Jason's Daily Notes

Day 2 of the road trip. We got up around 8:30; Asia practiced driving in the car park before we set off. She took us to Sheffield, where we stopped for breakfast/coffee at the shopping centre (M&S). Then, we drove to the other side of the shopping centre where Bernadet bought some hiking shoes.

Finally, we were off, through Sheffield and into the Peak District. The landscape was beautiful, snow-covered. But, as we began our drive around, suddenly a racketing noise came from the back of the car. We pulled over, and discovered that the tire was flat. Ouch. So time to put in the spare, which was slightly more difficult because we were on a slope in a driveway in the snow. Mike got right on changing the tire right away. I called the rental company to coordinate what we could do - they said that we could bring the car in to a tyre centre in the nearby town of Chesterfield.

So Bernadet drove (on the spare tyre) to Chesterfield. We waited for while for them to approve the tyre work, so we walked to Burger King and had some food. I challenged them to pronounce a challenging poem about the English language pronunciation by B Shaw. We walked back to the tyre centre (dead pigeons!) and the car was done and ready to go.

The day was almost over; so much for seeing most of the peak district! Instead, we headed straight for the snake pass and drove over to Manchester, taking in the view along the way.

Around 5:30pm we arrived in Manchester. We drove in circles before finding a parking garage near the city center/cathedral and walked around. I took a box of cereal with me to munch on. We saw the cathedral. Walked down toward the town hall, and back to Piccadilly gardens.

We left Manchester. Got stuck in traffic. Took a detour. More traffic. Played 2 truths and a lie. Finally got on the motorway. Went to Preston. Had dinner at a chain-looking pub serving American/pub food. I had a bbq chicken sizzler plate. Mike and I also ordered lots of starters to share.

Drove on into the lake district, (along the way I learned to open a bottle from another bottle and with a lighter), got to our hostel and checked in. We arrived about 14 minutes after the reception closed, but luckily the guy stayed open for us. We chilled in the lounge for a little bit, and I played connect four with Bern as Mike watched Family Guy/American Dad on TV.