Per Slugger's request, I'm bragging about the fact that my 13 year old daughter (Lauren)and I just returned from our first attempt at the C2C. We did it!!!

I wish I could put into words what the experience meant to us both and what it did for us both. We began our amazing adventure on June 10th and planned to reach RHB on June 29th but guess what? We actually arrived a day early! We capitalized on that by hopping a bus to Whitby the next day and exploring the Abbey, buying some souvenirs and raising a pint to our victory. (Well, Lauren's pint was full of chocolate milk but it still counts.)

The C2C gods were watching over us because we didn't suffer from blisters. At all. We applied Compeed the first couple of days in anticipation but they never materialized. I know that's unusual, especially when you consider that my daughter (Lauren) put less than 15 miles on her boots before we left!

We did it! It's an amazing feeling of accomplishment. This is our first walk of any kind and we went without a proper map. We had a GPS but it really wasn't useful and I ended up using it as a paper weight. We used the Trailblazer guidebook with hand drawn pictures and a compass. Again, the C2C gods really looked out for us.

I've been keeping a blog since before we left if anyone is interested:
www.walkmyfatass.blogspot.com

I can truly say that aside from giving birth to my two children, the C2C is the most rewarding and amazing thing I've ever done!

Now I'm planning the Next Big Thing....

Your enthusiasm comes through loud and clear.
Well done!!!

Thanks Pete. I hope my enthusiasm doesn't come across as annoying. I just can't stop grinning.

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Patti

I was going to read some of your blog and then go have dinner, but I couldn't stop until I digested the whole thing. Ok, I had dinner later, no problem. But I really enjoyed the read, you did a terrific job of expressing your feelings and enthusiasm.
Thanks for sharing. Oh, I'm glad, for your sake, that you didn't miss the Grasmere to Patterdale walk.

Thanks Gregg. I'm glad you liked the blog and am impressed that you read the whole thing. Probably a good thing you didn't eat while reading it; you'd have gotten indigestion.

And you're right, the Grasmere to Patterdale walk was lovely and I'm so glad we did it. I still regret missing the Patterdale to Shap piece but I'm convinced we made the right decision. Next time, I hope to walk every bloody mile.

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Patti

Well, Patti, I've now read right through your blog (any recommendation from Gregg is worth heeding) and I laughed so much at the way you write. What a treat! Do come back for another walk, and please write it up for us.

I replied to your PM, so I'll say it again on here, Very well done.
I too read your blog, very detailed, very interesting, very inspiring.
As I have always said, performance is relative to effort, no matter how fast or slow you are.
Very often the person that comes near last has put in more effort than the winner in a race, and in so doing has achieved a better personal performance.
Although not a race, you and your daughter certainly put in lots of effort and achieved a top personal performance which you can be very proud of.
Dave.

Congratulations on the walk, on persuading your daughter to come, and on compiling the blog. Well done for your achievement, especially given that you had only done such short distances beforehand; it was no mean feat.

However, I have to say that I did find some of your writing / criticisms of the people you met to be quite offensive, especially as there were a lot of people who were looking out for you, who were obviously concerned about you and your daughter's well being, and who put themselves out to help both of you.

My apologies if anything I wrote offended you or anyone else who read it. All of it was certainly penned in good fun. You are absolutely right - there were lots of people looking out for us and several of them were selfless in their willingness to help us. I thanked each and every one of them from the bottom of my heart in person (as did Lauren) and more than once on the blog I gave credit where credit was due.

If you are referring to Owen, whom we affectionately call "the dwarf", please know that its a title he is proud to wear and more than once, he introduced himself as such. We owe very much to Owen and I would never say or do anything that would hurt his feelings or lessen his feelings of self worth. Given that Owen is comfortable with the nickname, I hope that any readers of the blog will be as well.

Again, my apologies for offending you. Thanks for the feedback.

I thought the blog was very funny,in fact it was the funniest report I have ever read on the coast to coast walk.