Walk 5 - 13.5 miles - Total 74.0 miles - To Go 926.0 miles

London Loop Sections 14 and 15 - Moor Park to Hatch End and then to Elstree and Borehamwood.

Alarm goes off at 6am and I am so comfortable in my slumber I curl up for another five minutes. Then a thought strikes a chord telling me get up quick and get ahead of the traffic and I will be home for supper. I obey. Kit on, out the house and at Elstree station car park by 7.30am. Two cups of tea at 75pence each help start the day. Continuing with the theme of yesterday things are not what they seem. Rob turns up at 7.45 and tells me he is in the station car park. I say I am also but can't see him. I realise he is in the drop off car park at the station front next to the cafe I got the tea. I tell him I am in the car park on the other side of the bridge. Five minutes later another call....there is no car park on the other side of the bridge. He has driven over the bridge when I clearly told him I was in the car park on the other side of the bridge. We discuss the finer points of other sides until I say I will meet you at the station entrance. Finally we are together and his tea is not too cold.
We have decided to bring two cars and leave one at the end and one at the beginning as a tactic to reduce funding dodgy cab firms killing us with their prices and not knowing where to go. Yesterday £30 to get back to where we began and over an hour doing it as we tried to guide the cabby back. Off we set and it only takes us an hour to do 10 miles to the start of our walk. School runs and rush hour combining to test our mindfulness once again. So looking forward to Offas Dyke, Hadrians Wall and Coast to Coast where we can wake up and walk.
These two sections of walk are absolutely fabulous. Lots of woodland and pastureland. Yesterday I had joked with Rob that we should walk at night to avoid all the traffic challenges around the loop. Today I commented there was very little difference between the light now and that at night. A thick blanket of cloud reminding me of the descent in to Luton when you go through five minutes of grey before hitting the runway. The rain was continuous for two thirds of the walk. But there is something enjoyable about being in lovely scenery with the rain falling. Yesterday we stopped to admire some snow drops in full bloom. Look around for them at the moment they are such a delicate and demure flower appearing in the most challenging weather conditions of the year. Do stop and take a look. Also saw first signs of daffodils poking through. Today we saw first green shoots appearing on trees. That special moment when the buds chameleon like change from brown to green promising possibilities of spring in a few weeks time.
We continue our walk and come upon a stable where Sarah is at work. Missunderstanding once again as Sarah talks about Bob's fine chest, stature and powerful legs. Robert is preening his feathers with such talk but I have to tell him that she is referring to Bob her horse she is training for dressage. I am concerned at the puzzled look on Rob's face but believe he can cope with the truth. Sarah tells us more about Bob's personality and if in the field there are 25 horses and she calls Bob he comes running to her. Bob is a fine horse and does cast a glance to tell us that Sarah is special and he loves working with her.
On we go and eventually come upon Grimm's Dyke or Devil's Ditch in Anglo Saxon. A dyke to divide two lands and keep livestock seperated. A bit macabre all this as we walk to Grimms's Hotel up ahead. Why would you keep the name Grimm? Then we learn the house has history! It was owned by Gilbert of & Sullivan fame, built by Foster the famous architect in 1870. Gilbert died there in 1911 as he tried to rescue a young lady house guest struggling in the lake. Rob and I conjectured many theories about this incident - devil worshipping in the Devil's Ditch?.
I am sure most of them were wrong! We found the house which was impressive and I sang sections of the Mikado at the entrance. We had a well earned rest here and a relaxing place to spend time. Tea and a biscuit was £4 such a contrast to our 75p tea on the other side of the bridge earlier this morning.
We are getting fitter and almost half way round the loop now. We are learning that any pub or eatery we plan on eating at will be closed for refurbishment or just closed cos they hear we are coming. Some miles passed quickly today when we found we disagreed on issues from the Terry Pratchett Dimbleby lecture this week. After a number of miles we reached alignement on the matter of risk. One perspective of seeing risk as something to avoid and the other as something to manage brought us together.
Next week we hope to break through 100 miles. A little note on what this is all about. When I got home I did my yoga stretches and Karen returned home. She was so excited to tell me about her adventure. She managed to get a parking space in the disabled slot next to Waitrose entrance in Hitchin. She took her walking stick and a trolley and walked slowly shopping around the store. She has been working hard at the gym and with Pilates and her exercises to gain strength in her ailing muscles. She felt a wonderful feeling walking without a frame or a wheelchair or scooter and getting all her shopping done. It felt 'normal'. Rob and I may walk 1000 miles but it is nothing to the struggle people with MS are fighting every day.