September 5, 2018 — Thirsk

Landed early. Yet another Virgin Atlantic flight that my seat didn’t recline (31A) so no sleep. Ed’s bag was last off the plane and then we caught the shuttle to the Car Rental Village to pick up our car. They tried upgrading us but we explained we wanted a small car for the narrow roads. We got the middle insurance package and he cheerfully gave as a tiny Mercedes A Class with free GPS. Nice man.

Drove over to the Airport Pub for lunch. The crab cake was okay but the salad dressing was sweet and jellied . . . ick. It was fun to watch the planes come in though.

Back on the road we headed around Manchester across country to Thirsk. Nearly there a low tire pressure light came on and then a stupid bell and warning, “Time to take a break,” but on the M1 there is no place to stop and we didn’t want to take a break anyway since we were nearly there. It kept beeping so we pulled off at the next rest stop to quiet the machine. Nothing like a four-wheeled baby sitter . . .

Our five-minute break over, we drove the twenty miles to Thirsk, stopped for air in the tires and checked in at our hotel, the Three Tuns, right on the market square. It’s a labyrinth but has a working elevator and parking and the hostess is very friendly.

Walked up to the James Herriot Museum – my reason for visiting Thirsk – and entered. It’s larger than it looks and great fun as well as being informative. It has a lot about Alf Wright (the real name of James Herriot) but also a lot about Veterinary Science and history. We thoroughly enjoyed it but I forgot to take pictures so only have the front. Sigh . . . Blame it on jet lag.

Wandered around Thirsk a bit and found a pretty park on the river with lots of ducks. Another tourist (German, we think) asked Ed to take his picture with the ducks so he did. Finally returned to the Three Tuns for supper. Ed got the fish and chips and I had a lamb shank. Then we decided sleep would be a great idea. Yes!!