Scott's brother and family come to visit and we take them to the end of the earth!

Okay, maybe it's not the end of the earth but Lands End seems like it for us here in the UK.

Due to our large numbers (our family of 5+1 and Davids family of 3) we had to drive two vehicles. Jeanne drove the van with the girls to pick them up from the airport while Scott was to meet us in Glastonbury with the boys. Traffic of course around London was awful but they were delayed too at the airport without a gate so it worked out perfectly. We headed straight for Stonehenge and they were able to see it and not get rained on! Actually they had fantastic weather for most of the trip!

Jordan braved sleeping in Scott's car overnight...actually he preferred it to sleeping in the room! Teenagers! We unfortunately weren't able to visit the Tor but it looked very interesting! Glastonbury is heavily rooted in the Arthurian legends which state that Joseph of Aramethia brought the chalice Jesus used in the last supper (or holy grail) and it is buried in the Tor. Now it seems to be a mystical hang out. But the tor looked really neat...another trip we need to make as we didn't have time to stop there this trip!


Mount of St. Michael


Friday morning we drove straight to the Mount of St. Michael. If any of you have read our blog on our first big trip during Christmas of 2007 we visited a very similar island in France that bears the same name (even though it's in France it still is one of Jeanne's favorite places!). This Mount however, is located in the Cornwall region of southwest UK and was really interesting also! The most intriguing part was the stone walkway to the island. When we arrived we played on the sand and rocks and then walked across this beautiful cobbled stone path to the "island". We signed up for the national trust and then began to climb up to the castle.



To our surprise, when we looked back we saw that the ocean had risen over the path and several people still were braving the waves. (It was an island now!)






The Castle on top was not enormous but it was interesting with the winding passageways even with some secret doors!








The views from the top were amazing.











As we got ready to leave Scott teased Madison about having to walk back on the path.







Since the tide had come in while we were on the island we had to take the shuttle boat back. Quite exciting!




Then as we walked back to the car we saw the most hysterical sight... there was a very patient dog allowing a boy to bury his tail in the sand. TOO FUNNY!


Next we drove through the town of mousehole. It actually is pronouced MOW (rhyming with cow) and then ZEL. We decided after driving through that it actually should be mouse-hole as the roads were exceedingly narrow and congested. It was a cute town but with no parking available we just drove through with many holding-your-breath moments (especially for my big van!).


Lands End




Lands end was only a few minutes away so we drove there and parked. It didn't look like much from the parking lot and Jeanne almost didn't stop. But we paid the parking fee and got out and stretched. There was a walking path down which we took to some breathtaking scenery.










This picture shows the amazing coastline best. What a beautiful day!


It was the end of the road for the UK. To symbolize this they have a cute sign. Unfortunately, we actually didn't get to see the sign or take pictures of it as it tends to be stolen and we arrived just after closing time when they put it away. John-O'Groats is actually the most north-easterly village on the mainland of the UK. We didn't figure that out until we came home and looked at our map. (Now Jeanne wants to go to John O'Groats!)






Jordan next to the cliffs (and he's not pretending to fall off!)













Tintagel Castle Ruins

Beautiful weather greeted us again Saturday so we decided to head for Tintagel Castle. Our hotel was in Bodmin so we headed north. It's amazing how short distances can feel so long because of the narrow windy roads here in the UK. Tintagel is the legendary birthplace of King Arthur. Although there is little fact associated with the legend it still persists. There also is little left of the castle that once stood on the rocky island. But that does not detract from the beautiful scenery.


Here is a picture with Christina holding baby Andrew's hand as we walked down the steep walkway towards the castle. He was such a good baby throughout the trip! Hardly a peep as long as he got a good nap or two!




The girls really enjoyed playing with him too and distracting him the few times he did get fussy. They also played a major role in helping him pose for pictures. As long as the girls stood near the photographer he would look right at it! It really was fun having a baby around again!


Our kids of course were drawn to the sea. So our first stop was to spend some time running from the waves, splashing and climbing.







There also was an interesting sea cave called Merlin's cave that the kids climbed through to the other side. So fun!









Next was the steep climb up to the original castle.

















Not much was left of the castle but it still was the highlight of our day with its breathtaking views of the dramatic coastline. It definitely helped having gorgeous weather too!




The cliff drop-offs were very frightening...especially to one who is fearful of heights! On our trips the kids seem to like to make jokes and tease Jeanne.



Here is one example of a Jordan joke. This actually has land below not too far down. But as Jeanne walked up it didn't appear that way. So Jordan posed as Jeanne walked up.

HEART FAILURE!




This is the view from the opposite side of the bay. To the left is where you enter and exit. To the right is the island where the castle once stood. the smaller dark space below on the right is the entrance to Merlins cave.

What a beautiful day!


To make it back to where we parked the car we had to walk down from the castle ruins and then up the back (incredibly steep) stairs. Christina was amazing in her dedication to climb them by herself and not complain. She is such a good traveler.



Lanhydrock

We ended the day with a visit to the Lanhydrock House. It was rated highly in our guidebook so we decided to visit the house and gardens. In the past we tended to visit only castles, but this trip we expanded to manor homes that are part of the national trust. This home was amazing with it's vast hallways and size. The gardens were incredible too with most of their flowers in springtime bloom.




Eden Project

The next day we went to our last big stop in Cornwall... the Eden Project.

Although we don't tend to be the hug-a-tree / conservation-at-any-cost type of family, we did enjoy the massive greenhouse bubbles. The large one was the Amazon climate with lush palm trees, banana trees, and even cocoa trees!


We had never seen a cocoa tree and were amazed to learn that their pods form on the trunk! So cool!

The other greenhouse bubble was for the mediterranean climate plants which temperature-wise was really much more pleasant.





Restormel and Okehampton Castle Ruins




Along our way to our last hotel in Cheltenham we stopped at two castle ruins. The first one was Restormel which was a really cool circular castle ruins.







The next was Okehampton castle. This castle ruins was made all the more interesting by the large mound where the keep once stood with a precariously tilting section of wall. Both were great stops to break up our journey.



Shakespeare's home in Stratford-Upon-Avon

Our drive home brought us by Shakespeares birth home so we decided to stop. We visited here when we lived in Germany 1997-8 so we finally made it back with Madison and Christina (I'm sure Bryce got much more out of it this time too). Surprisingly, it had changed a lot! Okay, you don't think of something almost 500 years old changing much in 12 years...but it had! The museum of the birth home of Shakespeare used to be an empty house with little inside. There were no displays that we can remember either. Anyway, once we went through the high-tech video theatre(s) and were funneled into the back door of the home it was very interesting. Just knowing you're in such an old house is amazing.



Baddesley Clinton

Our final day on the road took us close to Warwick and our next stop... Baddesley Clinton. Okay, it is an odd name but a fantastic house. I knew it would be good when the parking lot was full. The manor house has a moat around it! It also was really neat in that it had priest-holes. Apparently during the reign of Elizabeth (Henry the 8th's daughter) she approved the hunting and removal of Catholic priests. So many Catholic families including weathy ones hid the traveling priests. But they had to be clever about it because the priest hunters would tap walls, feel the warmth of beds, look for catholic items etc. In Baddesley Clinton they climbed down two floors inside a sewage space. They used a rope to get to a chamber between the stone walls and that was located partially below the moat! Amazing!

David and Sarah had been travelling for a long time and were visably happy to finally make it to our home in Manthorpe... we were too.

Ancient Tree near Manthorpe

April 5, 2009

Today at church we learned of an ancient tree near our town of Manthorpe. We were told that we had to visit it sometime...so we decided that today was the day! We left Manthorpe and turned left onto the Stamford road and didn't travel far at all before we saw a weathered sign for the Ancient tree. A long farm lane led us to a house where we awkwardly parked. But someone came out to greet us and told us that we could pay about 10 pounds for our family to visit the ancient tree in their backyard. The homeowner told us that all of the funds go to charity and then showed us books where their tree was listed.














Some really old photographs showed how the hollowed out inner part of the trunk actually sat 12 people for a "tea". Unfortunately it hasn't done too well in the later years and is now held together with massive chains. She claimed that the oak tree was 800 years old (or more). By the looks of it she might be right! But it was a very interesting tree!

We then WALKED home! We find it very strange how the British have walkways through farmers fields. This farmer talked about how they were required to keep a certain pathway MOWED for people to walk through THEIR field (animal pasture and crop field)...strange...

A (half) perfect trip!

We took a quick trip to Northern Ireland for the weekend. We left early Saturday morning from Stansted to Derry airport. The official city is called Londonderry. But since there still are simmering bad feelings about the split country of Ireland with the U.K. controlling the portion called Northern Ireland the word "London" was oftentimes spray painted out on roadsigns. One would assume that would be why the airport is called Derry airport.

Alright... on to the good stuff.

We had BEAUTIFUL weather. We picked up our two rentacars and began at the giants causeway. This was the primary reason for coming up to this portion of Ireland! And we weren't disappointed. We parked, saw a quick movie and then began with a walk along the headlands. The sky was a beautiful blue along the coast. Clouds seem to pick up over the land mass area, but along the coast they were a gorgeous blue that shone through the coastal waters. The wind was strong but not blustery. The cliff edges made Jeanne a little nervous (typical mom who is scared of heights) but the kids were respectful of her cautiousness. Well sort of (view video below).







The walk then came to a steep staircase down. The walkway was still in the shade due to the season, so though slightly mossy and slippery, we all made it down the cliffside to the lower trail.






Next came the organ pipes. These are the hexagon shaped rock formations up the edge of the cliff. Since they are all lined up they appear to be pipes of a church organ. The kids...well all of us found them fascinating. We continued on the trail loop overlooking the chimneys. Again, the views were just breathtaking. All along the way we kept looking down to the seaside area of these special rocks. But we were saving the best for last!



The Giants Causeway

It was absolutely the BEST vacation destination for our family so far. Climbing rocks, beautiful coastline, intriguing shapes...what more could my family ask for? We spent hours there. Bryce loved the lure of the sea and leaping/climbing over the rocks.







The orange dot is Bryce!


Scientists still debate how the rocks were formed. They theorize that it might be a slow gradual cooling of molten lava. But however they occurred, they are fascinating. Most of the rock shapes are hexagonal columns, though some are like squares or even circles when worn down. But the fascinating thing is that the columns break off at various heights that mimic stairs! It was so fun climbing all over, up and down.






The shadows across the rocks make for impressive photos! It's almost like sitting inside an Escher drawing. So cool! Jeanne just wishes that she had swapped with Jordan for a good family photo... sigh.










One area appears to climb up to the mountains!
















According to one of the most well-known legends, Giant’s Causeway was formed by Finn Mac Cool, an Irish giant. One day Finn Mac Cool was enraged by the ranting of the Scottish giant named Finn Gall from across the Channel. So, Finn Mac Cool tore large pieces of rock from the cliff and pushed them into the ocean floor making a land bridge across the Channel. However, when he was finished, he was too exhausted to fight Finn Gall. He built a large crib, disguised himself like a child, crawled in and fell asleep. Seeing the completed causeway, Finn Gall crossed the Channel to fight. When he found Mac Cool’s house, he walked in and saw the crib. Looking into the crib, Finn Gall saw a massive “child.” Thinking that this was Finn Mac Cool’s child, he quickly reasoned that Mac Cool must be massive and fully capable of handily whipping him. So, Finn Gall turned and retreated to Scotland, breaking up the causeway behind him as he went.






This is supposedly the Giant's shoe that he lost as he ran quickly away.










Jordan decided he wanted to challenge the waves (not very smart). After he got a little wet he decided to retreat... just in time! Along came a series of waves that could have swept him off the rock in which he had been seated.








Madison loved her tide pools. This one is called the pink pool, her favorite.








Reluctantly, we left to ride the bus back up the hill (thankful we didn't have to walk back up!)

We had heard that the hotel at the top had a good pub that served good food so we went and ordered. We haven't recommended restaurants in the past, but this place was incredible! The food was really good and the portions were enormous. Our family was quite hungry after all that rock climbing but we all left food at the table. We actually fed our whole family of 6 for 45 GBP!



Bryce actually was able to get a bite of this giant sized burger. He was quite happy with the portions!



We then were in a bit of a time crunch and hurried back to Dunluce Castle.


Dunluce Castle

This castle was once enormous. Its history is long with its prominent outlook of the coastline, its easily defended positioning, and its easy emergency escape with a cave tunnel below the castle!


But one very memorable event took place here...part of the castle fell into the ocean! It was part of the kitchen and during a storm it just fell off the cliff! A few servants were killed and after that the lady of the castle refused to live there any more.




The views of the coastline are what was the most absolutely breathtaking! There can't be any coastline as beautiful...now we understand why the U.K. doesn't want to relinquish this area of land!









They also had a ventilation system with the air flowing up off the rock face. The girls enjoyed having their hair blown!










After we explored the castle ruins we then decided to go down to the mysterious escape cave. Bryce tossed some rocks of good size into the waves for some really good sound effects.






Carrick-a-rede Rope Bridge



Here you can see the island and (small) bridge from about 1 km away. You park and have to walk there and back




Bryce seemed to absolutely delight in the thought of his mother walking across a high narrow bridge over to an island cliff. But he was surprised when Jeanne made it (whispering like the donkey in Shrek..."don't look down, don't look down").



Christina didn't have any trouble at all crossing over the rope bridge. She is amazing! For a five year old she is such a willing participant. She can hike, climb and walk long distances over a full day without much complaint. Most wonderful is her excitement over what she is seeing!


Our timing was perfect in getting there because just after we got across, a HUGE mass of people arrived. We made it across and back with little wait!


We then drove along the coast toward Belfast. The coastal road was beautiful and wound in and out along the sea coast. We arrived at our hotel hungry and tired. This time we tried the Premier Inn hotel chain and we give them a hearty two thumbs up! Reasonably priced and it includes a good hot breakfast!

This however gets us to the other half of our trip that wasn't so perfect. Sunday morning was mothers day and it looked to be great with this wonderful restaurant breakfast...but Christina got sick. Yes, the U.K. definition of sick. Jeanne thought she was hungry because she fell asleep before the pizza arrived and should have been very hungry. BIG Mistake. So Jeanne stayed in the hotel while Christina slept and the rest of the family drove to a museum in Belfast. Fortunately, Christina popped up after 3 hours of intermittent sleep and was bright, happy and energetic...and hungry. We were able to make our flight back home without incident. Whew.

Still it was one FANTASTIC trip...one that all three kids said they would like to repeat.

It felt like mother's day

Jordan decided that he was tired of pot pie. Okay, maybe serving it three days in a row because we had leftovers was a bit much. But he came up with the idea to cook us all a special meal. I certainly wanted to encourage him since it was such a nice offer. So after church we stopped at the store and we bought his ingredients.

When dinner time rolled around it felt so good to be able to stay upstairs (working on my scrapbooking). Jordan sounded very industrious but I became a bit worried when he called Bryce in to help. Bryce actually left his favorite TV show, Top Gear, to help out in the kitchen. Then I hear LOUD laughter, more clanging, more laughter. Bryce then wants to know where the grater is located. More laughter.

"It's dinner time!" and we all spill into the kitchen. It looks delicious! Jordan (and Bryce) fixed chicken alfredo...how wonderful! But they did look guilty and I was a bit concerned. After the first bite I knew something had gone dreadfully wrong. It was STRONG. Very cheesy, but that wasn't the problem. Scott was the first to diagnose the problem..."does it have lemon juice in it?"

"Yes" was their reply.

Then Bryce volunteers "he read the recipie..."

Then I ask "but did he follow the recipie?"

Jordan answered "Well, the recipie called for 1 Tablespoon of lemon juice and I told Bryce 1 cup".

We laughed a lot during the meal and consumed most of the grilled chicken (unanimous approval). It wasn't a big surprise that we did have a lot of the the alfredo left over. When contemplating whether we should save any for another meal Scott piped in "well, it might encourage people to eat the pot pie".

Even with bad food, we still had a really fun family meal...though most of us are still a bit hungry.