Haverthwaite Station

Just loved this mural on the wall in The Station Restaurant 

Had been to the Haverthwaite Railway station which is in Cumbria 

The highlight of the Station was the Restaurant. I think Mrs Maher and her crew did a wonderful job in welcoming the travelers and making them feel at home. 

The place was tastefully decorated with a display of pictures of the old steam engines that hauled many a load. 

  

The station itself had that old world charm with a small over bridge and signboards showing the right directions. 

Saw this sign next to the ticket office 

Very soon the train pulled in with the steam engine chugging away to glory. 

It was a 18 minute run from Haverthwaite to Lakeside and nostalgic for many to experience the steam engine and the bogies which were used about half a century ago, but still well maintained. 

The view as the train chugged along was something out of this world. 

Made a three minute video on the whole journey.

Once we reached Lakeside we were ferried across in a boat. More on that in the next blog.  

Cherry Hill at Orcas Island

Had been to the Orcas islands two weeks ago. What a wonderful place. 

Like they say, getting there is half the fun. There is this bus from Seattle airport that takes you to the Anacortes Ferry point. 

From there the Washington State Ferry takes you across to the island in about an hour.

You can be on the outer deck to take in the view 

If the wind is too chilly you can while away your time at the lower deck trying to fix the jig saw (it is large and you may succeed in assembling just a part of it in an hour)

 Once you disembark you can pick up a rental car. The drive from the ferry point to the place where we stayed was just marvelous.   

The cottage that we stayed in  - Cherry Hill Cottage 

and the view from the window   

If you care to step out you get to see this 

A wonderful place to relax. You can spend the afternoon under a tree reading a book 

or just laze in the evening looking at the setting sun filtering through the leaves 

  The cottage has a fully equipped kitchen with all the required amenities that one needs for a stay.

The rooms were tastefully decorated and a special mention should be made about the different types of flower arrangement in each room. I was taken in by the array of books that they have stocked. Three binoculars for bird watching. Talking of bird watching, I spotted some in and around the area. 

Racoons, rabbits and deer were the order of the day. 

The deer just waits for someone to forget to close the garden gate, and hence this sign 

We made friends with the horse at the neighbouring stable. So every day in the evening we used to amble over to say hi to him 

When we reached Cherry Hill Cottage we found this note by the owner: 

Thanks Marilyn and Jerry Eisner for giving us this wonderful opportunity to relax.

Made a small video of the ferry. 

By the way on the pathway to Cherry Hill Cottage I stumbled upon this Woodpecker’s nest. More on the chicks and their mother in my next blog.