another American couple on the Way.  Sure enough, the Englishman eagerly introduced us to them…and yep, can you imagine, they were from California.  The other great thing was that they had also been quite lost yesterday and spent hours trying to find the right path.  So, we felt much comraderie and a great deal of gratification that we weren’t quite as inadequate in our skills as we had thought.  They gotten lost at just the point we did…because turns out the way was changed a couple of years ago and our books were outdated.

Not to be outdone by some lame guidebook or even a map, my awesome husband came through with getting the GPS and data plan both working at the same time on our phone.  Much like the Map My Walk program, our new best friend Rick, has hiked the whole Cotswold Way and VERY clearly points out to us when we are on the path and when we are not.  With Rick and Roger, I’ve no doubt that we won’t be taking one step not needed to complete the 105 miles!

Now, back to the lunch wagon…which was pulled along the side of a road we had to crossover.  The owner obviously was doing a great business from the many truck drivers and workers who stop for a bacon and egg or even a burger.  He had been in this very same location for the past 11 years.  At that point, we were just happy to find anything and gladly dumped all of our gear, and sat at the one tables out front.  It wasn’t long til we struck up a conversation with not only the owner, but others who brilliantly asked us if we were Americans (because of the baseball hats we are wearing proudly saying “USA”).  One young guy in particular really shocked us.  He had been to the U.S. – to Vegas, and there had lost a bunch of money.  I asked him if he had a lot of girlfriends there because American girls love to hear an English accent.  He declared vehemently, “No, I’m married and I’m faithful to my wife because I’m a Christian!”  He went on to give us maybe more information than we wanted but said he had been in prison for six years and had led a very bad life before.  While in prison, he had met God and now he says his life is difficult but he’s trying with God’s help.  Africa, England, Asia, it doesn’t matter where we go, people are the same – desperate for answers, longing for help, in need of a Savior.  This young man encouraged me so much.  Here he didn’t even know us, but had no problem announcing why he lives the way he does today.

So a long, but absolutely gorgeous sunny day, fantastic walk, and, of course, amazing company! =)

We are told over and over that if we had started our walk even a day earlier, it would have been miserable.  Winter lasted six weeks longer than usual and it’s been bitterly cold and rainy.  We started walking Monday and so far not one drop of rain.  Yesterday we took off our wool caps and by the end of the day didn’t even have jackets on.  Perfect walking weather, brisk, sunny, and clear.  We are so, so blessed.

 

 

rock walls surround many homes and are used for fencing in livestock

 

one gorgeous view after another …

 

These cows are resting right on the edge of the plateau, not the least bothered by our walking by!

 

hundreds of wildflowers are beginning to pop up everywhere!

 

 

blankets of bluebells on the forest floor…

 

Just one of the beautiful pathways

 

Crossing yet one more stile

 

Lambs, lambs and more lambs

 

Gorgeous horses we pass by

 

So happy to get to see wild pheasants occasionally.

…and….a pit stop to manage oncoming blisters!

Start:  Stanton

Finish:  Cleeve Hill

Mileage:  15 miles, was supposed to be 13 but we decided to take an extra little tour we were having so much fun.  No, not really, we got mildly lost, but yeah, eventually found our way to Cleeve Hill with little trauma.

So wish I could bring you all into our walk for even just an hour.  It’s incredibly scenic, serenely quiet, always picturesque whether walking through a wooded area dotted with thousands of trees covered with buds or climbing to the top of a hill winding our way down the path across pastureland with hundreds of sheep most  of them with two or three babies alongside.

Our day was perfect.  Gorgeous weather, interesting people.  But, the food not so much.  I got food poisoning at lunch time which made for an interesting afternoon and sadly a literally nauseating night.  But, not to worry, God is faithful, amazing able and extremely gracious.  This morning Day 3 and May Day we woke up sheep wandering the streets left to go up on the pastureland on the hills and bright, bright sun, no stomach issues and all body parts still working.

So, here’s some pictures from yesterday…and prayers for you as you walk where you are today.

Roger suitin’ up

Spring

 

Really?  Is milk still delivered this way?

Often our trail leads right through the mama’s with their babies

One beautiful path after another…

Interesting things to see along the way

Inside the little church

The note on the cross says:

The cross reminds Christians of the death of Jesus, a sign of God’s great love for each and every person, but because Jesus rose again, the cross is also a sign of hope for anyone who is suffering.

You are invited to pause here and to name in silence or on a piece of paper a person or situation you would like God to help.

Dear Jesus, help all the people I name and anyone else who is sad or may be suffering today to know that you are with them and love them very much.  Amen.

the prayer cross inside the church

Happy, happy, happy!!

Ruins of an abbey

Our little path winding up the hill on the right