July 2: Okehampton Castle, Tintagel Castle, and Port Isaac

 We had high hopes of seeing about 6 different sites today, but instead we saw only 3. I had to accept that we just can't see everything. We first went to Okehampton Castle. It was really interesting. Despite being a ruin, it still had many recognizable areas and I wonder what it would have been like to live in that time period. We spent quite a while there, and then headed for Tintagel Castle on the coast. It was about an hour drive father West. This Castle was on a cliff face. It was also very interesting and we took lots of pictures. As evening approached we wanted to make it to Port Isaac which is where Doc Martin is filmed. We walked along thestreets we'd seen our favorite characters trod. Sunset was beautiful over looking the Bay. As we were eating, seagulls tried to steal or food and we laughed and joked. The funniest part of the day was our ride back to Witheridge. We were using the gps which was telling us to go down little dirt or travel roads that you would not have expected to have been registering as real roads! many of them were more narrow than our drive way at home! This brings me to another point. Since the country is small in comparison to the USA, people here see driving an hour to go somewhere as a great distance. We finally made it back on the"pig paths" sometime after midnight. Pictures are here:  https://plus.google.com/photos/104423898538711271791/albums/60315

July 1: St. Martin's Church And Cathedral in Essex

 It was drizzling a bit today, but as the morning went on, it cleared up. There were a bunch of sites I wanted to see that appeared to be close together on the map, but we found that some of the historical sites were not really maintained and/or restored. We took a ride to Essex to see St. Martin's Church. We had difficulty finding it because it was a tiny church tucked in between a coffee shop and another store. It was built in 1069 !--amazing! At some point someone thought it was a good idea to PAINT OVER the beautiful murals with GRAY PAINT! They are in the process of restoring the church now. Across from the little church there is a HUGE Cathedral. We were going to go inside but they charged an admission and we didn't think it was worth it. We did take a lot of pictures of the outside which is beautiful. After that we went to our place and went to sleep. Pictures are here:  https://plus.google.com/photos/104423898538711271791/albums/60311

June 30: Stonehenge

June 30: Stonehenge We got going pretty early, at least for us, still on NC time. We put our destination on gps and started out. It was only to be a couple hours ride to our destination but we were unsure of where we were going in terms of where the different sights are. So there we were riding down the road and then what did we see in a field on the right? Stonehenge ! We did a quick u-turn and went to see it. While it was amazing to see, it was a little disappointing because we were kept about 25ft from the actual stones. It was interesting to find that it was still a mystery as to why the stones are arranged the way they were. While walking around we spoke to many people from around the world. Again, I am reminded how culturally deficient we are in the U.S. and how overall we think everyone is, or should be, like us. While we were there we bought a pass that is good for most of the historical sites so now we have a map and guide book with most of the sites in it. In the evening we finally got to Witheridge, a TINY village. We went to the address of our host and we're pleasantly surprised to meet Laura and see the cozy room we had rented. We brought our things in and went across the street to the village pub for dinner. While there I tried a "cider" which are fermented fruits. I am sold-- cider is now officially my favorite drink. I am partial to Strong Bow classic and look forward to trying the other flavors ♡ it was a good day;photos here:        https://plus.google.com/photos/104423898538711271791/albums/6030501852736645041

June 28-29: "London and all its diversions"

June 28-29: "London and all its diversions" Still not acclimated to the time change. We keep going to bed late and getting up late. It was afternoon before we got into London to visit some of the sites. One thing I must say about the public transportation system is that it is very clean, safe, and comprehensive. There's no trash on the trains. They are well lighted as well. Even late at night it's safe because we see young people, families, etc riding them. Of course we have noticed that one reason is so safe is because there are security cameras EVERYWHERE ! In the subway, on the streets, in the shops, "Big Brother" is watching. This would not go over in the U.S. We would see it as a violation of our privacy instead of a way to be kept safe. I'm not sure how I feel about this. I mean if you're not doing anything wrong, what's the problem, right? I just think it's a little creepy that you're always being watched. We went to the Tower of London, and walked along the Thames River. At one point it began to rain and we decided to go to the museum of modern art. Although I'm not much of a contemporary art person, I did enjoy looking at some of the items and trying to figure out what may have been going through the mind of the artist. On a different note is been trying to get in touch with Rachael for several days by using Skype. I was finally able to reach her and it really warmed my heart. Despite having Tim here, I miss my Rachie-Roo. On the river walk area there were shops and booths set up celebrating the Love Festival which was inspired by the Gay Marriage Act being passed. The message was to celebrate all types of love. It seems that people here in London get along well regardless of their differences. We had a late lunch at a Greek restaurant which was really good. Unfortunately I'm beginning to see how expensive everything is here. Our dollar is worth only about %65 of a pound, making us extra cautious as to the things we are doing. While we wanted to ride the London Eye, we decided to do it at the end of our trip instead of now, that's if we can afford it. It's about (20 £) $35 each. On Sunday many things were closed as far as monuments and such so we went into down town London. It was VERY MUCH like Manhattan with large, fancy shops, clubs and restaurants. We went back to the hotel relatively early and got packed and ready as we were leaving in the morning for the Southwest coast. We decided to try using a service called Air B&B which is a system where people rent out rooms in their homes. like couch surfing only you pay to stay there. It's much less expensive than hotels. We are scheduled to stay with a lady in a small town named Witherage. This will be our base for a few days while we explore the surrounding area. Pictures can be found at: https://plus.google.com/photos/104423898538711271791/albums/6030510710932785617?authkey=CNuzhdKqx_WeSgn

June 27: Picking up the Bike & The "Expensive Dump"

 We had a good night's rest in Epping, we slept till 11am. I noticed that it didn't get dark till VERY late. I mean very, very, late. It was 11:30pm till it was full dark! This made us think it was earlier than it really was. That and we were still feeling the effects of jetlag. Anyway, we finally got our things together and went to the tube station. The " tube" is their word for the subway. Our first task was to go to the bike rental shop, so we took the tube into London. When we finally got to the bike shop they let us know that the bike we had rented was no longer available. We started to panic because the bike he wanted to give us was far too small and we knew it wouldn't have space for all our luggage. Fortunately he gave us another bike that had large cases on it that we could use instead. We finally got the bike packed and prepared to leave for the hotel, b but we weren't sure where to go. While Tim was looking it up on the GPS, a young woman got on the bike next to us, so we asked her where the street the hotel was on was located. She said that she should know because she was a London cab driver in training. Instead of just telling us how to get there she took us there. A woman we knew only a few moments took time out of her day to help us. When we finally got to where the hotel was supposed to be we were puzzled because we didn't see a hotel sign. Instead we saw what looked like an abandoned building. Then we saw someone come out of the building so we asked where the hotel was. He pointed to the building. We were pretty shocked but it was getting late and I thought it might not be too bad inside. I went in to see the room, it was a dump. When I tried to get my money back I was told there are no refunds. I was really mad because we paid the equivalent of $125 a night for this place. I wouldn't have been upset if we'd spent only $49, but I expected much better for the price. Then we needed a place to park the bike as its illegal to park on the street. The clerk told us that therewas no parking for the hotel but he knew of a lot 2 blocks away that was only 5 £ ($8) a day that his friend owned. While Tim was having this discussion, I saw another man come by who was cleaning out the trash bins along the street. I thought surely be would know where we could park. He told us we were welcome to Park the bike in the church parking lot right there. To make sure I went in and asked the priest. He said it would be fine and said the bike would be safe because they locked the gates at night. We went to our room, unpacked, and headed out to find a place for dinner. After a LONG walk we found an Indian Restaurant. While the menu was in English, there weren't any explanations of what the dishes were so we asked the waiter for help. We had a wonderful dinner. What impressed me were how many different languages we heard spoken in that tiny restaurant! French, Spanish, Italian, and Hindi. We never see that in Rockingham County! --OR even in Greensboro for that matter. It was amazing to see all these people of differing ethnicities getting along peacefully. After dinner we went to bed, the mattress was pretty hard, but we were exhausted.

Pictures are here-click link to see pictures

June 25-26...Getting There !

June 25-26: Getting There Our plane flight from Durham to London was fairly uneventful; Although I did learn the following:

• No matter how many sleeping aids you try, you cannot sleep on the plane! 
• Movies are free on flights to London 
• Airline food has come a long way, it was actually pretty good!
•  No need to bring a pillow, they gave us each one, and a blanket too, too bad we couldn't sleep! 
• Wearing layers wasn't necessary, it was actually WARM in the plane instead of FREEZING. 

Our Real ADVENTURE began when we landed. I'd bookeded us a cozy room at a B &B just outside London for the first 2 nights to give us a chance to relax and recover from jet lag. We navigated the "tube" (subway) as far as we could but then had to get a taxi to take us to the little village. When we arrived, hungry and tired we were told that our reservation had been CANCELED due to a roof leak. "Didn't you get the email? " NO! Thankfully our cabby, a nice man from Ethiopia, helped us find a place although there was only room for one night. It was a quaint little place in a village not far from where we were supposed to stay. We checked in and went looking for some food. While strolling we found a place to get SIM cards for our phones, gum, and, most importantly, COFFEE ! Sitting in the coffee shop we chatted with the owners who were from Lebanon! They gave us tips about what to see in London and graciously gave us their Wifi code which we needed in order to find a place stay for the the next few days. After a couple hours of searching I just booked what I thought to be a pretty pricey place in Zone 2. ($125 per night). The pictures looked Ok, but Trip Advisor reviews were mixed. We had no real choice at that point, we were exhausted and just wanted to know we had a place, so we booked it. Then we went to our little B&B and collapsed.  Some things I noticed that are different here in the UK from home:

• the toilets are round instead of oval. 
• They call coffee the way we drink it "white americano style". 
• No matter where we went everyone was friendly and helpful, especially in the village where we spent the night.
• WiFi is NOT easy to get here,  no anonymous users.   You  have to register even to use  "free public wifi".-- which was fine if only we can figure out how to do it!  
•  Children are still in school here till the end óf  june.
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New Name, New Adventure !

Greetings fellow (virtual) travelers !

I have found my ultimate travel partner, one who not only will travel the world with me, but who will travel down the road of life with me !  Tim and I will be starting our new adventure of husband and wife on September 20th, 2014, but before then we will be spending 5 weeks in the United Kingdom !  Come with us while we explore England, Wales, Scotland, Isle of Man, and Ireland June 25-July 29th.....Mark your calendars and sign up to follow us !