WARWICK IN THE SNOW

Two small cars were much cheaper than one minivan big enough for all nine of us. So off we go - caravaning through the snow. The countryside IS beautiful and the roads aren't horrible, yet. Tom led - he had some idea where we were going, AND he had a GPS. I had a white hanky tied to his rear window wiper arm to follow.




Except for a traffic jam, due to locals trying to get up a slippery grade of about 2%, the drive was completed without incident. We dropped everyone off at the front, drove through the rest of town, parked the cars, walked back to the castle and FOUND OUR GROUP. How DID we ever live without cell phones?








The "Gypsies" were in the courtyard, complete with strongman, fortuneteller, perriot dancer, and "Brenda the Bearded Lady."

Inside, there was a roaring fire in the banquet hall - set for dinner with 100 or so of your best friends.




In the lower level, the residents were getting ready for what would become the Battle of Barnet. Lots of cooking, sewing, fixing of armor and weapons.

With wax figures





and the occasional reenactor.



This lady was sewing banners for the battle.And was willing to come out of character to answer some questions about the battle and the outcome. Seems the Duke of Warwick's force were winning handily until some of his troops got confused by the similarity in their banners and those of the opposing forces. They attacked their own troops and they lost the battle. The Duke lost his head.

The upstairs was set up as a later, slightly more gentile period around the turn of the last century with a young Winston Churchill and his contemporaries.


All we could say after our visit this summer to Biltmore was, "Mr. Vanderbilt, 'Eat your heart out.'"
This is the REAL STUFF. Well, much of it, anyway. Another of the reenactors stayed completely in character to Tom, but when he asked if there was anything he could do, I said, "Yes. Please tell me when the snow will stop." In a perfect stiff English accent he replied, "So sorry, m'Lord. I can't help you with that. Do you Google?"

There were other visitors as well, from a slightly earlier time.






The weather had taken a turn for the worse. But it certainly turned the castle into a fairyland.





So we said, "Good by" to Warwick Castle and its inhabitants. We did pause for Tom to say a special farewell to Brenda.




Life really is good.

LONDON - DAY 2 & 3

Of course Ben was the CUTEST child in the program.



After a yummy dinner and a couple of pints at "a pub with a Thai kitchen" we all watched Casey shine. Sorry, no pictures. But, "trust me" she was wonderful.

Friday morning we were up bright and early to take the tubes to see the Tower of London.

In the middle of a snowstorm. Hey, at least it wasn't still raining.

No pictures allowed of the Crown Jewels but here are a couple as we entered. Snow pellets do really strange things on a digital camera.





The Beefeater cut the outdoor tour short because of the snow. We found a delightful female Warden to take us on a tour of the inside. From King Henry VIII's armor to "modern day indoor conveniences".




And the truly amazing Norman chapel.



Lots of armor, weapons and I don't know what









OF COURSE, after we'd spent most of the day indoors, when we came out the SUN WAS SHINING. (I'm writing this a week later and that's the ONLY sunshine we've seen.Maybe tomorrow). The walls and towers were still closed because of the snow,
so Emily got a picture of the guards, we hit another great pub and headed back to High Barnet. I met Tom along the way and he and I went to get two rental cars for tomorrow's adventure to Warwick.

In what is forecast to be the "Blizzard of the Century". We don't know if that means the 21st Century or the last hundred years. I guess we'll find out tomorrow.

LONDON

We arrived in London a week and a day ago but this is the first "downtime" I've taken.

I say , "I've taken" because Emily and Carol are out again today, shopping and seeing more of the city.

It was the first time Emily and Andrew had flown and Emily wanted proof for her friends to see.



We arrived around 8:30 am local time on the 15th. Except for schlepping all the luggage, we had an uneventful trip across the pond and into London from Gatwick airport.

We had tickets to see Harry Potter on the IMAX screen at the British Film Institute at 2:30pm, excuse me - 14:30 so we had a little time to start our sightseeing. We took the train from Gatwick to Victoria Station and then a bus to Waterloo on the South Bank. Where Andrew took this picture.


And here's Emily's first London picture


Even though it was cold and rainy, street performers were braving the elements to try and make a pound.



When I dropped a pound in his basket, he said, "Thank you. Thank you very much."

After the movie, we took the tube back to Victoria Station and chilled for an hour at a Burger King because it was rush hour and we didn't want to tackle the really crowded tubes with our luggage. More major schlepping and an hour later we were at Tom And Ann's flat in High Barnet - ready to collapse. Having survived Day One.

Our next day is a quiet "try to overcome jet lag" day. I go to see Ben in his school Christmas Pageant. YES, they still have them over here! And then dinner out with the whole family before we go to Casey's dance recital.





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TINKERBELL JERUSALEM NEWS

Well, I said three or four blogs ago that I had to get our summer vacation travels published because we were leaving soon for London and Paris over the holidays.

We're leaving tomorrow afternoon, arriving London Gatwick at 7:30am on Wed.

And here I am finishing the blogs I wanted to do before we left. I finished our summer together in the last blog.

THIS one is MUCH more important. Please "click here" and read my April 10, 2010 blog about finding the book "Tinkerbell Jerusalem" and, much more importantly, how I came to meet Bonnie Kelley, the author.



We've stayed in touch, rather irregularly. And although it's not the project we envisioned together, SHE has completed - or started - a wonderful project.

"Imagine the Good"

is such a far reaching project that I cannot possible explain it all before our plane leaves tomorrow.

So, PLEASE click on the link and learn what this group of women are doing.

AND BUY THE DVD !!

I'm not receiving any remuneration for this endorsement. Except the thanks of Bonnie, a dear friend who changed my life with her book and her counsel.

Bonnie was director and co-producer of the DVD. Her love for life and people is evident throughout.

That's all for now - we're off to Europe !

Life is SO good.

SUMMER EXTRAS

Our planned travels for the summer of 2010 ended with the week in Gatlinburg.

But sometimes things don't go as planned - For example, see my blog from April 2009 where Carol and I got married ;o)

After our week in Asheville, we had one more trip. Not planned, but, Hey, that's what's life is all about.

We had traded into our N Myrtle timeshare for a week in August. We were giving it to a family who are some of our best friends. But then their situation changed and they couldn't go. We offered it to another dear friend who said she'd go with her two daughters. Then one of the daughters canceled so we decided to join Marianne and her daughter Angie. This could have been a total disaster because the timeshare is really really small. It trades as a two bedroom but it is TINY. And except for Carol working with both of them, we'd had none to little time with them.

As usual, when will I learn, EVERYTHING went wonderfully. By the middle of the week, we said, "We don't want to come back to the beach ever again without you two !"

From the beach to Broadway at the Beach and Ripley's Aquarium, to just hanging at the pool. We had A BALL !

We even made it to a couple more sunrise walks.




We had thought that we'd not make it to Brookgreen Gardens until maybe next year. But, here we were back at Myrtle Beach. And we'd promised Emily that we would go, "the next chance we got." So -

Archer and Anna Hyatt Huntington, artists, poets, REALLY RICH people started their "gardens" in 1931. The vision was to collect work of the finest American sculptors, provide an outdoor showcase for Anna's incredible work, all in a garden setting highlighting South Carolina Lowcountry indigenous plants and animals. Their success shows in the simple fact that the gardens have been open to the public since 1932 and the number of visitors grows every year.

EMILY found THREE of her true loves - art, nature and photography. I cannot put ALL of the 201 pictures she took over two days. But here are a few - I can't even say, "of the better ones" because almost all of them were this beautiful.

And not to be too redundant - but if you "click" on the picture, you'll be taken to a much larger version.








And I even took pictures, too



And complete strangers took pictures of all of us



We've found a new secret about leaving Myrtle Beach but "shhhhh" don't tell anybody.

Another wonderful inbetween, my - becoming OUR - trademark of making an incredibly right decision for totally wrong reasons. The kids REALLY wanted to go back to Johnny Rockets. The only time we could possibly work it in was on the Saturday we were leaving. Carol insisted, while I wanted to get an early start home. We agreed to stay until 2:00.

Our checkout was 10:00 Saturday morning. The same as almost everybody else who were at Myrtle for that week. We have found that leaving earlier, even MUCH earlier on Saturday morning did not avoid the incredible traffic jams in the small towns west of the beach. In order to go to Johnny Rockets, we decided to check out, go to Ripley's Aquarium, have lunch and then head home in the middle of the afternoon. And it worked out perfectly. Broadway at the Beach was almost deserted, there were no crowds at the aquarium or the shops or the restaurants.

Emily, Andrew and Angie




Andrew, Tom and a Horseshoe Crab





A close look at a shark




The ride home was unobstructed by all those other tourists. We DID see mile long lines of stop and go traffic headed TO the beach.

So another - week long - inbetween. Mary Ann and I used to agree that the secret to a long happy marriage was "Low Expectations."

What I had simply hoped would not be a disaster turned into a great week with new wonderful friends.

Life is good - especially at the beach !

OK - JUST ONE MORE

Carol has wanted to see Biltmore for a long time. She wanted to go while we were in Gatlinburg, but it just didn't fit into our schedule.

Carol reminded me that we hadn't been out in the Airstream since last summer. And we found a campground within 4 miles of Biltmore. And we hadn't been to Maggie Valley or Cherokee either. AND we had an open week before our next trip to the beach.

So, off we went.

An easy drive to Asheville was ended with an infuriating loop around the town while trying to find the campground. We actually drove past the exit, got off and back on three times before we finally found it. But we finally arrived safely and picked a quiet spot overlooking the river.

The next day we took the ten minute drive to the Biltmore.







No picture taking was allowed inside the house, so go back to the top of this page and click on the Biltmore link. It really is amazing what you can do when money is no object. A friend of a friend said that the outrageous, excessive opulence actually made him sick to his stomach and he had to leave before finishing the tour. But as people whose mantra is "Too much is never enough", we LOVED IT ALL. Emily wants to buy the place and move in. I told her we could sell the doublewide and maybe pay for a couple of days maintenance on the house and the remaining 8000 acres.

Emily has discovered the joys of photography. She took many, many wonderful pictures of the vast array of flowers in the gardens. Here are a few -







After touring the house, we went to the "farm". The kids had a good time, but Emily, especially was in heaven visiting with the two retired carriage horses.







There was lots of cool stuff for Andrew to explore, too. Most of the equipment was labeled "antique" this or "antique" that. I'd really prefer "vintage" or just "used" since I remember almost all of this stuff being used back in Delaware County, NY on my cousins' farms.





The world's largest Chia pet


Doc Cudd, a blacksmith who really is an artist. Not only does he make art out of the steel, he plays the anvil as a musical instrument.




Carol had wanted to come to the NC side of the Smokies for Biltmore. But I'd been disappointed in our two trips to the TN side that we hadn't made it to Cherokee and Maggie Valley. Two of my parents best friends lived in Maggie Valley and I had such wonderful memories of Frances and Clayton Alexander, their beautiful home, their hospitality and friendliness to a little boy AND Clayton's trout pond.And many, many trips to Cherokee, LONG before it had a casino !

The Alexanders had traveled with my parents before I was born. Clayton and my Dad were both heavy equipment operators and went wherever the work, living in their trailers. So I guess the Airstream, even the doublewide were already bred into me.

When they stopped traveling in the late 1940's, Frances and Clayton returned to where they were raised near Waynesville, NC. Calyton really didn't want to stop playing with his giant boy toys, so he started a sand and gravel business. It was successful, so he started buying "bottom land" for access to the sand and gravel. A lot of land, pretty cheap because it was just a mountain "holler" miles away from the nearest town. When the area later became known as Maggie Valley, they were sitting on a mountain of money. They sold a lot of it, but kept the mountain behind their house. In the 1960's, the mountains were already completely covered with houses. At night the sparkled like stars. Except for a completely dark section behind their house. Clayton wouldn't sell it because he loved his mountain AND there was his trout pond. Not for fishing, just for enjoying. When we walked up to the pond, he would stop real hard on the bank and the big, beautiful rainbows would come to get fed.

The whole area holds so many wonderful memories for me that I wanted to share them with my new family. Clayton died 20 years or so ago and Frances died a few years ago. I found the road but the house was gone. The heirs had sold everything to a developer. We stopped at the sales office and were told that the house had been razed but the pond was still there.




This is where the house was



After a few minutes of "you can't go back", we drove on to Cherokee. Which had also changed greatly in 40 years. MUCH bigger, noisier, touristy with a casino and big hotels. But there were also new museums that we all really enjoyed.






I especially wanted Carol and the kids to see "Onto These Hills". IT had not changed. Still a truly moving experience. It's an outdoor amphitheater. We heard lots of thunder and saw lots of lightning. But the rains held off.

But it was only early afternoon, VERY hot, and Onto These Hills wasn't until evening. Something else that hadn't changed was the Oconaluftee River. Because many years ago some VERY smart Cherokees decided this river, flowing right through the town was a treasure that had to be saved. So Oconaluftee Islands Park was formed. Many childhood memories again, of my many summer days spent in the Beaverkill River in NY.






We had to be home Friday afternoon because it was their Dad's visitation weekend. I didn't want to worry about truck or trailer problems making us late. So we talked about leaving Asheville Thursday and spending the night someplace closer to Salem. During my travels as a single guy, I had met Garvey Hayes, another single guy in Florida. He wintered there but had a farm in VA where he had put in a few camp sites on Cripple Creek. I dug out his card and called him to see if any spots were available. There were, we went and FELL IN LOVE with the place. Quiet, right on the creek, miles of trails, HORSES, and Garvey and his new bride treated us like long lost friends for life.

The back of Airstream is almost hanging over the creek.



The campground doesn't have insurance for riding, but Emily was happy just to make friends with a new bunch of horses. Garvey said, "Don't let her go inside the fence. The horses would probably stomp her. NOT because they're mean, but because they're so spoiled they act like they're big dogs and they'd knock her down trying to be THE ONE getting all her attention.

And they really did follow her up and down the fence like puppies.






Andrew even enjoyed "visiting" with them



By Thursday evening, Carol and I were saying, "Instead of going home with the Airstream tomorrow, let's just take the kids to their Dad's and come straight back here for a weekend alone together."

So that's what we did. And by the time we were headed home Sunday night, we had decided to leave the Airstream at Cripple Creek for at least a couple of months and go there every chance we got. Weekends with the kids and weekends without the kids.

More wonderful friends and good times, all because I was paranoid about getting home on time.

And did I mention? REALLY GREAT motorcycle riding in every direction!