God's Own County - Yorkshire

Did you know that no matter where you are in England,

you are never more than 75 miles from the coast?

Did you know that England is about the same size as Alabama?

I've mentioned before how much I love to travel by train, 

but there is really no better way to see England than by car.

Of course, I'm not the one driving so that's easy for me to say.

But, Matt loves it, too.

A few weeks ago, we took a weekend trip up to Yorkshire for a look see.  Yorkshire is the largest county in England and is in The North.  As soon as we got out of London we began seeing signs pointing the way to The NORTH!  I love that.  I think we should adopt this in the US.  I'd love to see signs leading the way to The South.  

The highways motorways in the UK are great.   Road signage is plentiful and very detailed.  I'm still figuring out some of them, but most are pretty clear.  There are plenty of well-marked emergency refuge areas.  You will also notice quite a few Speed Cameras.  And obviously everything is reversed.  You drive in the far left lane and pass only on the right. 

Gas stations are familiar looking with just a few differences.  First, it's called petrol not gas.  You will also notice it's sold by the litre rather than the gallon.  This works out to about $8.50 per gallon and diesel is a little more.  Diesel cars are very popular in the UK and they get great mileage.  We have one and can go forever on a tank.  I'm also in love with the Motorway Service Centers.  They are large, clean centers with fast food, cafes, coffee shops, bookstores, grocers, etc.  They are open and safe with huge clean bathrooms with showers.  Like a truck stop in the US but much nicer. 

Once we got into Yorkshire and off of the Motorway, everything changed; narrow lanes, hedgerows, roundabouts, dry stone walls, villages, markets, moors, sheep and pubs.  I turned on the radio and snuggled into the heated seat.  Then with Matt and Helga (our GPS) leading the way, I sit back and soak up England and the Yorkshire countryside.   

Several days later, we left Yorkshire with me declaring that I wanted to live there.  

(This usually happens wherever we go, mind you.)

I've broken our trip into the following posts which I'll be publishing over the next week or so.

York

York Minster

Harrogate

Skipton Castle

The Wheatley Arms

Bolton Abbey

I hope you enjoy the Yorkshire Road Trip!

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