Mr. Sandman

After breakfast at Cafe Hon we spent most of the day at the house today. Brad has been working like a madman refinishing our hardwood floors. He sanded down the first floor today and laid down a coat of varnish. While he was doing that I busied myself cleaning up around the house, mostly in the kitchen. We picked up snowballs on the way to JoAnn's to check in on her kitties. She called today to see how they are doing and I told her just fine. We were both weary and picked up some take-out Chinese food for dinner. It's 9:30 p.m. and I'm so tired I feel like crashing.

Wheels

I bought a car today. Selected a used Camry from Carmax. It's a 2006 with only 9000 miles on it. Rides like a dream. It's silver with charcoal interior. Thank got the car shopping isi over with. It has been a real struggle test driving cars in this relentless heat and humidity.

We've been stopping by the house everyday and doing a bit of work each day. We are pleased that the house is in really good shape after being rented out for at least 6 years. But we do have our work cut out for us. Lots of yard work as the lawn, garden and shrubbery were really neglected. The entire house interior needs to be painted and the floors refinished.

Everything seems to be taking longer to do than we anitcipate. We are making multiple stops and hardware stores and grocery stores. The car shopping took big chunks out of our days.

JL had very kindly loaned us this Camry but now that I've got my own wheels I'll need to get his back to him.

I'm petsitting JoAnn's cats for her until Monday AM, so we are at her place twice a day. Today there was no water at her house. We learned later that there was a water main break caused by the intense heat. Water supply is a saide to have been restored.

Back in the USofA

Baby it's HOT outside. Hot humid and muggy. No surprises there, but there are plenty of other things that are causing us to raise our eyebrows. Such as the cost of living, which seems to have taken a great leap since we last lived here. A simple lunch at Cafe Hon put us back 30 bucks. Gas is more than $3 a gallon. Yegads! On the other hand, we've begun car shopping and are finding that the car prices are not as sky high as we'd expected. We went to Carmax yesterday and just looked at some of the cars in the lot and got info on the ones we're interested in. This morning, we'll go back so I can test drive a few models.

The Long Journey Home

This is what it takes to travel from Harrogate to Linthicum:

Get up at the crack of dawn. We ordered a wake-up call for 5:30 a.m. so we could be ready to walk out the door with our 4 suitcases and 2 carryons at 7 a.m. We are checking out of the Ascot House Hotel before breakfast is served. We figured we'd grab coffee and a bite to eat at the airport. (dream on...)

Drive two hours to get to Manchester Airport. We hired one of the local courier services to take us to the airport. He arrived ten minutes ahead of schedule but we were ready for him. Piled all our luggage into the back of the van then settled in the back seat for the ride. I was pleased that the driver took the "back" way in to Manchester, via Skipton Road and through the Dales, giving us one last look at the Yorkshire countryside. Soon enough we met up with the motorway outside of Manchester and then traffic was congested and awful. Bleecch. There is no easy way to drive to Manchester airport.

Check in at the airport. This step usually takes about 15 minutes or so. Not so for us. The departures hall was heaving with passengers queueing for check in. We made our way to the back of the Continental queue. Soon we were approached by staff members looking for passengers willing to forfeit their seat for a travel bonus. when we declined we were assaulted with a hard sell on giving up our seats. You see, they'd overbooked the flight and there weren't enough seats for everyone. Something hadda give. But it wasn't going to be us. We stuck it out in the queue. Nearly two hours later we'd checked in to our flight. What we'd forfeited was our breakfast as there was only enough time to make our way to our departure gate. Actually, while we were waiting to check in, I'd run over to Millie's cookies and gotten a chocolate muffin to munch on. That helped satisfy my hunger and caffeine fix for a time. And before arriving at the departure gate we did make time to purchase two bottles of Pimms at a bargain price from the duty free shop.

Fly from Manchester to Newark. Fairly routine flight including awful airline food and miniscule movie screens. I've pretty much given up on watching in-flight movies. The video and audio quality is so poor and there are so many interruptions. I settled into my book, Affinity, which was a great read. And I even managed to catch a few winks of sleep!

Change planes at Newark. Again, the usual routine. Deplane. Go through passport control (thankfully the line was not too long). Go to baggage claim and watch as everyone else receives their bags before ours. Go through customs. Recheck bags. Go to departure gate. Wait to board plane. Our plane was delayed by about 45 minutes. ugh.

Fly from Newark to Baltimore. Short hop so smallish plane. The aisle separates seat A from seats B and C. One flight attendant whose announcements were made in a detached monotone with no breaks between sentences. She served us a small packet of peanuts and another of pretzels and a cup of water. Somehow the pilot made up for lost time and we landed only about 5 minutes later than scheduled. Once landed it was a bit of a walk to baggage claim. This time we were lucky and did not have to wait too long to retrieve our luggage.

Pick up rental car. Perhaps the most annoying part of our journey. We hauled our bags over to the rental car shuttle bus stop. We let the first bus go by as there was no room inside to stash our luggage. The luggage storage on the next bus was nearly as full but Brad mananged to heave our bags on to the racks anyhow. There were plenty of seats, though, so definitely a design/logistics problem on those shuttle buses to the rental car facility. It was a rather long ride too! There were a couple of people in line in front of us but the line moved quickly. We'd requested a compact car and got a Chevy Impala, a boat of a vehicle.

Drive to and check in to hotel. Not a long drive at all and easy since we know the area. The desk clerk spoke in that fast monotone voice that used earlier by the flight attendand and I struggled to comprehend what he had to say. Though returning to my native land I felt as if I were in a foreign country as I didn't understand the language! Our room seems nice enough. Not quite a suite but plenty of room. We've got a living room area and a microwave and fridge. The bedroom is set off a bit in a little alcove. The bathroom is as far away from the bedroom as is possible to be. Not very well laid out.

Eat and make phone calls. We were dog-tired and did not want to go to a restaurant so we picked up some sandwiches at a local deli. The clerk who served us wore a look of profound disinterest as she threw our items into the bag. Welcome to America! Home of the world's worst customer service. I made a few phone calls before succumbing to jet lag.

Go to sleep. Zzzzzzzz........

Goodbye Harrogate

Today is our last full day in Harrogate. The past week has been so hectic I can scarcely get my head around the idea that we move back to the US tomorrow. Brad said he has to keep reminding himself that it not just another visit but a big move. I feel the same way.

We took the train from London yesterday morning. We got up early and had some breakfast at the little coffee shop near our hotel. Cappuccino and a ham & cheese croissant...very tasty and it was nice and cool sitting outside the cafe. We could tell it was going to be another hot one in London again. We took the tube over to King's Cross station, bought some sandwiches at M&S then hopped on the train. We were in Harrogate by 1 p.m. It was sunny but not so hot in Harrogate so we walked from the station to the Ascot House Hotel. We are in a larger room with a big window that lets the breezes in. A bit more comfortable than our other tiny room.

We rested up a bit then walked into town. There was a French market set up in the town centre with lots of yummy looking items: bread, olives, salamis and sausages, cheese. all very tempting but not anything we could really bring back home with us since we are now living out of our suitcases. Made a few more stops in town then back to the B&B to rest up. Walked back in in the evening. Made one last walk up the ginnel way to Park Parade. I felt very sad as we walked the familiar path, knowing that it would soon be just a memory. We stopped off at our old place to pick up some mail that had come for us since we moved out. Then on over to Pizza Express for a noisy but tasty dinner. This time I got a pizza and small salad instead of a main meal salad. Brad also got a pizza. Very good. Then we took a cab over to Marge's and picked up the luggage we had stored there.

Brad is checking out of the base right now. I'm here for about another half hour and then will catch the base bus back into town. Tonight we plan to have dinner at the Tannin Level. We've always enjoyed our visits there and hope that tonight is no exception. If Brad returns to town in time we will also catch a movie. Oh, and yes, we have a free Cream Tea at Bettys that we'd like to stop by for. What better way to end our stay in Harrogate.

London Again, Part Two

How to spend our last day in London??? We went to Somerset House, one of the recommendations from Heather and Graham. There were some special events going on this weekend and admission was free into the art galleries. Enjoyed our visit and I even had a splash in the water fountain in the courtyard. Very refreshing.

Visited Harrods.

Caught a matinee: See How They Run. A farce. Very cute and lots of fun.

Lunch at Y Ming.

Dinner at Jenny Lo's.

It seems our favorite places to eat in London are Asian.

London Again

Malcolm prepared our breakfast for us in his kitchen while we sat at the table nearby. He is a nice, chatty fellow. After breakfast he dropped us off at the Hampton rail station. What should have been a quick ride into London turned into a 2-hour hassle. We took the train to Wimbledon where we should have been able to hop onto a tube to Gloucester Road but the trains running in that direction never showed up! We ended up having to catch the tube to Earl's Court and then get off and wait for another to go one more stop. Difficult to explain why it had to be that way but a typical example of the frustratingly inadequate public transport in London.

Checked into our hotel. Nice big room with AC!!! Yay!!! What a relief, because it was boiling hot in London today.

Went to the V&A, missed meeting up with Melanie but enjoyed our visit nonetheless.

Dinner at Wagamama.

Along the Thames

We got a late start on our drive down south this morning. We made a few last attempts to find the dog grooming glove that Sherrilyn is looking for but could not find it anywhere. We somehow ended up near Ilkley so stopped at Bettys for a light bite. Now we have visited every Bettys and have a voucher for a free cream tea.
We eventually got on the road to Hampton. Traffic was not too bad, even on the M25 ring road around London (of course Brad may have a different impression). We were only on the M25 for 3 exits and then got on the main road into Hampton which was very busy and bumper to bumper for awhile. We made our way to Tagg's Island where our houseboat B&B is moored. It's a cute little place and very pleasant along the river. Heather and Graham came over to meet us there and we sat out on the deck while Malcolm the houseboat owner served us tea. Then we drove over to Melanie and Howard's place, a cute little apartment about a 10-minute drive from our B&B. We had nibbles and drinks and then went out to eat in Twickenham. Melanie had planned to make us dinner but it was so hot we decided to go out to eat instead. Malcolm had informed us taht the place we were going to in Twickenham used to be a public toilet. Melanie was embarrased by that. It turned out to be a really wonderful restaurant. We sat out on the green and enjoyed the evening breezes. Glad to have finally met Melanie and Howard, a cute couple.

Clean Up Time and Another Goodbye

Spent the morning on base doing the laundry. Ugh! Met Jean Smith in the afternoon. She gave me a nice little book of photos of cats and treated me to lunch at Catwalk Cafe. It was her first time there and I introduced her to the wonderful bacon,brie and avocado salad and the delicious cream scones. We were going to make the rounds of the charity shops in town but it was just too damn hot. We walked over to Valley Gardens and found a bench in the shade, sat and chatted as we watched the ducks in the pond. Later I bid her a fond farewell. She has been a good friend here and I do hope to stay in touch.

Driving South

One last breakfast at Ardblair. Brad had muesli and the Scottish pancakes and bacon; while I had porridge and a fruit platter. We've thoroughly enjoyed our stay here in the Highlands and have had a cosy comfy stay at our B&B. The only bad part was having to climb up a rather steep hill to get to the B&B from the town centre, but as Brad has pointed out, almost all the B&Bs within walking distance of the town centre are situated up on a hill. After breakfast we said goodbye to Hamish the dog and Liz our hostess then hit the road about 9:30 a.m.

We are in the middle of another heat wave in the UK. It wasn't so bad in Ft. William when we left, but by the time we stopped for a coffee break alongside Loch Lomond the sun had begun to blare down. The Mondeo doesn't have AC, so it was not a comfortable ride at all. We made good time though -- took us about 6 hours including the coffee break another short rest stop just over the border. We picked up some sandwiches from the M&S Food to Go shop and ate lunch in the car.

We are at the base now taking care of a few errands before checking in to our B&B, the Ascot House Hotel. Tomorrow Brad will go in to the office while I'll do laundry in the morning and meet up with a friend in the afternoon.

Highland Farewell

Tonight is our last night in Scotland. We will be sorry to leave; we both enjoy it so much here. We dream someday of having a home here...we'd spent our winters in Scotland and our summers in Tokyo... dream on.

During our first full day in Ft. William we took a hike through Glen Nevis. The trail follows alongside the Nevis Gorge and was extremely rocky and a bit scary at points. The views were rewarding. It was hot and sunny today -- not at all what we expected in the Highlands, even in July. After our hike through the Gorge we grabbed a bite to eat at the Glen Nevis Lodge. Decent food in a lowlit, clubby type atmosphere with smooth jazz playing in the background. From there we drove over to Glencoe. We stopped in at the Visitor Centre there, a National Trust for Scotland attraction. There was a fellow dressed in traditional Scottish garb, kilt and all, standing in the lobby. For a fee you could have your picture taken with "Scotty". Ugh, how tacky! I would've expected better from NTS. You also have to pay admission to see and hear about the Glencoe Massacre. We passed that by since we've heard enough about that event on BBC shows. There was a lookout point with a model of the glen but it was incredibly difficult to identify the actual features based on the labels of the model. I was getting really frustrated then I went to the gift shop and found (free) info on different trails in the area. We chose a short hike up to see a waterfall. By this time it was really hot. There was not a cloud in the sky as we scrambled up a rough rocky path up the hill. The uphill exertion was tough enough but to have that sun glaring us in the face the entire time made it all the more difficult. We finally made it up to the top and were adjacent to the waterfall. Could not get a good view of the waterfall. We figured the path continued up higher but each way we tried seemed a bit too dangerous so we headed back down the hill. Even so, we had beautiful views from our vantage point.

The next day we drove to the Isle of Skye. The scenery along the way was stunning so we were gobsmacked to find that Skye was even more beautiful than the sights we'd just been ooohing and ahhhing over. We drove up the east side of the island and stopped off at different places, admiring the unique natural features. NOt much sunshine on that day. There was heavy cloud cover and very strong winds. I felt they should rename the island the Isle of Wynde.

Today we drove up to Inverness taking in views of Loch Ness and Urquhart Castle along the way. It was pretty but not nearly as stunning as the drive to Skye. We were both impressed by the enormity of Loch Ness. It is humongous. No wonder they haven't been able to find Nessie yet. We were underwhelmed by Inverness. Not much of note there. A few interesting old buildings scattered in amongst modern crap. It was kind of a dirty city and a bit depressed looking. We had a bite to eat in a local cafe then hit the road again back to Ft. William. We took a different route back, driving via Aviemore and the Cairngorms. Some of this was familiar territory from when we had stayed in Pitlochry for about a week. It was a pretty drive. We're back in Ft. William now. It is misty rainy outside and a bit cool. Brad is having a pint at the pub while I'm here at the library checking up on my email and updating this blog. I need to sign off now and go meet him at the pub. We are having dinner at the Crannog Restaurant, a supberb seafood restaurant. We ate there our first night in Ft. William and had great food. It's expensive but worth it.

Highland Arrival

Wow, so much has happened since I was last able to make an entry. ginger is safely home in Maryland now but he had to stay an extra night at Heathrow airport. There was a problem with the cargo area in the plane he was scheduled to fly on making it unfit for him to travel. He seems to have handled everything just fine though. JoAnn picked him up at the airport and has taken him to the boarding facilty at Dr. Bensons. She described him as peering with curiosity out of his carrier (which was clean, btw), so I think I can relax now where he is concerned.

It took us about 6 hours to drive to Inveraray, though we made a couple of stops along the way. One of the stops was at a place called Firkin Point where we stood upon the bonnie bonnie banks of Loch Lomond. We had a pleasant stay in Inveraray. The town of Inveraray is quite small with a population of only 750, but there is lots to do in the area. The first morning it was rainy so we took a stroll over to Inveraray Castle where we went on a self-guided tour of the home of the Duke of Argyll. We had a bite to eat at the cafe and then took a short walk throught the woodland. Very pretty -- extremely lush and green with moss growing everywhere. In the afternoon we visited an open air musuem on farming life. Very interesting -- what a rough life the crofters lived. Dinner at Loch Fyne Restaurant -- not as good as it has been made out to be.

The next day started off cloudy but soon cleared into a beautiful sunny day. We spent the day exploring Scotlands ancient monuments near the town of Kilmartin. We visited an ancient fort (had to climb up a modest little hill but it was good exercise for the both of us.) We also saw standing stones and cairns and 5,000-year-old rock carvings at different locations near Kilmartin. Also visited a ruined castle. We had an excellent lunch at the Glebe Cairn Cafe at the Kilmartin HOuse Museum. Dinner at the hotel that night.

We drove to Ft. William today. Only took us 2 hours from Inveraray. The weather is simply gorgeous and the lady at our B&B says it is supposed to stay that way until MOnday. Yayy!!! Yesterday there was an accident on the cable cars that go to the Nevis Range, so that will be marked off our agenda. About 5 people were hurt including a 3-year-old girl. One person, I think, is in critical condition.

Well, gotta go, time running out on this computer...

Ginger's Big Adventure

It was gray and rainy as we drove to Cosy Cattery to pick Ginger up and take him to Manchester airport. He was bright-eyed and curious as we loaded him into the car. The cattery lady reported that he'd only had one soft BM while there, which was a relief to hear. However, she said he hadn't used his litter pan yet that morning. Oh well, we drove off prepared to have to make an emergency clean-up on the way. Since it was a Sunday morning and traffic was light we drove through Leeds. At one point we hit a stretch of road with several successive roundabouts and that, apparently, was Ginger's undoing. He began to make that curious howl he makes everytime he throws up. There was nothing I could do but watch as he threw up a prodigious amount of food. Our sense of smell alerted us to the fact that he'd taken a dump as well. Brad managed to pull over into a carpark on the side of the road. It was tricky business getting Ginger out of his carrier without allowing him to get soiled and preventing him from darting into the road. Brad held onto Ginger while I cleaned up his cage. Five minutes later we were back on the road again. We'd left the nasty roundabouts behind us and Ginger settled down for the ride to the airport.

We had to drop Ginger off at the British Airways freight terminal. I filled out some forms, handed over the necessary paperwork and then brought Ginger to the counter. The BA employee told me he had to weigh "it" and x-ray "it" first. I really didn't like hearing our purrboy being referred to as an "it". While in his carrier, Ginger took a short ride on a conveyor belt, then was whisked away by a forklift. My heart ached as he disappeared out of sight.

Ginger flew from Manchester on the 3:30 p.m. flight to London Heathrow. I called the Animal Reception desk in the evening to check in on him. I received a terse reply that he was fine. He will begin the second leg of his journey today. His flight from Heathrow departs at 1 p.m. and he is due to land at BWI at 4:30 p.m.

Today Brad got up early and took the Volvo in for a "pre-inspection" before his scheduled appt. at 10:30 with the shipping agent. As it turns out, there was no one else there at the motor pool and Brad was able to turn over the Volvo before 9 a.m. He is off at the office taking care of some business while I'm here at the library catching up on email and researching some info for our trip to Scotland. It looks like it will be chilly and I foolishly did not pack any long-sleeved shirts. They don't have any in stock at the BX, so I'll check in town later today.

We will leave tomorrow morning around 9 a.m. I may not be able to get online again until we return to Harrogate on 18 July. We'll only stay one night and then head down to London to turn over the Mondeo to Melanie, Heather and Graham's daughter. Then we'll spend a couple of nights in London before returning to Harrogate for two more nights. Then we fly back to the U.S.

One More Visit To York

For some reason, I could not get to sleep last night. I was tired alright but my head was spinning with the things we have left to do before leaving the UK. Top on the list, of course, is taking Ginger to the airport on Sunday. I'm pretty sure I've got all his paperwork in order and that things will go okay for his journey back home but deep down inside I am still worried sick over it. I think I only managed about two hours of sleep last night. When the alarm went off in the morning all I really wanted to do was roll over and go back to sleep but I forced myself to get up -- I didn't want to miss out on what might be our last opportunity to visit York. I perked up with a cup of coffee from Cafe Nero while we waited for the train. The streets of York were thankfully not too crowded, at least in the morning, and we had fun ambling through the cobbled lanes, popping into one shop after another, visiting some of our favorite sights. We paid a visit to the Yorkshire Gallery of Art and saw some excellent works including a selection of portraits from the National Gallery. After lunch the streets began to get fairly crowded so we made our way back to the train station and headed back to Harrogate. We're at the library now. Will stop off at Waitrose when we're done to pick up some pasta for dinner tonight. Must be home by 7 p.m. to see the season finale of Dr. Who tonight!

Living Out Of A Suitcase

We turned in our keys to 9B Park Parade yesterday. The move went well but I can't believe how tiring it is to stand around in a hot house (we moved during a mini-heatwave in Harrogate) and watch three chaps pack up all your wordly belongings. We had booked three days for our household goods and with three workers the days were not that long. They finished up around 2:30 the first and second and around 1 p.m. the final day. That left us with the afternoon to ourselves. We'd walk into town for a bite to eat or run an errand or two and then head back to the house where we actually did have work left for us to do: we had to separate out things we want to mail back, things for the air shipment and things to try to sell. I worried that I would put something in the wrong pile but so far I think we did alright. On Wednesday, the last day of the move, we began the big clean-up of our house. As soon as one room became empty I vacuumed. Brad followed behind me with a carpet steam cleaner. I had already cleaned out and scrubbed up all the closets and cabinets in the house but still needed to clean all four bathrooms.

On Thursday, our last shipment was packed up. That was the small shipment that goes by air. That day the guys from the warehouse came to pick up the few items we had borrowed from the govt.: some wardrobes, washer, dryer and fridge. Brad had told me to go ahead and go hiking with my hiking group and he would take care of everything that was left to do. But when he went to get in the car it wouldn't start. He had to hoof it over to the house on foot to be there for the packers while I spent the morning getting a new battery for the car.

As it turns out, it is probably best I didn't go hiking because there was still a bit of clean-up to do and almost two more carloads of stuff to take to the recycling center. When the appliances were removed from the utility room we were left with a pretty grungy looking floor and no vacuum or mop to clean it with. I improvised with a lousy string mop from the landlord and paper towels. When the clean-up was done the house really sparkled -- it looks cleaner now than when we moved in, so I don't think the landlord will have anything to complain about.

Our temporary quarters are ok; there are a few things that are a bit disappointing (such as no coffeemaker) but all in all, it's a nice place.

Today I played mah jongg while Brad took care of things at the office. I had a good day -- I won lots of games, including the final one with a high-paying had called King Kong. The past three weeks I've brought items I couldn't move (such as booze, food, plants) and the winners of the mah jongg hands got to pick what they wanted. If I won, the high score got to pick. It was fun and added a bit of interest to the game.

Tomorrow we might go in to York for one last visit. Sunday we take Ginger to Manchester airport. Monday the Volvo ships. Tuesday we head up to the Scottish highlands. Whew, my head is spinning.

Moving Day

This day has finally arrived. I think neither Brad nor I was prepared mentally or emotionally for this. We were up till quite late last night making the final preparations for the movers and were absolutely exhausted by the time we got to the furnished apt. where we will be staying for the next week. Even though I was so tired I had trouble getting to sleep. We arose early (I was not happy to find out that this apt. has no coffeemaker. Arrgh.) so we could get to the house ahead of the movers for some very last minute preparations. They arrived promptly at 8 a.m. Three friendly blokes who left Norfolk at 4 a.m to get here. They only brought a small truck and will concentrate on packing things up today and tomorrow and then will load the big van on Wednesday.

Ginger's big adventure began at 8:30 when I extracted him from under the bed to take him to the vet for his general health certificate (a requirement for departing the UK). All went well at the vet's. Then it was off to the Cosy Cattery where he will stay till Sunday when we pick him up to take him to Manchester Airport.

Then back to the house waiting around while the packers did their thing. They made great progress today and broke off at 2 p.m. Brad and I are at the library now catching up on email and trying to finalize our post-moving plans. We are putting together an itinerary in northern Scotland with a trip back to Harrogate and then on down to London where we will turn over the Mondeo to our friends Heather and Graham. We are considering flying out of London back home...