London

We arrived in London tired but doing well. There is a six hour time difference so instead of 4am it was 10am. We proceeded through immigration, gathered our luggage and found the train station to head from Heathrow Airport to our hotel. What an adventure. We each had two suitcases and our backpack. Bob carried the two larger suitcases and I did the carry-ons. We didn’t take the best route to the hotel (we went through Paddington Station) as we had to change too many times and that meant up stairs, down stairs, through the tunnels to more stairs. Since I had trouble carrying both suitcases there were a couple of times someone else volunteered to help. The rest of the time I went up or down with one suitcase, Bob then carried a couple, leaving one at the bottom of the stairs and then he went back for the other. Needless to say we arrived quite tired and hot and sweaty at the hotel. It was about 1pm and we were very thankful that the room was ready. Then it was nap time (2 hours), shower and clean up and then we started to explore a little.

The first two nights we stayed at the Renaissance Chancery Court Hotel on Holborn near the Covent Garden area and all of the theatres. The next 7 nights we stayed at the Marriott Park Lane Hotel which is right across the street from Hyde Park. The tube station was right there and was great except they were making improvements and the very long flight of stairs down was a walk down, not an escalator. I can’t begin to tell you how many flights of stairs I walked up or down during our time there. We had some really special times but overall I really did not enjoy London. We spent time on Friday at the British Museum and that I found very interesting. Friday night we saw Carousel at the Savoy. It was wonderful and of course I cried.

Saturday we moved hotels and went to 221B Baker Street. Since the flat is made to look like what is really just a fictional book we did not pay to tour the flat but did enjoy the gift shop and the outside. We walked by Madam Tussaud’s. We also encountered a huge crowd of fans cheering for their team (Chelsea) which was in the finals of something for football (soccer).

Sunday I discovered that our towels were hanging on a heated rack and that the center part of the bathroom mirror does not steam up because it is heated also. Pretty cool I thought. We attempted to do the city tour by bus. It was rather a mess but we did see some things even though we got dropped off twice at a dead end and were told to walk to another bus. (And I thought I paid for a bus tour, not walking!!!) It just wasn’t quite what was advertised. There was a tour guide only on the yellow route and if you don’t do the blue route early you won’t get to finish it because it stops earlier than the others. Of course we weren’t told any of this and did everything backwards. We did take a walking tour with a guide to watch the changing of the guard at the Palace. It was fun, we learned a lot but it was a LOT of walking.

Monday was our 41st anniversary. I slept till noon and my wonderful husband went out to get some fruit and brought me some beautiful pink & white tulips. I was thrilled. We took the tube and grabbed a pasty to eat. We went to the London Bridge Experience and the tombs complete with a scary maze and awful ghosts. We stopped to do the Tower of London but the girl said it would take 3 hours to do so we went on a river cruise down and back the Thames from the Tower of London to Greenwich and back to Westminster. As we disembarked the bells in the clock tower were chiming 7 p.m. We learned that Big Ben is the large bell not the clock.

Tuesday we got up early and went back to the Tower of London. We saw the crown jewels there. We then walked through All Hallows Church where John Quincy Adams was married and proceeded to tour St Paul’s Cathedral. It took us exactly 3 hours and 40 minutes to do all of it. We spent an hour getting to Shakespeare’s Globe Theater only to find we couldn’t see it. So we hurried to the National Portrait Gallery and viewed some of the items there. We made a quick stop at the Southwark Cathedral on our way. We got back to the hotel at 5:15, tired and very exhausted. Most things are only open from 10 to 5 so by each evening I was quite drained.

Wednesday was a much more enjoyable and interesting day. We went to Kensington Palace and toured it. There was an audio to listen to that explained what you were seeing. This is where Queen Victoria was born. There were also quite a number of Diana’s dresses on display. We stopped at the Build-a-Bear shop in Covent Garden, ate lunch at the White Lion and headed to the Lyceum Theatre. We saw Lion King and it was sooo good. The theatre was built in the 1830’s and was very ornate.

Thursday was another day that I was just too tired. We finally managed (1 pm) to go to Wellington Arch and then the Apsley House. These were well worth seeing and very interesting. The Apsley House was owned by the Duke of Wellington who gave it to the government in 1947 I believe. It still contains many of his items and there were an unbelievable number of beautiful paintings on the walls. We also had an audio guide through it. We hopped the tube to Covent Gardens for dinner and then back to the hotel.

Friday the weather changed. It was hot and sunny the rest of the time and most folks were having a rough time with the unseasonable heat. Friday the cool and the rain came. We took the tube, train and then the bus to Richmond and out to Hampton Court Palace. We really enjoyed this tour also. We saw the area where William and Mary stayed and the kitchens of Henry VIII. There was a great audio guide for this palace and it was very informative. I really enjoyed seeing the rose garden which was huge, awesome and in bloom. Oh was it beautiful. You could smell the roses as you walked into it. This palace was huge and I got too tired to see all of it.

Saturday was moving day and leaving London day. I saw some interesting things in London but unless I want to do the theatre I never intend to come back. Bob enjoyed it a little more than I did but I think it is over rated. Bob picked up our rental car and we headed north out of London and into the country. How glorious and wonderful. Our internet connection is not great so I will try to post pictures later.

Two Quick Weeks

We have had a great couple of weeks. First we were near Boone, North Carolina. It is very beautiful country with tree covered mountains and small streams in the valleys.
The trees were not in full leaf yet. Valle Crucis is noted for the Mast General Store. The original is there and we visited it.
It is so much fun to be in a real general store. They had a whole section of candy and had available for purchase many of the kinds from the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s. There were Sugar Daddies, Necco, Sky Bars, Bit O Honey and Chuckles to name a few. We were able to listen to some music on the back porch.

We explored Boone one day and found a Thai restaurant that was excellent. It is the only Thai food we have found that we liked since returning from Thailand. We even got to practice our limited spoken Thai.

The accommodations were not too nice but we made do. We walked each day and the walks were longer than last week. We are addicted to Farm Town and are really having fun building our farm, plowing our fields and planting our crops. We are sort of selfish as we usually harvest each other’s crops in order to earn more coins. It is very interesting to see the individuality of each farm.

We went to Grandfather Mountain one day ( called such because it looks like the profile of an old man).
There is a swinging bridge that is a mile high. I walked across it

but Bob opted to stay on one side.

It was very windy and cold so we had to get our heavy jackets out and put on our gloves. The view was awesome and the bridge really didn’t move much. I have been on bridges that have really moved and swayed. This was quite sturdy.
They had a very interesting museum with information about the area and also a few animals in “natural” habitat. We saw bear, an eagle and otters.



Our second week was in Westminster, South Carolina. We were almost into Georgia. The resort was in the trees and very nice. There was a longer walk yet to the clubhouse in order to connect to the internet so I continued to increase my walking. We attended a church service at the resort on Sunday morning. We went to the World of Energy by Duke Power at the Oconee Nuclear site. It was very interesting and informative and we learned a lot about the production of electricity. There was a quarter mile nature trail that we walked on which was my first time walking on a trail since surgery. Bob took a picture to capture the proof. It was a great day but I was very tired at the end.



We left South Carolina on Friday and spent the night in Chattanooga, Tennessee and then continued to Nashville on Saturday. We spent time on Saturday and Sunday with Deb and worshipped at her church. Today we are going to a park with her Sunday school class for a picnic and games.

We leave for England and Wales on Wednesday and will be there for about 5 weeks. We are looking forward to the trip. I am probably at 60% stamina so we will be a little limited but will do all that I am comfortable doing.

New Bern, North Carolina

I had to add a couple of pictures of the pool and Bob at the resort in Myrtle Beach on our last day.




Now for the New Bern! We had a fun trip from Myrtle Beach to New Bern. I looked at the map and saw some lighthouses that we hadn’t been to before along the coast. We stopped at a visitor center and got some excellent instructions. She suggested that we go to the Fort Fisher Ferry and take it across to Wilmington. So we drove out to the Oak Island lighthouse at Southport. We were able to get right up next to it.



We could see the Bald Island Lighthouse in a distance but will have to come another time and take a boat trip across to get a better look. I also read about Prices Creek Light House that was just supposed to have some ruins left. We ate a delicious lunch of shrimp and scallops at a tiny restaurant and fish market and then went to the ferry.
The crossing took about 30 minutes and we were able to see the Prices Creek lighthouse right as we were leaving the dock.
We also saw what we thought was an oil unloading platform but were told later that it was for molasses. It was an easy drive trip for the day.

We spent the night in Jacksonville and went to the timeshare in New Bern on Sunday. We stayed in the same unit as last year. The kitchen had been redone which was great. Of course the unit is a pedestal style building and Bob had to carry all of our stuff up the stairs but we enjoy the area and timeshare. We had company on Tuesday. Michael and Denise are in North Carolina right now about an hour from us. They came to visit and we had a lovely afternoon of catching up. All of us are missing Chiang Mai. It was good to see them and see how Michael is recovering from his strokes. He is really doing well and they are waiting for decisions to be made. Over and over we see how gracious and loving our God is.

Another day we drove to Morehead City so we could eat at The Sanitary. It is still one of our favorite seafood places. Then we went on to Beaufort this time and explored the downtown of this little seaside town.



We were even able to see across to the island and saw two of the wild ponies. We took another ferry across the Neuse River inlet from Cherry Branch to Minnesott Beach and then drove back to the timeshare a different way. This is me exhausted after walking all over Beaufort.
We stopped and bought freshly picked strawberries at a roadside stand. Oh, they were delicious.

This is a view from our patio.

I was also able to get a picture of the turtle along the edge of the pond. Hope it can be seen on the blog.
We had rain a couple of days but the area is really in need of it. It also began to get quite hot and humid. We stayed only 6 nights in New Bern and then on Saturday we drove to Boone, NC. We went through Raleigh, Durham, Greensboro and Winston-Salem. We crossed the eastern continental divide and drove into the mountains right near the Blue Ridge Parkway.

Myrtle Beach, South Carolina

Oooh, what a long 500 miles it was. But actually I did very well and we arrived at the timeshare with about 10 ¾ hours of travel time. We stayed at the Wyndham Ocean Blvd which is right on the beach in North Myrtle Beach. We were on the 11th floor in Tower 1. We had a two bedroom condo which we were glad of as they are rather small. We could see the ocean from our balcony.
It was cool and very windy most of the week. We took a couple of walks on the beach.

We worshipped two Sundays at First Baptist of North Myrtle Beach. It was different and nice to attend the same church two consecutive weeks.

We spent Monday going to 2 timeshare presentations. We did the Wyndham and then a Westgate one. We earned some dining out dollars and went to the Rioz Brazilian Steakhouse for an excellent and unusual dinner. They had a very large salad bar and then they served all of the meat from skewers which were brought to your table by servers whenever you turned your marker to green. There was beef, pork, chicken, lamb, sausage and pineapple and it was all delicious. They served special sides of mashed potatoes, cheese popovers, fried bananas and polenta sticks.

I did some scrapbooking and finished our Australia trip. We went to Socastee High School on Thursday night to see Beauty and the Beast. It was done very well and we enjoyed the opportunity to see young people using their talents. Of course if you saw the news we also had a forest fire (in the area). We noticed the smoke about 3 p.m. on Wednesday as we were walking on the beach. It was just rolling up into the air.
We drove through some heavy smoke as we went out to eat that night. There were about 20,000 acres burned and about 70 homes destroyed.
The fire stayed west of the inter-coastal waterway so did not really threaten the tourist area. There was just a lot of smoke in the air.

On Saturday we moved from the Wyndham to the Marriott Ocean Watch timeshare on the north end of Myrtle Beach. We have a beautiful view from the 10th floor and a very, very nice two bedroom condo. I did a little cooking and we have caught up on some computer work. We have been in the big hot tub a couple of times.
The weather has still been very sunny. It can be a little smoggy in the morning because the fire is contained but not out.

One of the resort activities was Iron Chef so we decided to participate in it. The secret ingredient was a bag of frozen Southern Style Biscuits. We had two hours to make something. I sent Bob to the store for apples and raisins and I made a type of caramel apple raisin nut filling.
Then I dipped the biscuits into butter and pressed them into the baking dish down into the filling.
It was interesting (we thought tasty) and we came in second. Actually it was just a fun thing to do.

We drove down to Murrell’s Inlet on Wednesday to check out a timeshare down there that we might want to stay in next year. There is a boat trip out to a lighthouse from Georgetown which is south of there. We thought it would be a nice place to stay. Since we are leaving for England the end of May we have been doing some research online. We have purchased a couple of maps and also a travel and sightseeing pass for London. We also went shopping at the Build-a-Bear and Akasha is now ready for football.


I am trying to do my exercises most of the days but my leg is really acting up. I have some what I call muscle spasms and cramps when I overdo. I can walk for a longer time now and am not reclining much during the day. God is good and we believe that it will fully be healed in a few months. Saturday we leave South Carolina and head north a short way to New Bern, North Carolina.

Crossville, Tennessee

We only had to drive a short distance from Deb’s so we didn’t leave until late afternoon and arrived at Hiawatha Manor which is near Crossville close to Lake Tansi. For some reason it didn’t remind me of Hiawatha at all. We had a nice two story townhouse. It was a cold and partly rainy week. We did spend some quality time with friends who live in Crossville whom we met 4 years ago, Tom & Hazel. It was fun to hear what they are doing, visit with them and see their house. They took us to the Homestead Museum. That area was the largest homesteading project in the U.S. in 1934. We also went to prayer meeting with them at First Baptist and to an area WMU meeting. Coleen continued her walking. The longest was about 30 minutes or so. We read and watched some of our History of England course. We went to the Cumberland County Playhouse on Friday afternoon to see On Golden Pond. We packed the van on Friday evening and left early on Saturday morning (6:30 a.m.) for South Carolina.

March to April Travel

We did spend a few nice days at the timeshare near Austin. When I went back to the physical therapist they really didn’t want me to be finished so we decided that we would do two more days of therapy during the week of March 15. I saw the surgeon on March 13 and was given clearance to do about anything except for impact sports, running or jumping. My disk is smaller than before and is not ready for any impact due to the trauma.

We went to a timeshare in east Texas near Hawkins on Friday night. We spent a great weekend and went to church in Longview. We got to see some old friends there. On Tuesday we drove back to Waco for therapy and stayed with Phil & Susan for 2 nights, leaving right after therapy on Thursday to go back to east Texas. I got a list of exercises to do on my own. These I have done but not every day. We left for Indiana on Saturday, March 21 but instead of two days we took three which was much better for me. Riding is still difficult and I really need to stop about every 1 ½ hours to stretch my back. The hardest part is I really need to recline, not walk but it is working.

We arrived in Warren at my dad’s late on Monday afternoon and spent until April 4th with him. We stopped by our storage in Anderson, visited with friends and family and met with the builder. Oh so many decisions to make. We picked the outside view and then worked on the changes we wanted inside. I was able to do some walking on many days and also tried to work on my exercises. We went to see Tommy Tune at the Honeywell Center in Wabash and listened to a couple sing show tunes in the chapel at Heritage Pointe. Bob was able to get a spot removed from his head at a dermatologist. We went to a fish fry, to Nick’s for tenderloins and on the last day to a pancake breakfast. In between I rested and sorted through paperwork.

We drove from Warren to Nashville, TN on April 4 and spent a very busy week there. Right now Deb is still job hunting so we spent each day with her. She sorted through her closets and I even got some new clothes. Deb & I also spent about 3 days doing some scrapbooking. We surprised her with a finished scrapbook for our 2006 Australia trip for her birthday.

RECOVERY

Well, I sure didn’t post more in a couple of weeks like I thought I would. I have been resting, recovering, resting, doing physical therapy and resting. I have learned a tremendous amount about my muscles and how to use them, including how to strengthen the ones that protect my back. This recovery part is a slow process and can be frustrating for me. At first I was afraid to move because the surgeon had given so many don’ts that I really didn’t know what the dos were. I have been doing therapy three times each week since February 11 and am getting much stronger. I certainly am not going to run any races for a while. My stamina is very low but I am working on that. I have been able to walk up to about ½ mile at one time but that is all and my speed is not very quick. Sitting for long periods is very difficult for me to do. But each day is a little better and I praise God for that.

We have worked on some scrapbooks, done some reading and spent time with Phil, Susan and James. Bob has cared for me and helped whenever needed. We spent two nights in Grand Prairie at the beginning of March for our annual physicals and of course found that we absolutely must begin to eat a healthier diet. That being said we have been able to pack up from Phil’s and come to a timeshare at Lake Travis, right north of Austin.

We arrived on Friday, March 6. That put us a little closer to San Antonio so that Coleen’s brother Eric and his wife Martha were able to come and visit with us on Saturday. It was great to see them again and spend a little time together. We are only spending 5 nights here and will be back in Waco for 2 nights to hopefully finish physical therapy. We really don’t know for sure until Coleen sees the surgeon on Friday. Hopefully she knows enough about the exercises that she can continue to do them on her own.