Saturday, June 27, 2009
Hi folks, bet you were wondering if I was still around to post another blog. Well, I am, and after a 7 week absence I will try and bring you up to date.
Three of those weeks were spent in Europe. PTL we made it safely over many, many miles of highways both on the ground and in the air. Only casualty was a lost suitcase on our return, but it made itself back home the next day.
Some weeks before we left for London on May 27th, I had been feeling extremely weak. Went to my doctor and offered my complaint and felt it was maybe Lipitor that was causing the problem so he took me off of it. However, that same day, he diagnosed what I thought was a spider bite on my right waist as shingles, so a prescription for more pills to counteract any problem from the shingles. PTL I had no pain and no further problems, and took my pills rather faithfully for 4 weeks till we came home from Europe.
We left Portland, me weak as a wet noodle, and flew to Minneapolis where we met Julie, Dan and Micah for our long flight to London. Picked up a mini van (was packed to the gills with our suit cases) and headed North into the Lake District where we had 2 good nights of sleep at a B & B, the owners dog was most friendly (Micah now wants a dog) and the food and provisions was very good.
On friday we made ourway to the Lakeside & Haverthwaite Steam railway, where I dropped my digital camera, after taking one picture of the railway station. Hence no more pictures till the next day. I took scotch tape & pulled the camera case back together and the camera was once again working. PTL
Saturday took us 3 or 4 hours north to Dundee, Scotland where we toured the Claypotts Castle, once owned and built by my grandmother Stephenson's ancestors in 1569-1587. It is a small stucture by comparison to most castles, however it has family history so I am thrilled to have opened the door to the castle.
The castle originally consisted of 16 rooms, but has since been remodeled to 14 rooms. All visible walls in the castle were stone, no fancy wood paneling anywhere, but I suspect it had same once upon a time. Our guide was Murdo Wilson of the Scottish Historical society who took us from bottom to the top.
After a good nights rest at Aberlaw Guest House in Dundee, I made off with Linda's key to our room and had to mail it to the guest house from England later that week. I still need to write Linda and write a better apology that what I made in sending her a small note with the key.
We were making fairly good time heading to the Cotswalds in England when we came to a massive traffic jam. Took us nearly 3 hours till we got to the temporary rood off the freeway. We were nearly out of diesel fuel, so we quickly refuled and made our way on to Chipping Campden where we were to have 3 nights at Poppy Bank Bed & Breakfast. While on the 3 hour delay, we sang church songs and chorus's and had our worship time while creeping along the highway.
We had called ahead to let our host June (a retired teacher) know we would be late, so she taped the front door key and our room keys to the front door and we made our way as quiet as we could when we finally located the B & B. Had to inquire of some young men in the downtown area of Chipping Campden to find out where our street was.
Great fellowship with June and good food, let us enjoy the stay there. We visited Shakespeare's home, and his wife Anne Hathaway home and garden at Stratford-upon-Avon. We also took in Warwick Castle which left me limping from walking so much. Donna was smart and stayed just ourside the castle and enjoyed a book while drinking a coke in the shade.
Somewhere while we were in Chipping Campden, we took in a market, where the streets were closed off and food & clothing and all sorts of goodies were available to us. We also found a laundry mat and were able to get some dirty clothes washed (they are not found easily in Europe).
Wednesday the 3rd of June we drove back to Heathrow airport, and flew British Airways to Stuttgart, Germany. Had a great gentleman by the name of Stephenson at Heathrow who got a wheelchair for Donna and took us to the gate we would depart on. Was interesting to watch security set up for our departure. They brought out portable stands so we could be interviewed by the security personnel before departing. We did not have to take off our shoes, but my harmonica in the carry on case caused them some concern till they found it nestled at the bottom of my case. The security personnel were very thorough in checking under plants and platforms for any kind of device that might be hidden.
There is more to this trip, but I'll leave it for now as we found our way to the Hotel Gasthof zum Lamm in Steinheim, very near Kleinaspach, our destination for the next day.
Howard
Hi folks, bet you were wondering if I was still around to post another blog. Well, I am, and after a 7 week absence I will try and bring you up to date.
Three of those weeks were spent in Europe. PTL we made it safely over many, many miles of highways both on the ground and in the air. Only casualty was a lost suitcase on our return, but it made itself back home the next day.
Some weeks before we left for London on May 27th, I had been feeling extremely weak. Went to my doctor and offered my complaint and felt it was maybe Lipitor that was causing the problem so he took me off of it. However, that same day, he diagnosed what I thought was a spider bite on my right waist as shingles, so a prescription for more pills to counteract any problem from the shingles. PTL I had no pain and no further problems, and took my pills rather faithfully for 4 weeks till we came home from Europe.
We left Portland, me weak as a wet noodle, and flew to Minneapolis where we met Julie, Dan and Micah for our long flight to London. Picked up a mini van (was packed to the gills with our suit cases) and headed North into the Lake District where we had 2 good nights of sleep at a B & B, the owners dog was most friendly (Micah now wants a dog) and the food and provisions was very good.
On friday we made ourway to the Lakeside & Haverthwaite Steam railway, where I dropped my digital camera, after taking one picture of the railway station. Hence no more pictures till the next day. I took scotch tape & pulled the camera case back together and the camera was once again working. PTL
Saturday took us 3 or 4 hours north to Dundee, Scotland where we toured the Claypotts Castle, once owned and built by my grandmother Stephenson's ancestors in 1569-1587. It is a small stucture by comparison to most castles, however it has family history so I am thrilled to have opened the door to the castle.
The castle originally consisted of 16 rooms, but has since been remodeled to 14 rooms. All visible walls in the castle were stone, no fancy wood paneling anywhere, but I suspect it had same once upon a time. Our guide was Murdo Wilson of the Scottish Historical society who took us from bottom to the top.
After a good nights rest at Aberlaw Guest House in Dundee, I made off with Linda's key to our room and had to mail it to the guest house from England later that week. I still need to write Linda and write a better apology that what I made in sending her a small note with the key.
We were making fairly good time heading to the Cotswalds in England when we came to a massive traffic jam. Took us nearly 3 hours till we got to the temporary rood off the freeway. We were nearly out of diesel fuel, so we quickly refuled and made our way on to Chipping Campden where we were to have 3 nights at Poppy Bank Bed & Breakfast. While on the 3 hour delay, we sang church songs and chorus's and had our worship time while creeping along the highway.
We had called ahead to let our host June (a retired teacher) know we would be late, so she taped the front door key and our room keys to the front door and we made our way as quiet as we could when we finally located the B & B. Had to inquire of some young men in the downtown area of Chipping Campden to find out where our street was.
Great fellowship with June and good food, let us enjoy the stay there. We visited Shakespeare's home, and his wife Anne Hathaway home and garden at Stratford-upon-Avon. We also took in Warwick Castle which left me limping from walking so much. Donna was smart and stayed just ourside the castle and enjoyed a book while drinking a coke in the shade.
Somewhere while we were in Chipping Campden, we took in a market, where the streets were closed off and food & clothing and all sorts of goodies were available to us. We also found a laundry mat and were able to get some dirty clothes washed (they are not found easily in Europe).
Wednesday the 3rd of June we drove back to Heathrow airport, and flew British Airways to Stuttgart, Germany. Had a great gentleman by the name of Stephenson at Heathrow who got a wheelchair for Donna and took us to the gate we would depart on. Was interesting to watch security set up for our departure. They brought out portable stands so we could be interviewed by the security personnel before departing. We did not have to take off our shoes, but my harmonica in the carry on case caused them some concern till they found it nestled at the bottom of my case. The security personnel were very thorough in checking under plants and platforms for any kind of device that might be hidden.
There is more to this trip, but I'll leave it for now as we found our way to the Hotel Gasthof zum Lamm in Steinheim, very near Kleinaspach, our destination for the next day.
Howard
posted by GRANDPAHOWARD at 10:29 AM
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