Stonehenge!

First stop was Windsor Castle, which was absolutely brilliant! (Pictures to be posted tonight!).  Now we've driven to Stonehenge on our way to Bath.

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Two Days in Leeds

Clara and I left London Tuesday morning and drove up to Leeds. Leeds is the city that my Mom grew up in, and her cousin David still lives up there with his wife Kate. This picture might capture our experience the best: rainy, sunny, stormy, all wrapped up in one. The drive was mostly uneventful, only got lost a little bit in downtown Leeds!

We didn't let the rain stop us from getting out for a walk before dinner. David & Kate took us on a walk through the University grounds. It was a bit wet and muddy, but nothing we can't handle being from Seattle!

The next day Clara and I drove to York, about 25 miles west of Leeds. Our first stop was the Railway Museum, where we watched a fabulous play based on a well known and much loved English book called the Railway Children. It was very well done, and included a couple of appearances from a REAL restored steam engine (seen above). Clara liked the play so much she bought the book afterwards and is almost done with it a day and a half later!

From the Railway Museum we walked across the river and into the town centre of York, destined for the York Minster. You can see the famous church here in the background behind Clara. We toured the church, and climbed all 275 narrow, steep steps to the top of the tower. The view of the city was quite impressive, and Clara used the vantage to photograph the gargoyles affixed to each corner of the tower.

After a full day in York we drove back to Leeds and went out with Kate and David from some great Thai food at their local fav, Jino's. It was not fancy by any means, but the food was excellent!

Today Kate had the day off, so she joined us as we ventured out into Leeds. Our first stop was the Abbey House Museum, where you can find a fully authentic, restored Victorian-era street. They have relocated real victorian era shops from around Leeds and rebuilt them in the Abbey House. So you're indoors, but you can walk through the cobble stone streets and into all the shops you'd have found in Leeds during the Victorian era. Clara really enjoyed herself. You can see her here in dress up clothes, which she wore for the rest of our tour.

After the Abbey House Kate took us clothes shopping (well, took Clara anyways...) and then we stopped at a bakery for some cheese and onion pastys, sausage rolls, and custard tarts. Yum!

Stomachs full, we jumped in the car, found the M1, and high-tailed back to London, where we had 7:15p dinner plans with Andrew, Katherine and our friend Colleen, a fellow Amazonian and all-around good person. During dinner I shared our plans for tomorrow: to take advantage of having the car and visiting Windsor Castle, Stonehenge, and Bath. Google maps says it's ~ 5 hrs of driving, so I thought we could manage it in a 10 hour day. Colleen has $500 on us not being able to make it back into London before 8pm. Stay tuned to find out if we can make it! (and no, Mom, I will not break any rules...)

Cheers

A New Temer in London!

Well, after a long night of travel Clara and I arrived in London this afternoon (local time). Clara got her first passport stamp!!! We took the train into Paddington Station (below)......

and caught a cab to Andrew & Katherine's flat in Maida Vale, where Andrew was waiting to welcome us. It was so great to see him (and Midnight!).

While we waited for Katherine to come home from work the three of us took Midnight for a walk around town, along the canal and around the local streets. The weather in London right now is very much like it has been in Seattle, cool, overcast, but dry. Possible rain in the forecast for tomorrow but then hopefully warming up through the rest of the week.



When Katherine came home we went out for a pint and some dinner. We stopped at a local pub that makes great pies, but they didn't allow minors after 7p. So we had our drinks then found a pizza place to finish off the meal. Clara was practically sleeping on her plate so we wrapped up, came home, got her to bed, and now I'm plotting out my route to Leeds. In the morning Clara and I pick up a rental car and head north to the town my Mom was born and raised in. Stay tuned for more updates on our adventure!

Rich

We're Off to England!

Clara and I are leaving today on a 10 day trip to England.  We'll be visiting Andrew and Katherine, and some of our other friends and family.  Should be a good time in jolly olde England!

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Crepes at the Farmers Market

Saturdays in the summer mean a trip to the Magnolia farmers market.  They have great fruits, veggies, and flowers, but our favorite destination is the crepe stand!

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Summer = Hiking

It's been a while since my last post (have I started all my posts lately with those words??), and while I wish I could say it's because I've been off hiking for the last 3 weeks, really my life has been mostly filled with work. I have managed to fit several great hikes (and a quick trip to Las Vegas) in on my weekends however. Here are a few shots to showcase the country I've been exploring this month:

This is a view from the Denny Creek trail, while enroute to Lake Melakwa . I did this hike with my friend Kristie, from NYC. We were headed for the lake, but turned back 2 miles from it after losing the trail in the snow several times. I had strange flashbacks of my attempt to summit Mt. Whitney 2 months earlier!

Makayla and I hiked Mt. Si, a small peak just outside of Seattle. It's so convenient, and so popular, that people will even hike it after work. It's a fairly brutal 4 miles and 3100' from parking lot to summit.

The next weekend we hiked in a slightly more exotic locale...the Red Rock Canyon outside of Las Vegas. We hiked a trail with similar distance and elevation to Mt. Si, but very different scenery. This is a picture of us at the top of Turtlehead Peak.

Our destination, Turtlehead Peak, in the background.

Just last weekend we hiked to Granite Mountain, part of the Alpine Lakes network of trails. The trail was fairly busy since it was a beautiful day, but the views were absolutely worth it! Above is our first view of Mt. Rainier in the distance.

Our goal is the lookout at the top of the peak. The last stretch of trail was in snow and rocks, and very steep. It was challenging!

...but totally worth it! Mt. Rainier again..

I can't walk through snow and pass up an opportunity to go sledding! Believe it or not, there is a technical term for the act of sliding down the snow on your butt: glissading! (Though wikipedia seems to think glissade is a ballet term...ridiculous!)

So those are the highlights of the last few weeks. Who says summers in Seattle aren't fun?!

Happy 4th of July!

Despite being half Brit I'm completely embracing Independance Day...its a paid day off, who wouldn't??!  :-)

The kids and I are down at the Sculpture Garden and Mrytle Edwards park, where the city is having a day of festivities, including live music.  Thunderstorms are forecast for later today, but its nice right now!

Cheers, Rich

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