Off to the UK w/o Howie pt 2

On Monday, May 19th, we rented a car and left London. Driving on the wrong side of the road is hard! But Harris managed beautifully. Judy got better as the week went on...at not squeaking every time we turned a corner, or had to go through the millions of roundabouts. (Look right!) We were very grateful (mostly) for our little sat navigator, tom-tom. Sometimes it told us the shortest way to a destination was via VERY small roads, instead of the major roads that were much easier to drive on. After we figured this out, and looked for a few alternative routes, we did much better.

Our first stop was at Salisbury Cathedral. Gorgeous, as all these cathedrals are.

Stonehenge was nearby. A shuttle bus takes you from the visitor center to the actual site, and a roped off area keeps you from getting too close, but it was still worth the visit. This is the only stone circle with horizontal stones still there.

We parked outside of the city of Bath, and walked about 10 minutes into the actual city.

Bath Abbey, next to the Roman Baths. When it started to pour, we went in for a short evening service.

The Royal Crescent that is seen in many British Jane Austen movies.

After a large `pub' lunch, we weren't that hungry for dinner, so we found this little Crepe place (three tables) and had a wonderful light dinner.

The Royal Theater in Bath sells cheap tickets at noon, so we got £6 tickets to the show Jersey Nights. It wasn't Jersey Boys, but more of a concert highlighting the songs of the Four Seasons. It was fun to hear the lads sing in American accents, then talk in their usual Brit accents in between numbers. The £6 tickets let you sit way in the back of the third balcony, but since the show wasn't sold out, we were moved to the third row from the front!

On Wednesday we drove from Trowbridge (where we were staying outside of Bath) to Port Isaac on the Cornish coast where the series Doc Martin is filmed.

The roads got smaller and smaller and smaller....difficult to navigate, but everyone does it. People pull over to let oncoming traffic by, since these roads get down to one narrow lane.
We parked at a lot at the top of the hill...good thing! The roads into the town seem less than one lane wide to us, but cars managed. People walking on the road duck into doorways to let the cars pass. When we were eating our pasties by the bay, we saw a Fed Ex truck try to go up the hill and out of town. He backed down the lane 5 times to let other cars in, and finally, he just blew his horn and gunned it up the hill. He didn't come back down this time, so it must have worked!

We walked through the small town, saw some of the places where exterior shots are done, then walked on the other side of the bay to climb a hill for more lovely views.

The beach where fishermen still come to bring their daily catch. The smaller brown house on the hill below the big brown house is Doc Martin's house.

Off to the UK w/o Howie pt 1

May 10, 2014...off to England!
(this pic is actually of Chicago, our first layover..and where Tasha and Ewan used to live)

But first, we had to stop in Florida to see some very important people.

River, 10 months old.

We left Florida on Wednesday, May 14th, and arrived in London early in the morning on Thursday the 15th. Our kids, who are experts at this travel business. told us not to give in to the temptation to sleep until the sun went down. So, although we were very tired from the all night flight, we checked into the hotel, left our bags, and went walkabout in London town. The city is full of beautiful architecture, both old and new. We particularly enjoyed the older, beautifully decorated buildings..and the history was everywhere. London struck us as very big, very cosmopolitan, and full of people of all nationalities.
(a cautionary note we saw everywhere and appreciated, and needed! ..the markings on the ground at crosswalks that said, "Look right...or look left" as we automatically did the opposite. People here just drive on the wrong side of the road!)

Over the next four days, the weather was sunny and gorgeous (and very unusual). We did several touristy things, but left ourselves plenty of sights to come back to in the future.

Changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace.

Big Ben

A view from an observation deck close to the top of St Paul's Cathedral. Judy climbed part way up, and Harris did the whole climb and paid for it the next three days.

Outside St. Paul's Cathedral

The Tower of London.
We obviously didn't take enough pictures...because we also visited Westminster Abbey, the British Museum, the National Gallery, and the Olympic stadium. We got quite good at riding the "tube" and only got turned around once. We downloaded 3 of Rick Steves's audio tours before we left and used them on walking tours of 'the City', 'Westminster area' and the British Museum.

Spring Training 2014 part 10 (Driving home)

Thursday March 27th - Friday  March 28th -   (Days 385- 386)



 Harris caught his last Mariner game at Surprise Wednesday afternoon (M's lost to the Rangers after coughing up 4 runs in an inning). He hit the road early Thursday morning at 2:30 AM (in shorts) and made it home just after 4PM on Friday (wearing long pants, socks, and sweatshirt). He took the following pictures so that any interested person can follow along and see the interesting patterns that Harris observed in these two days regarding:

color of sky

atmospheric temperature

moisture content (amount and type)
clouds

Rather than going back via California and I-5, he opted for the 130 mile shorter (and potentially much colder) route via Las Vegas and Boise. The roads were much less crowded and he will gladly make this his default method for traveling to Spring Training.

 pictures taken in Northwestern AZ

 He noticed the plastered sign and couldn't resist stopping for a quick picture.

Now north of Las Vegas in Nevada...

Crossing into Idaho

Oregon Friday morning

Snoqualmie Pass Friday afternoon!

Hard to believe Harris was warm one day and the next day, in the cold and rain, already planning for next year's Spring Training.

Spring Training 2014 part 9 (Wrapping up Spring Training)

Friday  March 21th - Wednesday March 25th  (Day 379- 384)

Life after Rick left has been pretty much the same. Wake up, take a walk, head to a ball park (while stopping for a dinner selection to cook later), meet some folks at the game, return to the RV campground, and check in with Judy before watching something downloaded onto the computer. All of this is while in 80+ degree days and 55 degree nights. Not a bad way to spend March.

 The last meeting between the Padres and Mariners was a night game
 and the place was sold out with 12,500+ fans. Harris
had his usual seat.

And the fireworks were grand (for a Spring Training venue).

Most meals include a healthy salad...

The favorite place for tailgating is Surprise Stadium. 

Green grass (and plenty of it), happy folks, and sunny days.

Harris discovered power and plugged into it to use the micro wave and watch a 

program while waiting for a night game on his next to last day.

Harris was offered the use of a grill to cook his

brats and a burger to occupy his time while 

cooking. He turned down the burger.

But joined in the conversation with the KC Royals fans. 

They also arrived several hours early.

The finished product...with leftovers for the last game tomorrow.

Gorgeous night for the game. 85 degrees at game time. 

King Felix gave up 2 runs in the first inning and then 

settled down. Meanwhile the team backed him up with 9 runs.

He did his traditional walk after every strike out (6 for the 5 innings)

Final score was 9-5.

Spring Training 2014 part 8 (Rick Departs)

Thursday March 20th - (Day 378)

 This blog entry is one of those bad news--good news types. The bad news is that Rick left and the good news is that Harris still has one more week in Phoenix watching baseball!

 The last game for Rick was a Brewers vs Mariners game. We ended up sitting next to Jim Gatner's wife. Jim Gatner is a retired Brewer's all star player and we enjoyed bantering with them about their low key celebrations whenever the Brewers did something good. The game was a good one with lots of scoring and some good defense plays, but the Mariners couldn't come back in the 9th this night.

Virgil, the Washington neighbor who cooked dinner for Harris a couple of weeks previous, had promised a fish fry from his Dakota ice fishing expedition, so on Rick's last night  he delivered. The walleye was breaded with Ritz crackers and some spices after the fish was dragged through an egg mixture. He skipped the Cajun seasoning upon request. Virgil also provided seasoned fries and coleslaw. Rick provided the cheesecake dessert! Harris simply enjoyed the delicious dinner.

 

Thursday morning Rick packed up and treated Harris to a send off breakfast at the nearby diner. The breakfast/lunch/dinner consisted of eggs with spinach and feta cheese scrambled together, homemade corned beef hash with a couple of eggs atop it, cottage cheese, a pancake, hash browns, toast, and coffee. As this blog is being written, Harris is still full.

Rick's good bye wave.

Harris found a way of dealing with the separation. He went to Surprise to watch the Angles vs Royals game. He found a seat in the shade and thought of Rick. Shortly after this picture was taken, Mike Trout launched a sinking fastball  off Weaver that rocketed over the deep center field wall 450+ feet. That was worth the price of admission!

And of course, Harris never passes up a picture of a cutie that reminds him of River. After the game he  proceeded to Howie's parking spot in Peoria to write up the blog before heading to the night game.

Spring Training 2014 part 7

Sunday March 16th - Wednesday March 19th - (Days 374-377)

Four more days of baseball and sun find Harris and Rick with only one goal-- get in a double header. And they did with a game at Brewer's stadium and later back to the Mariner's home park hosting the San Diego Padres.

 On days that the Mariners were off or a distance away, Rick and Harris saw much of the Padres and met several of the players' significant others. This made it easy to root for the Padres (when the Padres weren't playing the Mariners).

Harris used some Costco baked chicken leftovers with avocados, tomatoes, cherry craisons, walnuts, and lettuce for one dinner.

On one of the daily walks Harris noticed a bunch of balloons drifting over the area.

The perfect Thomas house? Great lawn for Harris to mow and roses for Judy!

Harris and Rick noticed one of the new baseball play review trucks practicing for the season. The MLB guys said this year they are also trying to get all the teams to take no more than 2 minutes between innings for commercial breaks.

At the Brewers home park...and in the shade!

Rick mentioned that this is a high light for many Brewers fans...Since this is the only stadium that plays a recorded national anthem, we guessed that it was to pay for these guys to perform.

A new spot that they found 2.3 miles away from Peoria stadium for cooking dinner (and the only spot Rick's bocci balls let him down).

Dinner between the double header.

The night game started at a comfortable 80 degrees, but dropped slowly while people (including Harris and Rick) kept adding layers. They have become true desert creatures. 

 

It was an exciting game with the lead changing hands several times and a dramatic comeback at the bottom of the 8th inning. The Mariner fans were going crazy!

And the Padres tied it up at the top of the ninth! This was 3.5 hours into the game and the coaches decided to call it a game at the end of nine. Not a  bad way to end the day.