Our Winter Wonderland!

I know that most people in the state have a lot more snow than we do, but this is the first time in 17 years living here that we have had this much snow. As of this afternoon (Sunday, Dec. 21) we have 12 inches. The picture taken out of the office window, the foot measuring stick on our little outdoor fireplace and the deer under the tree were taken either Saturday or Sunday morning. The others were taken Sunday about 3 pm. Our picnic tables look like they have marshmallow tops and the other picture is our roof. The pipe on the left side is the vent from our master bathroom and on the top of the roof just right of center is our Direct TV dish. Guess who doesn't have tv? Maybe in a few days if the snow will stop. Did I tell you that it started this morning and hasn't stopped yet? Big flakes that are just full of water.

I'm thawing out my turkey for Christmas in the garage, but it has been so cold that after 24 hours it is still frozen solid, just like it came out of the freezer. I'm worried that the Vickie, Dave and Cooper will not be able to make it down. They are leaving for Vegas Christmas evening(if the airport can get back on schedule) and the roads have been just terrible. We can't even get out of our driveway or up onto the main road. It is the curse of living out in the county - the beauty and the pain. Oh well. Everybody have a wonderful and marvelous Christmas and New Years. All will work out for the best and everyone will be thinking of each other, even if we can't see them on Christmas day.

Bear and Bobby

We finally got to see the grand kids and give them their souvenirs from London. Hayven got a new outfit for her bear - he became a member of the Royal Guard, fuzzy hat and all. He was very cute. As you can see we brought D a police hat. He wasn't too sure about it, but he did put it on once so I could get a picture of him in it. We thought he was a good looking "Bobby"!

I can't believe how much they have grown and changed in just the short time we haven't seen them. Hayven has gotten to be quite the young lady. Being in first grade has made her seem so much older. D went to the Pumpkin Patch with the kindergarten class I volunteer in today. We had a great time and what a change from last year. He is so much more ready to be in a school setting. He participated in quite a bit of the class activities. He also got to take his first school bus ride. I was informed that now he was ready to ride Hayven's bus. I love being with him! He can be such a sweetie. It was a good day for all!!!

We are now home from London!

This is the Millennium Bridge. It is a pedestrian bridge across the Thames River. For us it was the quickest way to get to the next subway stop. It was the scariest walk that I have ever made. We walked down the middle and I held tight to Dick's arm. He would stop to take pictures and all I could do was look straight ahead. We made people go around us. It was the only way I could make it across. Probably not one of my saner decisions.

Well, we made it home on Saturday. Our flight out of Houston to Seattle was 1.5 hours late, so we didn't arrive until 9:30 PM and made it home at 11 PM. Our body clocks are slowly getting back to normal time.

We had a very good trip and saw lots of tourist traps. We had never thought about visiting London, but when the conference came up, it seemed like a good opportunity to visit. With everything so familiar - food and language, it wasn't hard to adjust to their country. That made it that much more fun. We never had fish and chips, but we really didn't miss that. We had so much else to try. The money rate of exchange was really bad for us - 1 pound was $1.90. We just kept saying everything was double for us. That didn't stop us from buying souvenirs and taking tours. It's only money!! If you ever get a chance to visit the U.K. you should. The history that our country and theirs share is incredible.

This is my last blog about our trip, but I hope to add to this blog site in the future. Check back sometime and you might see something new posted.

Friday, October 10th

Today we went to the Changing of the Guards at Buckingham Palace.  It takes about 45 minutes and thousands of people gather at the fence and on the statue across the street from it.  We got there about an hour before and were just one person from the fence and had a pretty good view for getting there that late.  I have to admit that if anyone ask me if they should go see it, I would say "No way".  It was slow, boring, and the band played show tunes - My Fair Lady and the theme from James Bond, for 2.  While they were playing they just slid in the changing of the 4 guards.  I think we could have spent our time in a better way.  After that was over we went to meet John and Maria at the Convent Garden Market.  It is a huge shopping center with store fronts and open air stalls.  It has been a market since the 1630's.  It was great fun and finally found some bargains.  We were close enough to our hotel to walk home, so we turned in our Oyster Cards (for the Tube) and got a refund.  We sure couldn't do that in Washington D.C.

We are spending the evening packing and repacking to try to keep our checked luggage under 50 pounds.  I think we are just about there.  We leave here at 4:30 in the morning and fly out at 8:30 AM.  We are going to be exhausted by the time we reach Seattle and are looking forward to our own beds and having ice in our drinks again.  I post again probably on Sunday with more pictures.  Good night to everyone!!

Thursday, Oct. 9th

Yesterday, Wednesday, we moved hotels again and this one is located in the theater district.  It's about a 4 block walk to the subway station (it's call the Tube).  This is our main means of travel.  We've gotten pretty good at it.  The last 2 times we have taken it there has been a problem and we had to take a taxi one time to get back to our hotel and then last night it was just slow.

After moving hotels we went across the river to see Shakespeare's Globe Theatre.  It's not real large but very interesting to learn the inside information on it.  We also had lunch at our new favorite restaurant - Wagamama's.  After our tour of the Globe we rode the Tube to The Hard Rock Cafe.  Of course we had to get some of their London Hard Rock items.  They were having a private concert in the main restaurant, so everyone (who was nobody) had to eat in the bar.  45 minutes of wait time we were sat by the bar and had to talk really loud to carry on a conversation.  We still had fun.

On Thursday we took a bus tour of Windsor Castle, the Roman Baths in Bath, and Stonehenge.  I bet you can guess which picture is which!!  It was a beautiful day and a great trip.  Not enough time at Windsor.  We all agreed that we could use a full day there.  How embarrassing we were late getting back to the bus and were the last to board.  You better believe we were almost the first to board at the next stop.  Stonehenge was no surprise.  It isn't real big, but what really surprised us it that it is in the Y of 2 highways.  One runs right on the edge of the area fenced off for Stonehenge.  Gwen, they keep the grass cut low by SHEEP!  They had a few running free in the Stonehenge area and a flock just on the other side of the fence.

Tuesday Oct. 7th

Today I took a walk before heading over to the National Science Museum. It’s fun to visit the neighborhoods around the hotel. I checked out all the real estate windows as I walked pass and most of the apartments or townhomes were renting for between 650 and 1600 pounds a week. The townhomes were selling for 1 to over 2 million pounds. It’s not cheap to live in this city. All of the apartments and row homes that I have seen are made of some sort of brick. Regular red brick or large stones that are painted, unusually white. This is one of the more interesting row of homes that I came across today.

I walked by Hyde Park and then down to the museum. I passed the Royal Albert Hall. It is a well known venue for concerts.

We leave this hotel tomorrow (Wednesday) and will go to the Waldorf Hilton until we leave Saturday. It is in the middle of the Theatre District. We won’t make a play, but just seeing the night life will be a people watchers dream.

Monday October 6th continued

Today Dick started his conference and I went site seeing by myself. I decided to go to the Natural History Museum. It is only about 4 blocks from our hotel. What a beautiful building. Of course I loved the dinosaur exhibit. They have 14 complete skeletons, 2 animatronic raptors and a full-size robotic T. Rex (I took several short movies of T. Rex). As you can see how large the building is by the dino skeleton in the entry hall. I thought the right foot of the Iguanodon was great. They also had it’s front feet and how they use them like hands with one thumb spike, 3 fingers (to support and walk with) and a flexible finger to help grasp food with. Who knew - not me!

I walked down to Harrod’s after several hours in the museum. It was about another 8 blocks down the road. It is a huge department store and I couldn't afford anything in it. It is like the old department stores in the US. Different rooms for each department and lots of people to help you. A very upscale feel to it. The travel book says that they have been known to turn people away because of their dress! They have a food court where you can eat at counters or just buy food to take-out. They also had fresh meat, veggies, fruit, breads, desserts, just about anything you could imagine.

My feet were hurting by this time, so I decided to take the long way back to the hotel. I saw a lot of the neighborhoods around South Kenningston. All row houses - but very nice and small shops and markets. All was very interesting.