First Day on the Lovely Linden.

We had a lovely morning at Guys. After a good breakfast in the pub we found a table outside to people watch. There were some serious cyclists stopping in for refreshments, and the outside patio was the finish line for a 5k, half, and full marathon run. The run was along the canal on the tow path, and many of the runners commented on how difficult the path was. Fortunately, after rehydrating with water, there was plenty of beer for them to enjoy. There was a brief rain shower, and as we had a beautiful dry spot, some people joined us. One family was there celebrating their 30 year old daughter who was completing her 100th marathon. Can't get over how friendly everyone is. There was also a car boot sale happening down the road, and we met a couple who enjoy participating in these sales. We learned so much about this activity. Eventually, we found a cab driver to take us to pick the boat up. It wasn't far, about 3 miles, but we didn't want to drag our rolling duffle bag that far. We had to wait a bit for Robert to give us an orientation to our boat, so we checked out Barton Grange Garden Center, picked up a few supplies, and had a nice lunch. Robert and Mandy of Crabtree Narrow Boats were very welcoming and provided a really thorough introduction to Linden. Robert brought the boat out of the marina and then turned the tiller over to Randy. He stayed on board with us for about half an hour and then stepped off at one of the bridges. We didn't even have to stop the boat. He was walking to a pub where Mandy would pick him up. I took a turn at the tiller and even took it under a bridge and around a few bends. The canal is really narrow and at places resembles a drainage ditch, but the scenery is beautiful. We found a place to pull over for the night at Garstang. We found a nearby pub, and Randy had some mushy peas. We watched a bit of rugby. It's the World Cup and England was playing Argentina. When we left the pub it was tied and England was the underdog. We have TV on board, and we turned the game on, England had a huge lead and won the game. What a day we've had.Read more