Day trip to Whitby, North Yorkshire, and met some new friends!

A bit of an overcast blustery day... it sure didn't feel like early July! But, we wanted to get out, so we took the dogs and hopped in the car for a drive over to the seaside town of Whitby.

First though, we said goodbye to Helen and Tony. Always fun times with them, and we look forward to the next time! 

Beautiful day for a hike up Roseberry Topping

Funny name for a place... Roseberry Topping. 

We set off with Helen and Tony and the three dogs. Only a 25 minute drive to the parking area. It's paid parking, because it's quite a popular spot.

Who says that cruising is expensive?

Well, of course cruising can be expensive. But if you do it the Kevin and Ruth way, it can be very reasonable!

We received some good news yesterday regarding our cruise!

Visitors!

Monday was the last day of the hot spell. We ended up not doing anything that day... it was cooler to stay in the house, and really too hot to take the dogs for a walk of any length, although we did get them out for decent local walks in the morning and evening when things were cooler.

Yesterday, we had two sets of friends visit!

June Expenses - slightly over budget

We had a budget of $3,200 CAD for the month of June, and we ended up spending $3,600 CAD ($2,650 USD).

We started the month in Spain, and flew to Edinburgh, Scotland where we rented a car and toured around. Then drove down to northern England where we ended the month.

We spent a couple of hours on the Coast to Coast Path

We had a beautiful day yesterday, and we took the dogs for a walk up at the edge of the North York Moors National Park. This section is part of the Coast to Coast path that runs 192 miles (309 kms) across northern England.

We had actually considered doing the entire walk this summer until we found out how much it would cost in accommodation and meals!

Wandering the town of Yarm

Our hosts departed around 8am, and we were left in charge of the two doggies. We decided to take them for a long walk into town and around to a path on the other side of the river.

Yarm is a market town known for its busy high street. The area has been settled for over a thousand years, and they even found a 9th century Viking helmet back in the 1950's.

We are in North Yorkshire, England for the next eight days

On Friday, we arrived at our next house sit. We are in the town of Yarm, on the river Tees in North Yorkshire, England, having driven down from Aberdeen, Scotland over a period of three days. I'll include a map down below for you.

Scotland is where the game of golf originated

And I have family history that involves the game of golf!

Yesterday, we left the amazing Balintore Castle, but not before we had a look at the Great Hall. I was actually surprised and impressed to see the completed condition of it, as I was expecting it to be still under renovation.

Well, we weren't awoken by any ghosts!

Balintore Castle was built in the early 1860's as a hunting lodge for the Victorian elite. Even at the time, it was only occupied during summer and fall. The original owner died ten years after construction, and it went through several owners until the last one used it regularly until the 1960's. 

It was then that it began to deteriorate. 

Hiking near Balmoral Castle

Scotland's Balmoral Castle is the summer residence of the Royal Family. Queen Elizabeth loved spending time there, and she was there when she passed away in 2022.

Ruth had wanted to do some walking on the estate grounds, however it's very expensive. 

Castles and seaside!

On Monday we took a drive up to the northeast coast of Scotland. We had a couple of castles marked off that we wanted to see as well as some attractions along the coast itself.

It was a really windy day though... glad we weren't driving a motorhome!

Researching our upcoming cruise

For those of you who missed the news a few weeks ago, we are going to be on the Princess Emerald doing a 16 day cruise to Greenland and Iceland departing on July 31st.

Our friends Glen and Steve have done a lot of cruises, and a couple of weeks ago she sent me a few ideas regarding how to make your cruise better.

Quails, chickens, and dogs

We've never had to look after chickens before as part of our house sitting responsibilities, and of course never quails as well!

But our daughter Lindsey and her family have chickens, and so we've kind of seen what's involved... and it's not that difficult!

Dunnottar Castle and the town of Stonehaven

We have been waiting for a nice day to get to the coast and visit the beach town of Stonehaven, and we finally got one yesterday. And, Stonehaven has several fish and chips places, one of which does gluten free!

And of course we did the walk to Dunnottar Castle...