Don's UK Trip with his wife

Day	Date	Time	Where/What/Who/etc? click any of the snaps for a larger/nicer one!
Thu	July 30^th	Early Morning	We arrived at Heathrow on Air Canada after a pretty nice flight -- Don was VERY relaxed! We got in on time at Heathrow, picked up our luggage OK and then got into our rental car quite quickly, a small blue Mercedes.
		Morning	Once Don figured out how to drive on the wrong side of the road again (!), we headed out to meet Jim & Bev. We stopped at an M6 services and had a cup of tea and a snack, and then called to let them know we were close.
		Lunch	We went for a nice stroll in the country with Jim & Bev after we arrived, stopping by one pub for a pint and another for lunch. We then took a nice nap in the afternoon!
		Evening	Phil Sparks, Tim Bowler, and Reed Lamborides showed up at Jim & Bev's for a nice dinner get-together. We also have a couple teenagers & a neighbor, so it's a nice big crowd. Don hasn't seen most of these people in 15 years, so it was lots and lots of catching up! We end up talking around all sorts of things until maybe 1 or 2 in the morning.
Fri	31^st	Breakfast Morning	We sleep in until around 9 or so & then have breakfast w/Bev (Jim left for work already). Bev is able to help us get connected with our show (Les Miserables) in London, but we're a little disappointed to be unable to get any decent seats for the evening show, so we settle for some top rated seating for the matinee. Plans have LOTS of flexiblity! We head out for Bournemouth around 11 & head along the coast road. It's a gorgeous day with sunny skies, so the vacation is off to a really nice start! My wife is simply delighted when we encounter "Sussex" things on the way, like the "Sussex Pad Hotel"… nothing like things from home! (Sussex, Wisconsin of course!!) We arrive at 70 Elmes early afternoon & stop in to say hello. We then hop across town to check in to our B&B (Rushton Court), which is down by Merrick Park.
		Afternoon	We all went down to Boscombe Pier for a late lunch/early dinner. My wife took a nice family snap of the Shaves after dinner, and then we went for a walk on the pier. We're pretty tired after all the driving, etc, and we're still pretty jet-lagged, so it's an early-to-bed kind of a night!
Sat	Aug 1^st	Morning	We sleep in until breakfast time and then have a really nice breakfast at Rushton Court. We drive over to 70 Elmes & go for a stroll down by the river with Mum & Alan. My wife gets her wonderful smile on camera for the 1st time on this trip!
		Lunch	We stopped at the Horse & Jockey pub for lunch… a "Mushroom Muncher" is what I had; my wife had some kind of tuna with cheese thingy. And (of course!) a couple of pints each to wash it down!
		Afternoon	We visited with my uncle Doug & Daphne at their new farm, with Gary & his wife and their family. We had a nice natter for an hour or so, and then left to go visit Granny Shave.
		Late pm	We visited Granny for 30 minutes or so & then headed off for a walk up on Hengisbury Head. It was still a glorious day, so we wanted to make the most of it. The happy Shave brothers got snapped, too!
		Evening	We stopped to pick up lots & lots of Fish & Chips for dinner at 70 Elmes. We just missed the big storm downpour and had to sit in the car for 20 minutes. Dinner was VERY satisfying when we got it all home and dug in! Dad had a jar of cockles all to himself!!
Sun	2^nd	Early	We got up very early and went for a nice long walk down through Merrick Park, the Gardens, to the Pier and then along the beach to the Cliff Zig-Zag (puff, puff!) and then back to the B&B via the Landsdowne. We walked a bit far without breakfast, so we were pooped out by the time we got back! Breakfast was really good again (at Rushton Court), so we were happy.
		Morning	We took Alan & Dad over to visit Grandad's grave. A nice visit.
		Afternoon / Evening	We traveled across Dorset with Mum, Alan & Ae-Kyung (Ann) and drove down to Sandbanks & across the ferry to Studland, where we had an outdoors lunch. We went to Corfe Castle after that. It was cloudy, but not wet. Corfe is as awesome as ever. We visited the coast to see Durdle Door next, and sat on the hills and watched the sea for a while in the sun. Gorgeous day after all. We stopped for a pint at a nice beer garden on the way home. We grabbed dinner at an Indian takeout & went home to 70 Elmes to eat. Very tasty! We then said our farewells as we were leaving for a trip up country tomorrow.
Mon	3^rd	Early	We arose early, breakfasted, and checked out on our way to the Cotswolds via a couple of stops.
		All day…	We visited Salisbury Cathedral (in the rain) and were very impressed by the history and beauty. We stopped at Stonehenge (rain too!) but just a brief glimpse. We continued on to Bath, where we stopped for lunch at Sally Lunn's -- the oldest established restaurant in Bath, circa 1680. Very nice. After lunch we continued north, pausing at Tetbury for a pint at the Snooty Fox… my wife loves the hanging flower-baskets! We were planning to stop in Cirencester (Don's ancestral family ties) but we didn't have much time and it was continuing to rain so we headed on to the B&B at Hampnett.
		Evening	We find our way to Nod's Gate and check in early evening. It's a really beautiful little cottage tucked away from the madding crowd -- the one with a white gate in front. That's our little blue Merc, too! My wife is quite happy with the room, although it's a bit strange because it's a guest room arrangement in this tiny old cottage! We also have 3 simply HUGE dogs (bearded collies) as co-habitants!! They're fine companions, but are a bit "wet-blanket" smelly. The view from the window of the beautiful green fields is just perfect (except the weather!)… note the sheep, field-stone wall and two of the thousands upon thousands of the public walk signs? We had a nice light dinner at the pub we walked to… my wife is fascinated by the dry-stone walls
Tues	4^th	Early	Breakfast & check-out… we drive to North Wales. What was supposed to be a ~2 hour drive …
		All day…	… turned into an all-day trip down endless tiny country roads! If there was anything we decided we were going to avoid it was this!! We did not have a good day.
		Evening	We arrived in Capel Curig around 6pm or so and checked into the Tyn-y-Coed … we had dinner at the B&B and hit the hay early after a couple of pints.
Wed	5^th	Morning	We slept in until about 8:30 & had a nice breakfast & checked-out on our way to Kendal, in the Lake District. We stopped just up the road (3 miles, actually!) at Swallow Falls for a walk and then again in Betws-y-Coed to shop a little… we found some nice horse brasses and also Welsh love-spoons. After these shopping stops, we were driving north towards the coast road when we came across the Gardens at Bodnant, something we hadn't even heard of. We ended up spending 2 hours walking these wonderful gardens and then had lunch at their cafeteria. It was simply wonderful! We eventually got on the motorway up to the Lake District and reached it quickly (after yesterday's meanderingly murderous drive!)
		Late pm	We checked into the Garden House Hotel in Kendal, and had dinner there. Very nice place.
Thu	6^th	All day?	My wife spent a little time at the Emergency Room today after feeling very poorly, like she had walking pneumonia. Not a nice day. We visited some local sights, but didn't do much. Don is feeling under the weather a bit, too. We had dinner at a local Indian restaurant and early to bed.
Fri	7^th	Early	We got up around 8 & had breakfast & set out to drive to North Yorkshire. We stopped on the way to buy a really nice decorative teapot (a piano) at a pottery works.
		All Day	We checked in to the Abbey Lodge in Harrogate around lunch time & then go into town for lunch. My wife is still feeling poorly, and we have difficulty choosing a place to eat. After we finally pick somewhere (French!), we're not very happy. She wants me to "drop her off" and go get the car and come back to find her ? which I don't want to do, so we walk slowly back to the car & then head back to the B&B. Don is now in a thoroughly foul mood and wants to do nothing but head south NOW and get on a plane home! Am sent out to get some space "and a damned Valium!"… he goes off to find his old Army barracks. Some breathing room makes things a little less rotten, so it gets better.
Sat	8^th	Early	We got up at a reasonable hour, had breakfast & checked out to drive South to London. Don calls both Jack & Jean and Dave & Barb on the way to tell them that neither of us are feeling too well, and also calls down to 70 Elmes Road to tell Mum. No-one is happy about this, but we don't want to "share" whatever it is that's bugging us both. We checked in to the Harrow Hotel in Harrow, another very nice place. We also extended our stay through Monday night.
		Afternoon	We make our way into town to see the “Les Miserables” show at 2:30pm in the West End… had some trouble finding the Ttheater, but we make it in time for the curtain! It's an absolutely stunning show, the best either of us has ever seen. We have dinner after the show at a wonderful Italian joint just across the street, and then tour a little bit down St James' Park to see Big Ben, and then ride the Thames down to the Tower. We search for an open pub in the area but no joy… so we head home to Harrow.
Sun	9^th	All day	We visit the Tower of London in the morning & have lunch at a pub on the Wharf. We head back to Harrow after lunch & go in the car to try and find Don's old house on Albany Road. It's a challenge to track it down as the area has changed considerably in 20 years (!) but it's pretty much the same.
Mon	10^th	All day	We spend our final day visiting Westminster Abbey, the Tate Gallery and then Kew Gardens. We sure walked a lot that day! After Kew Gardens (which was FAR less flowery than we hoped, unlike the wonderful Gardens at Bodnant in North Wales) we were going to head back to London on the Thames, but the boat ride was over an hour's wait (!) so we went to the pub instead… After that we climbed on the Tube and rode and rode to get home. Sleep was nice that night!
Tues	11^th		We leave Harrow early-ish for Heathrow and fly back to US until 2 or 3 in the morning…yawn!!