Lasting impressions

All good things must end at some point, and so to must this latest adventure. This trip was unlike any I have taken in my adult life because for a change it was less about discovery and more about bonding. Memories of England fill my mind, but the lasting feelings will revolve around our visit with the Griffins. I learned that no matter how many miles separate you or how much time has passed since you last saw each other, good friends can pick up their friendship as if nothing had ever parted you. I loved watching Nate and the kids play non-stop, and mind you, Nate may not really remember them ever being in the states. Drinking wine with Ian and Maria felt so natural and normal even though it has been more than two years since we last did that. When you truly look at it, this was a trip about strengthening a friendship -- not about sightseeing. It may be years before our paths cross again, but two truths are now evident. We will see each other someday, and we will act as if we had just seen each other the other day. That is friendship.

However, I can't end this log without giving a highlight of some of my fondest memories.

• Watching Merope walk out of the school and instantly recognizing her.
• Having Hope great us at the door with that shy little shrug she does.
• Having Gus walk in and immediately want to play.
• Hiking the hills of sheep, rams, and over-protective cows.
  
• Searching for Sylvia Plath and visiting the Brontes on the same day.
• Wading in Trafalgar Square.
• Fish and Chips every night (Nate's favorite)
• Seeing Big Ben, Parliament, and Westminster Abbey all at the same time.
• Traveling the River Thames.
• So much history in London -- Especially the gravings of the condemned.
• The HEAT -- My kingdom for an air conditioner!
• Fancy ladies passing out -- the Queen despairing about what the heat is doing to her...lawn.
• Knowing what it feels like in Hell -- it's the 20 mph hot train to Oxford.
• The friendly postman in Oxford -- Nate's new buddy.
• The search for Doc Martens.
• The view from the Roman baths -- ancient Rome, Medieval England, and Victorian England all in one little view.
• Overpriced pizza in a priceless plaza.
• Shakespeare's town -- goosebumps at every turn.
• Having a pint in a tavern from 1623.
• Driving on the left!
• Blackpool beach -- Donkey rides (and droppings) and the ocean.
• The emergency room in Rochdale -- nationalized health care at its finest!
• Friends who are more like family.

It was a great trip, and I'm looking forward to our next adventure. Nothing is ever dull when we're around; even if it doesn't seem like we're doing much. Isn't life grand!

Drive on the left! Drive on the left!

Everyone remembers the great scene in European Vacation where Chevy Chase gets stuck in the round-about and can't get out. It gets much funnier once you've actually tried to navigate an English round-about. In fact, driving in England itself is quite hilarious once you've driven down a teeny-tiny-skinny road, on the left side, at 60 miles per hour!

I must back up a bit as I've gotten ahead of myself. We left London at the absolutely hottest it's ever been there. Mind you, it's not as hot as it was in the states, but the complete absence of air conditioning anywhere made it much, much worse here. The temperature on our train to Oxford was around 120! To make matters worse, there was a fear of a black out of power, so the train couldn't turn on the AC, and the windows were so small a chipmunk would have to work at squeezing through. Then, because of the low power, the train had to maintain no greater speed than 20 mph, when it was not waiting for another train to pass. The 90-minute trip took over three hours, and we were reduced to little more than puddles when we arrived at the Oxford station.

THEN, we got out car. I've never been so frightened in my life as I'm trying to navigate a busy city street, while driving on the wrong side of the road, and shifting gears with my left hand. Luckily, we got onto the highway quickly, and the hotel (non-air conditioned, again) was near the road.

Driving the next day was one of the few thrills that I won't be so eager to repeat. The speed limit on back country roads is somewhere around 60, so you can imagine how exciting it was to fly over these windy roads, which would be single lane roads at home, all the while repeating my mantra, "Drive on the left!" By the time I hit a curb and ran the passenger window across some bushes, I'd started to get the hang of it; in fact, I'm concerned about driving at home now.

As for the three cities we visited in three days, all I can say is lovely places to visit, but it would be hell to live there. Oxford, Bath, and Stratford-upon-Avon were so chock-full-of-tourists that I was sure I was in the states somewhere because of the familiar accents. Bath was my favorite town, mostly for its beautiful architecture. The Roman Baths were fantastic, and Nate actually enjoyed walking around them. Stratford was my sentimental favorite for obvious reasons. Seeing where Shakespeare was born and died was an incredible experience. The fact that most of the houses there now are the same as the ones that were there when Shakespeare walked the streets gave me the chills (I know, I'm weird). We ate at a thatch-roofed pub that has been a tavern since 1623!!!

The end of our adventure is nearing, and I'm happy to spend the last few days winding down with our friends. I'm not looking forward to the drive through Manchester to return the car, though. City driving -- on the wrong side of the road -- sounds truly terrifying.

Look kids, Big Ben, Parliament

Well, we're here in London, and we have been moving! Since we shortened our trip by a day because of the train fares, we have crammed so much into this day that it is crazy. But, before I start in on all the sites, let me tell you about how much I miss air conditioning. In case you've never been to London, nothing is air conditioned. Now, usually that's not much of a big deal as the normal highs rarely get over 80. Lucky for us, we're hitting record highs. So, our hotel room that was the most inexpensive we could find was roasting! We cracked the window, which is all you're allowed since the have safety locks on them, and prayed for a breeze. Too bad all we got was the TRAIN!!!! We were so exhausted, though, that we didn't notice the trains pass by. Today was even worse, and we felt it as we traveled in the subway and on the double-decker bus (I loved that!). The headlines for today was, "Record Highs on Underground and Buses." Lucky us!

Besides the heat, though, London has been very exciting. In less than thirty hours we have seen: Big Ben, Parliament, The London Eye (where a protestor climbed to the top and shut it down just so we couldn't get on it -- damn Brit), took a boat ride down the Thames where we saw the new Globe Theater, London Bridge, Tower of London, Tower Bridge. Today we spent several hours at the Westminster Abbey (awesome), Tower of London (really cool), and Buckingham Palace. We walked down all the trendy streets and ate, what else, Fish and Chips!

One of the really odd things has been how familiar and foreign this place feels. Really, if nobody spoke you would think that we were in an American city. Yet, there is definitely a feel about the place that is very different. The people have different mannerisms, and the architecture is way different. It's nice to be able to read everything too!

Well, I promised Nate time to play on the computer, and I only have ten minutes left.

Off to Oxford tomorrow (shouldn't my parent be so proud to hear that?)

PS Sent off post cards, but I bet we beat them home!

First impression of England

In all of the novels that I've read about the English countryside, I never quite expected what has met us in Todmorden, a town about an hour from Manchester. Although the novels of Austen and the Brontes all depict these quaint villages and farming communities, I never really grasped the expansiveness of it all. Here, as far as the eye can see is field and stone fence, steep hills and sheep. The buildings are all made of stone with slate roofs. We have been here four days, and we've gone on four hikes into the hills. The kids took us exploring up to a very high point at which we could spy into the town and stare off into the miles and miles of hills and farms. While the children were in school on Friday, the adults and Nate went for a tour of Bronte country, the Brontes lived and wrote not far from here, and went to find the elusive gravesite of Sylvia Plath. Nate was not very impressed with the literary excursions, which doesn't bode well for several other planned stops, but we shall see what happens.

The highlight night has been last nights pub stroll. The Griffins arranged for a sitter, so we could all enjoy ourselves in an adult setting. It was great fun, and the English pub is really an interesting phenomenon. Basically, there is a moving party all night. You stop at one place, have a pint or two with your mates, and then move to another pub. You don't do this just once but all night long. We were ahead of the pack for each time we entered a pub it was empty, but by the time we left it was filled. However, there were two disappointments I found. First, the only American beer offered was Budweiser. No wonder everyone over here thinks that Americans have no taste in beer! Second, it wasn't as English as I expected. There was discoteque/club/house music blaring, and it was quite loud. Perhaps that's all pubs everywhere, but in my mind it was a quite little place where people went to chat. Besides that, we had a great time, and we stumbled home in the dark walking along the canal -- surprisingly, nobody fell in.

We've made one change to our plans. We are extending our stay in Tod for one more day so that we can save some serious cash on the train to London. If we were to leave today, it would have cost us £145 (about $250). If we travel Monday, it will cost us £45 total (about $80). It was an easy decision to give up a day of site-seeing.

Well, that's it for now. I'm still trying to work out my observations about the English and England. I'm not one who can quickly articulate what I'm feeling. I'm getting some serious vibes, but I can't quite put my finger on them.

Cheers!

Marathoning for life

I'm inspired. I'm crazy. I'm lucky. I'm inspirational. I'm nuts. I'm an addict. I am a marathoner, or at least I hope to be one. I recently ran my first marathon, God's Country Marathon in Coudersport, PA, and I think I am hooked. I loved the experience from the training to the race. My life has become better because of this race, and I can't see me not competing for as long as the legs will hold out.

I approached my cousins with the idea of running a marathon way back in December. They all shrugged it off with a response that ranged from raucous laughter to a vague "maybe". That is, everyone except Dave. My elder cousin gave a wishy-washy "sure," which soon turned into a "I don't know why I'm doing this, but I'm in". Although we only got to train together one day over the next six months, it was motivational to know that I had to run when I was tired or sore because Dave was out there doing it. We started training together and we finished the marathon together. In between was four hours and nineteen minutes of talking and one enormous hill. Believe it or not, it was great because I don't get to see my friends as much as I used to, so to have that time to share and reflect was pretty cool thing to do at this point in our lives. The miles slipped by as we talked, and it really helped to forget the increasing pain in the legs. When we finished, I didn't have the rush of accomplishment that others talk about feeling when they finish a marathon. Maybe that's because I never doubted that I could do this. Maybe, it fits more with my philosophy that extols the importance of the journey over the value of the destination. Who knows? What I do know is that I'm hooked on marathoning.

The question that I have to ask myself, though, is why? I'm not a fan of solitary sports, nor have I been a runner all of my life. No, I think that the reason I'm so hooked is because I accomplished something through sheer will power. For the past thirty-five years, I've just sailed along the river of life, following the current wherever it took me. I let life dictate events -- the marathon allowed me to dictate life. It's exhilarating to imagine the possiblities of doing things that I kept putting off. I have finished a marathon because I willed myself to do it. For the first time in my life, I feel like I'm in control of myself. It's not a new job or career that did it. I didn't inherit millions of dollars that liberated me. I freed myself. I now look around at my life with a new intensity and happiness. I don't grovel in regret. I feel closer to God than I ever have, and it's all because I am free to make choices. Going to church and communing with God is done out of choice not out of habit. Running is a choice not a doctor-directed mandate. I am madly in love with my wife because I want to not because society says I have to. I play with my son because I like to spend time with him not because some TV shrink says it's my job. I quit worrying about my job and now embrace it because that is my choice.

I don't think that running the marathon made all of those things happen. No, it's just evidence of what you control in your life, and what happiness comes from realizing the potential that life offers. It's just a matter of seizing it.