(I’ve been so late in posting this write-up, that it seems silly to even post it now. For some reason, my brain labeled this activity WORK and then pulled a full meltdown about doing any of it. This is weird, because I like writing, but then I’m all procrastinatey about it. So here I am just finally doing it. I wrote in my journal the day of, so I’ve got the notes. Future Cheryl is just going to have to write these posts during any future trips like I did on previous hikes. Lesson learned.)

Some background: If you didn’t already know, I played roller derby in the Aughts (2005-2009) until my knees and feet gave up the ghost. My skate name was Foxfire and though I’d eventually learn all the various meanings in that name, I really only chose it because I was obsessed with Inuyasha at the time. It was a wild time of raucous games, whirlwind trips, and loooots of drinking. By the time I retired I was left with a dodgy knee and a network of lovely friendships. One of which was Tanya Hyde, the founding member who kickstarted creating a league in Atlanta.

One time when we meandered around a New Orleans graveyard, a busker (not sure what he was doing there actually) came up and decided we needed a song made up about us on the spot. In his song/rap he uttered the following: Tanya and her daughter Fox… which set us off, because Tanya is only 10 years older than me, but it gave us a laugh and she was forever my Derby Mama.

Earlier this year Tanya was back for a visit in Atlanta after moving to England and we were talking about me coming over to visit. I floated the idea of a hike, one that Tanya might enjoy, which didn’t include my usual brand of sleeping in the dirt. We decided on Hadrian’s wall – it was long enough, 84 miles (135km) but walkable within a week. There were Inns and B&Bs to stay in each night, hot food, and best of all a carrier company that would ferry your luggage from stop to stop. All you had to do was show up and walk. Perfect! Set the dates, paid the money and all I had to do was get there.

Easier said than done. Traveling by airplane these days is a apocalyptical nightmare. My first connecting flight was cancelled because of a tropical storm and therefore I wasn’t going to catch the actual flight to London. I spent four hours in lines and on the phone. Two meltdowns later, I’ve got a direct flight to London that only put me 3 hours behind schedule. As we were taxing out to the runway, the Captain informs us that we’re returning to the gate because of a medical emergency. It began to feel like the universe was pulling a prank, a real cosmic joke. And no, they didn’t ask for a doctor overhead like they do in the movies.

I finally got to Heathrow where Tanya met me and we were going to London to stay in her friend’s houseboat until traveling up to Carlisle to start the hike. Some train rides and a turn around the Underground later I’m finally in the spot I’m supposed to be, running on 28 hours of no sleep. I get set up with some espresso and we go eat some lovely Indian food.

The next day was a free day in London. I’d been here before, back in high school. Every year our school had international trips you could take during spring break. We stayed in London a couple of days and meandered up through Bath, York, Gretna Green, and finally stopped in Edinburgh. By the end I was horribly sick and had to stay in the hotel while everyone else went on the day tour of Edinburgh. Either way, it was incredibly exciting for 16 year old Cheryl to be in England, the homeland of the Beatles. I was obsessed. Anyone else remember that resurgence of Beatles hysteria/nostalgia in the mid/late 90s?

Back to the present, the day started out rainy and cool as we walked along the river. Heading towards Battersea Park, the rain really started to come down. I know its gauche to carry an umbrella in London, but I did anyway. I was surprised to see the bandstand from Good Omens (a show on Amazon that if you haven’t seen, you should). Ate some breakfast at a lovely cafe near a duck filled pond. We walked though Covent Gardens towards Buckingham Palace where the crowds really started to show up. Then it was through St. James’s Park with more ducks (another Good Omens filming location). Kept meandering into the city to a book store and then the National Portrait Gallery with some truly old shit. We took a break here in their cafe downstairs, and then took the tube over to the Tower. Ate some sushi, it was meh. We walked across the Tower Bridge and down towards the Globe and saw “As You Like It”. I know the general consensus is that Shakespeare is the start of modern English, but I still could have use the Cliff notes on this one. Still it was funny, the parts I understood and wouldn’t you know it, the Globe is also yet another Good Omens filming location. I didn’t even plan this, but ended up at three Good Omens spots.

Thankfully we got a cab back to the houseboat, because my feet were beat! I’ve said this before and I’ll say this again it is very different/harsher walking on concrete for long periods of time. Also in hindsight I should have bought new shoes for this trip rather than trying to make my old ones stretch.

The next day we spent on bus heading towards Carlisle, the biggest city near the start. The trains were on strike in this part of the country, still it was only a 8-ish hour bus ride and not entirely unpleasant. I saw the country side go from industrial to small farms and then the Yorkshire Dales imposing hill sides (well mountains, but think smaller like more exposed Appalachians) all from the highway. We got into Carlisle and settled into our first accommodation: the Arkale lodge. Across the road was an Asda which had the most British thing I’ve every seen – a whole aisle dedicated to mayonnaise. There was regular, light, spicy, various other “flavors” and then also something called “Brown Sauce” which looked exactly like it sounded. There was a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it space for mustard with your option of two sizes of French’s yellow mustard. Funnily enough they did have a good selection of hot sauces and I ended up getting Frank’s Red Hot to put on, well, everything.

Next blog: the actual start of Hadrian’s Wall!