Driving Licence Saga

Today was my driving test. Now for those of you who haven't experienced the driving license nightmare of the UK...here's a recap. You mail away your passport when you apply for your provisional license. And of course, Scott's father had his stroke during the 5 days our passports were not in our possession...which means we were held hostage during the family emergency. But it all worked out okay. Then you study for your theory test. When you feel ready and can spout out braking distances and overall stopping distance at various speeds, and rules that you wouldn't believe you can then schedule your test. Time slots for the theory test are around 3-4 weeks out. It is 50 questions on a computer PLUS 14 videos testing your hazard perception. If you pass both of those then you can schedule for your practical driving test. You most likely will need to have personal driving lessons with a private instructor to help you understand the maneuvers that are required. When you are ready you can reserve via the computer a time about 3-5 weeks out. The overall pass rate for the practical test is around 40%.

Today was my big day. I scheduled it right before I left to drive to Salzburg, Austria with my friend Gloria. She is driving one way and flying back while the rest of my family is flying into Salzburg on Saturday and going to do the return journey (more on that once I return). I really wanted my test passed before I left because October 12 is our one year mark for being over here. We can legally drive on our US licenses for one year but after that we may be at risk with our automobile insurance. Since things are so expensive over here, I was very nervous about the insurance risk of driving over my one year mark.

Anyway, my test this morning was in Melton Mowbray which is an hour away. I needed to drop the kids off at school and make it over there in a little over an hour. Nervous about being late I tried to leave early....HA! Something always goes wrong.

Although they weren't successful, the kids really did try to be ready early today, but what really made it bad was today's traffic. It was the worst I've seen since I've been here. Lines of cars everywhere and IF they were moving it was slow. I finally made it out of the school's drop off point and started on my way. God must have been looking out for me because all of a sudden I had a chilling thought...where was my wallet (with my UK driving license in it)...at home of course!

Panic!

So I quickly turned around, zoomed home, grabbed my wallet and was off again. I kept thinking...mirrors, distance, speed...mirrors, distance, speed. They want you to check your mirrors every 10 seconds and when you change speed or direction. An hour later I was at the driving license center about 10 minutes early.

Whew!

No parking spaces though. I finally parked where a nearby lady told me to and then got my papers together. Meanwhile, an applicant finished her test and drove in. The driving examiner kept looking over and giving me very nasty looks. He obviously thought I shouldn't be parked where I was. Nervously, I got out and he jumped out of the car to confront me (what a way to start!).

He somewhat angrily said "you're not going to park there are you?"
I said "yes, that's where that lady told me to".
He answered in a shocked voice "you're here for a driving practical test?"
"Yes..."
"And you're going to drive that bus?"
"yes, it's what I drive"
"Blimey!"

Then he notified me that I needed L (learners) stickers on the front and back because when I am on my driving test I am driving on my provisional license not my international US license. I am required therefore to have the L stickers.

Panic.

Then the lady who told me where to park volunteered for me to use her spare set if I turned them in after my test.

WHEW!

I sat down in the waiting room. Another friendly applicant and instructor sat down. They struck up a nice conversation. They asked me if I was going to take the test in "that bus". In response to my affirmation he said "blimey". Okay, I'm getting a bit nervous driving my big van now. They then told me that I needed a mirror for the instructor.

Panic.

They told me to ask the examiner if he had a spare mirror. Several minutes later the examiner came out and called my name...yes, you guessed it...it was the same guy who had been giving me dirty looks.

Panic.

He did have a spare mirror.

Whew.

I get in the car and answered the "show me tell me" questions okay. We drive. I forget to use my emergency brake. I'm thinking I failed already. I hit a curb when turning left. That could/should be an automatic failure. He reassured me that it was okay while he is busy writing on his paper.

Panic.

I do a 3 point turn in the middle of the road (he actually told me that he wouldn't mind if I did a 7 point turn)...nice.

I backed around the corner in reverse...not so good. A car comes and looks at me and waits. I didn't know what to do. More pencil marks.

Panic.

More driving. Pull over and out again. Roundabouts. Oops, I should have signaled earlier. More pencil marks. If I only don't do an automatic failure I can have up to 15 faults. Speed, mirrors. There are people everywhere!

I make it back to the test center and pull in. I can hardly breathe.

"You've passed".

YIPPEE!!!!!!!!!

He said he almost failed me because I should have looked around better as I was backing up around a corner. He said I did it horribly. But I PASSED! I got 6 faults...but I PASSED!

I am so relieved.


Post-Script....

INCREDIBLE! Scott went for his driving test in Grantham on Friday (different city). Guess who he got as an examiner...? The same man!

And yes, he passed too. HIP-HIP-HOORAY!

LOOK OUT! Bryce has a scalpel!

Monday Sept 29 Bryce errantly cut his finger instead of cardboard for his art project. Jeanne had misplaced her cell phone so when she happened to walk into the school's office she had quite a surprise. We hurried to the emergency room in Stamford (about 20 minutes away). I have to say that as far as minor emergencies like this the U.K. hospital system is quite impressive. Unfortunately, we have visited them all too often in the US so it was a nice surprise to be in and out in 15 minutes...no papers to sign and no long lines.

Bryce cut off the top portion of his finger so if the graft doesn't take then he will have a flat tipped finger. It didn't cut his fingernail. And of course...it just HAD to be his MIDDLE FINGER! On the way to the hospital Bryce and I laughed about a story about him back when he was in 3rd grade. He didn't know what the middle finger meant. He had seen kids on the playground do it to each other so he thought it was a form of greeting. So when walking down the hall he decided to "greet" his teacher (who he really did like). She had a horrified look and Bryce then realized that it wasn't a good greeting...he also realized that he was in trouble.

Hopefully we will be able to raise our children to adulthood...in one piece.

Sigh.

Christina's Birthday

September 24, 2008

We held Christina's birthday party at the Activity World in Peterborough. It is a MASSIVE indoor play center. We rented out the whole facility and invited not only Christina's class from school but also the American families that live over here. Needless to say we had a full house. It was a lot of fun!


Christina's 5th birthday snuck up on us all. So we were lucky to get a reservation on her actual birthday
(even though it was during the work week). Activity World is fun for all ages. Even Bryce and Jordan found the free-fall through the elastic mesh fun (but abrasive). The vertical drop slide is also a bit extreme, but even Christina braved the slide a few times!

The British cake mixes just don't measure up to the American mixes and store-bought cakes are dry with cement hard icing. So Jeanne decided to do a birthday brownie "cake". It was a big hit with everyone. As is the custom over here, the presents are not opened until the child goes home. Also they sing happy birthday but are expected to eat their cake from a napkin after they leave the party. The brownies were a little bit easier to eat from a napkin too.


Happy 5th Birthday Christina!

First Day of School with Jordan

Jordan Demientieff, Jeanne's nephew arrived August 30. He will be with us until December 19 when he will go back home to Fairbanks, Alaska. He adjusted wonderfully to the new time zone and started school September 3.

The kids aren't exactly excited about school again...but they are excited about Jordan being here. Bryce has been looking forward to having a good friend around and the girls are excited about having another "brother".

What is a Dale?

I never knew what a "dale" was. And going to one didn't seem that exciting after all of the places we've been. So when Scott planned this long weekend for us to the Yorkshire Dales none of us were too excited. Bryce and Madison were freshly back from the US and were still tired from traveling three weeks. But it was bank holiday weekend... the last holiday of the year that Scott gets off work. He has a few more vacation days but they have already been planned. So off to the Dales we went!

Scott got home Friday and we drove 3 hours to Grassington to stay at a B&B. The main tourist attraction for the Yorkshire dales are the walking paths. Saturday was a beautiful day and we took advantage of the weather.







It was quite relaxing to walk goregous walking paths along stone walls and streams. Madison and Christina both found out the hard way that wet rocks can be slippery as you can tell from the picture.


After enjoying the outdoors we drove to a very strange place in Leyburn called "the forbidden corner". It was a sort of maze/discovery park. It was full of secret tunnels, doorways, water paths, gardens and just about anything unexpected. If anything would describe it...it would be like being Alice in Wonderland. It is a very popular attraction that has to be booked in advance (for anyone who might plan a trip to the Yorkshire Dales).












And yes, I actually fit through this narrow tunnel!...albeit not gracefully....



Sunday we found another beautiful town called Skipton we took a tour boat along their canal. It was a sleepy morning. We grabbed a quick lunch and then explored Skipton castle- known for being one of the best medieval castles in England.




















Then came the highlight of the whole trip. Scott heard about Howsteen Gorge on the internet. It sounded exciting...and it was. It is a narrow gorge where the rushing waters have carved out fabulous rock formations. The private trail hikes along, over, and through the gorge. Our kids love jumping from rock to rock. At the end of the trail was a really cool tunnel! We climbed through narrow passages with a flashlight they give and then up and out. The kids had so much fun!


On our way home Sunday I took this photo of the hillsides. I think it describes the dale better than words.




Our last day in the dales was marked by a little rain (surprise!). But we found some dry moments to walk down to another river where there was a nice walking path suspension bridge and stone crossing. Madison felt like she was in Peter Pan. As much as they tried they all got their shoes wet...but they had a LOT of fun.





















The town outside Grassington is called Hebden and on bank holiday weekend (August) they hold their sports day. It is where kids can compete in racing games and enjoy old fashioned carnival-like games. Bryce won his race for 14 & 15 year olds (Yea!!!!) and Christina placed third in a race. They both received MONEY! Okay, it ranged from .40p to 1.50 but they enjoyed spending it on the games, bounce house and food.














It was truly a relaxing fun weekend and highly recommended.

Visitors, visitors, visitors and visitors

Lawrence and Saralee Shaffer
Scott's parents
May 21-June 10, 2008















John and Bonnie Dustin
(Jeanne's parents)
June 10-July 2, 2008















Joyce and Jordan Demientieff
Jeanne's sister and nephew
June 12-July 2, 2008















Guthrie and Barbara Veech
Shaffer family previous minister and friend & pastor who married us!
July 9-July 13, 2008















Greg, Kim and Megan Johnson
Friends from Monticello
July 15-July29, 2008

What a summer!

Before we left to come here to the UK, some friends back home said that they were going to come and visit us this summer. They told us to scope out the good places for them. So everywhere we went we rated the sites according to the Johnson's visit. So they finally came! The one requirement was to see Paris ...needless to say we did end up going...but more on that later.

Greg and Kim Johnson and their daughter Megan came to visit us for two weeks. And what a two weeks! They went to the same church as us and Bryce and Megan have been going to the same school since 2nd grade.

They wanted to see a lot so right from touchdown they were on the go! They landed and then Jeanne and the kids went straight to Stonehenge and Bath.
The next day we drove through Avebury and then the Cotswolds.

These trees located in Stow-on-the-Wold are thought to be the inspiration of the doors to Moria in the Lord of the Rings. Tolkien spent a lot of time walking in the Cotswold area drawing things that interested him...and these trees were truly interesting with their gnarled roots at either side of the back door to the town's church!





We actually did make it back home after just one hotel night...but only to leave early the next morning to park outside London. We almost made a HUGE mistake in forgetting to pack our passports. When we checked in at the Eurostar train counter Kim had one of those moments where she said out loud...I hope I packed our passports at which point Jeanne's face turned white. Thankfully, Scott worked a half day and was planning on catching a train from Peterborough. He had just enough time to quickly drive home, grab the passports, park at the train station and board the assigned train with about 10 minutes to spare. WHEW! THANK YOU KIM! :-)

We were able to catch a matinee of the second to last show of the Lord of the Rings-- which was amazing! The stage mechanicals were incredible! There was a platform whose individually piston lifted shapes created a large circle. The journey went round and round. Mountains, Mt. Doom, rooms ...everything was made believable by the rotation and lifting parts. I tried to describe something that is probably hard to visualize...but it was really cool!

Then in the evening we caught the Eurostar to Paris. That was a direct FAST train from London, under the chunnel and then in 2 1/2 hours we were in Paris.




Jeanne was able to secure lodging for all 8 of us...in a houseboat!






It was right across the street from the metro. Most rooms in Paris are for TWO people only and aren't cheap. So finding lodging that would fit us all was amazing- but the atmosphere being on the river Seine was even more amazing! Highly recommended for anyone visiting Paris!

We had two DAYS in Paris and actually we were able to hit most of the highlights the first day. We had heard that the weather was supposed to be good the first day, but not so great the second--so we tried to make the most of it (both days ended up having great weather though).

We walked along the river to Notre Dame,

then went on to the Eiffel tower. That was great. I think it was a highlight of their whole visit. It was fun going up but the going down was made even better for the majority of the group who chose to WALK down. They stopped on the first level and said that it was their favorite! Next time I'll stop :-)


The lines were quite long there so by the time we actually made it to ground level, most of the day was gone. But we had heard that admission to the Louvre was greatly reduced on Friday nights.

So since the Mona Lisa was a "must see", we decided to visit her quickly and inexpensively. It worked out perfectly.








That evening we sat on the deck and watched the lights of Paris reflect off the water. It was very peaceful!


The next day we took it easy and saw the "Mr. Bean cube building" featured in Mr. Bean's Holiday. It makes for a great dimensional photo.









We also were able to stop by Champs-Elyses and see the Arc de Triomphe. The first day Greg has smelled a really good food smell so we went to try to find it. But the wind wasn't blowing the right direction. We did however find a nice restaurant with Ben & Jerry's ice cream. THEN, we found it. It was right around the corner! It was a really cute walking street with all sorts of Greek food. When they found an Italian ice cream store they were sold on coming back for dinner. It worked out great because they were wanting to go back to the base of the Eiffel Tower to see an evening light show.







"Greg's" street as we call it now.









The girls (our little girls) were tired from three days of hard touristing , so Jeanne and the girls took a relaxful night on the boat eating spaghetti! The girls got a big kick out of waving to the dinner boats that went by and counting how many people would wave back. It was great!

After an uneventful return journey back home we took a day off of travel. Sleeping in was just what "Dr. Kim" ordered and we did!

Leaving Scott to work (we didn't want to use vacation days) we took the Johnson's to Dover Castle and Leeds Castle. The weather was fabulous yet again. I know it's supposed to rain all the time over here...but we have thoroughly enjoyed the weather here! The winter is mild and the summers are too!

The highlight for Madison was that she now was able to go on the "Go Ape" experience. What a fun time! Do you notice her BIG smile?

Then we saw the castle and went through the maze. As Bryce used to say when he was little...."FUN DAY!"



We had a mixture of easy days with a few local sights thrown in. We revisited The Boston church. which was good because the kids hadn't been there yet. This time we decided to climb up to the top of the church tower (called the Boston Stump). It was VERY narrow, but the view was wonderful.

We were also able to visit Lincoln Cathedral and Castle, Burghley House, various local castles and castle ruins.












The sad part about having friends come over is that they have to leave. Goodbye's aren't fun. This was made all the worse for us because Scott and I had to say goodbye to our two oldest children. They also were flying back with the Johnson's for a 3 week visit back to the states. They had full schedules of church camp, visiting friends and then a week vacation in Florida for the bi-annual Shaffer family reunion at Vero Beach and Orlando.

But we are ready for us to be a family of 5 soon to be 6...

But don't get too excited :-) I wrote it that way to get your attention (he! he!). This fall Jeanne's nephew is coming for a semester of schooling experience in the UK! So keep checking in...I'll try to keep the posts of our travels more up to date as we do them!