My family - My Home

I’m on my way hooomme!

            Haha, no matter how tired I am, it is hard to contain the excitement of getting back to the rest my family.  I miss each of them so much!  Somehow, I miss the routine of work, school, chores, and all that too.  Of course, there is a whole long list of things for me to do when I get home, but that I can work on over the next week or two catching up.  Most important is my family.

Being gone from them so much recently I have learned how much they are an important part of my daily life.  When I wake up, I spend time with Sarah.  Caleb comes out of his room just to play around and antagonize me.  Jonathan and I spend many hours a week just talking or out getting some exercise.  The most important lady of all, my Mama, talks with me every day from the time I get up until I fall asleep about all of life’s little adventures and wise tidbits.  Last but nowhere near the least, Papa is the wall I lean against when I fall, what I stand on to look out into the world, and who calls me to be the best person I can be.  I would not be the person that could travel across the Atlantic and journey to unknown realms on my own without them.  These five people are part of my being and will forever influence who I am.  While they may not directly affect my travels across the sea, they make this and other opportunities possible and enjoyable.  For that, I will spend the rest of my life thanking them.

Now, back to my final travels.  To change our sleep schedule back to Arkansas time, we stayed up late Saturday evening and laid in bed as long as possible Sunday Morning.  Papa finally rolled me out of bed at ten or so to begin packing everything up.  We left out of the hotel room about 11 to head to the train station.  Having received a note earlier that we could not ride a section of the underground into the airport because of a banking holiday and some construction, Papa took us to Paddington station for the Express train to the airport.  Unfortunately, not one train was in the station because it was closed as well.  As quick as we could, we found another rout on the Underground (to clarify a bit, this runs underground for the most part.  These trains use both tunnels and aboveground tracks to make their way around the city) and made our way to Heathrow Airport.  Along the way, a pigeon joined us on the train and rode along with us as if he got to travel by train every day.  We finally made it to the airport and checked in.  Loading onto our flight was quick and we got three seats all to ourselves making it a much more relaxing ride. 

This flight was nine hours of keeping awake by watching movies, working on the blog, and enjoying the sights below us.  We flew over Iceland, Greenland, Hudson Bay, Canada, then down to Dallas.  The waters around and mountains of Greenland are a stunning beauty to behold. 

Once we landed in Dallas, made our way through U.S. Customs, and checked back through security into DFW, we found a Texan restaurant and chowed down some good old American meat.  England had some wonderful food, but they lacked the larger portions of meat that I am used to.  Over there you get a little piece of lamb or pig for red meat and entire fillets of fish. Therefore, I devoured my loaded Texas burger.  It was the greatest!

Our flight from Dallas to XNA was already delayed an hour to take off at 11 pm.  I leaned up against Papa and slept for about an hour.  Then, because of technical difficulties we ended up taking off around 11:20.  To say the least, by the time we landed, picked up our baggage, and made our way home, I was dragging severely.  At home it was pet the overexcited dogs, carry stuff in, and fall into bed.  That’s all I could manage. 

After a wonderful night’s sleep in a fresh bed with a soft and warm spring breeze floating in the windows, I felt much better.  All the stresses of traveling just melted away into the soft cushions.  Catching up with all the goings on here at home just made my little world click back into place.  Getting hugs, telling stories and jokes, sharing gifts, and poking fun all make life worth living and enjoying.

Thank you all so much for joining me on this journey!  You made this both possible, and so much more fun.  If you have any questions or comments about my travels, feel free to leave a comment and I will get respond as quickly as I can.  I hope that you all have enjoyed this and will go on to have a blessed day. Take care!

Day 6

Guess where I am now?  At last, I am on the plane home trying to finish telling you all of my wonderful adventures on the other side of the Atlantic.  (By the way, Greenland is a mesmerizing beauty from the sky.)   I have yet to tell you about how we solved the slight problem of me dropping my bus pass but do not worry, I believe that it all actually worked out for the better.

We slept in for the first time this entire trip.  It was wonderful!  Once we got up and moving, Papa looked into it and there was no way to reprint my ticket or get a refund.  So, we had to look for a different form of transportation.  This we found just outside the hotel in the form of city bikes that could be rented and driven around for the day for about 2 pounds each. There were multiple racks of these around the city which made it easy to park our bikes and go site-seeing with no worries.  This made our tour of London fun and full of exercise!  Plus we actually got to ride on the left side of the road, quite an interesting experience.

We biked down to London tower and the Tower Bridge and toured each of those after a lunch of Fish and Chips.  London Tower, or the White Tower, has many stories of death and torture along with the pride of being the home of the Crown Jewels, which I did get to see, and Yeomen Warders, the guards and tourist guides of London Tower.  Turns out that the last king to live in the Tower of London was King James I in, 1603.  Now all four floors, including the dungeon which was used for horrendous acts of legal torture are a museum and the courtyard in which many Queens of England were legally executed, now is a small garden.  To say the least, this was an interesting place to visit.

Next, we walked across Tower Bridge and rested on the green opposite the London Tower on the River Thames.  As soon as we caught our breath, we picked up a couple bikes again and biked across the London bridge, not to be confused with the tower bridge. (Tower bridge is the one we all as Americans think of with the two tall towers holding up the suspension bridge with the middle section that can raise for ships to go through.  London Bridge was the next one up from that on the river.  Here is where all the heads of executed traitors to the reigning monarch were placed for the public to see and be warned.)  From here we went straight back to the hotel for a nap.

Late afternoon, we pulled ourselves up and Papa planned a route for us to see most of the rest of London on bikes.  We biked up alongside St. James Park and through the middle of Hyde Park to Kensington Palace.  Then we crossed over past the Sunken Gardens and walked down/biked down the eastern side of the park.  Hyde Park is a humongous and gorgeous park with multiple ponds that were full of paddleboats, paved roads for bikes and skaters, walkways for those who prefer to walk on hard surfaces, and little trails that wound through the grass and trees.  It was just what we both needed, to get out of the cramped city to where we could breathe. 

Once we exited the park we made our way over to a Blues Bar that would have live music playing.  Turns out that this bar, Ain’t Nothin But…, was situated just inside an outdoor mall area that Mama had wanted me to see, Carnaby.  As we walked up to the bar the night’s first set of musicians walked out.  We had to wait an hour for the next group to start, so we walked around and found a tapas restaurant to eat at.  The food was muy Bueno!  After eating we still had a little time to explore the small area before getting back to the bar.  We found this beautiful mural that represents the culture of London. We got back to the bar and found a spot to stand a few minutes before the music really started.  As soon as the musicians began I was happy as a lark. The Blues may cover more of the darker side of mankind, but it is still authentic gorgeous music.  It has heart and soul, so I absolutely loved it and could have stayed all night.  Yet, standing in a crowd of people drinking in a small little bar and listening to the good old Blues was something that Papa is not really interested in, so we stay for a little while and left to find our way back to the hotel.

Once in our room, we crashed.  Papa talked to Mama and I ate all the food I could find in the hotel room.  In total, we had biked twelve and a half miles along with walking for at least a mile and a half.  Once Papa got off the phone, he went searching for food and was unhappy to find that all I had left for him was a half a can of Coca-Cola and a Strawberry jam granola bar. Haha. To say the least, by midnight there was nothing left in the room to eat and we promptly went to sleep. I barely took my socks off before I fell asleep. 

It may not have been what we thought, but we made the best of our time in London.  I could not have planned a better tour of the city.  We got the full experience of London culture, old and new, from the best point of view.  I am ready to be home but very thankful that I was able to make this trip across the Atlantic.

Day 5

Friday was not fun! I moved to London and spent most of the day adjusting to the new culture. 

After having spent my last week in a new city every day, I needed a bit of a break from sightseeing and trying to run around, and I really wasn’t functioning properly because of lack of sleep.  After boarding the train, I wrote for a little bit and just relaxed.  In London, I got my bus ticket made and rode the bus towards our hotel.  I got off a stop early and ended up walking a mile with my luggage to the Royal Horse Guards Hotel where we were to stay for the next two nights.  In preparing to leave my big luggage bag at the hotel, I realized that somewhere along the way to the hotel I had dropped my bus ticket!

Freaking out a little, I went through all my stuff, walked back to the point where I knew I had it at, watching to see if it was still on the sidewalk, and called papa to let him know what happened after no success. To say the least, it was quite depressing.  Here I had successfully flown halfway around the globe, rode trains across the country, and had finally made it to the great city of London England just to drop my bus ticket.

            What was I to do?  How could I get around the bustling city of London without a bus pass?  Papa had the e-mail for the ticket and was in an after-meeting chat with all his colleagues.  I had a pass to the underground railroad, but I had been looking forward to just sitting on the top of the tour bus all afternoon and getting to know the city with little effort or worry on my part.  The mental state I was in, I didn’t even want to think about trains or trying to get to a tourist destination. All I wanted was some sun in a quiet green garden.  Somewhere to breath and think of loved ones, pray for those who suffer, and find a little twinkling of peace.

Finding such a place and feeling as this in the bustling city of London was nearly impossible for this little ole Arkansan girl. The gardens out in front of the hotel were well manicured and fit perfectly in its little square fence but lacked the free-range beauty I am used to and long for.  Along with this, there was a construction site right across the busy city street that ran along the length of this tiny park area. Yet, laying there on the grass with my bare feet tickled by the sweet-smelling grass, looking up at the sky through the branches of an old tree helped me remember some of my favorite spots back home. 

After laying here for half an hour or so I pulled myself up to see some more of the city.  I was nowhere near whole yet, but the anxiety of the last week was beginning to wear off. I had been told many times to check out the South side of the bank of the River Thames for all the performers and culture of the city and walked across the suspension bridge right over to where hundreds of people walked on the south bank.  I then spent the next three hours and what little pocket change I had following the music from one spot to the next along Southbank discovering talented performers along the way.  Each new piece of music carried away another portion of my worries.  Eventually, I found some peace after walking and talking to Mama and a dear friend.  It was nice to just breathe.  Even among the crowd, you can find peace and a quiet within your soul.

I continued along Southbank until Papa made it to London and checked us into the hotel. Once settled in, we went for a walk through the city.  We went along Southbank as I had earlier, past the West Minter Abby, Big Ben, Parliament, Victoria Train station, Buckingham Palace, through St. James Park, and back to the hotel.  Along the way, we shared some Japanese Chicken and Rice, and each got our own milkshakes, all of which were delicious. 

By the end of the day, we were both tired and much happier.  Even though the day had gone a bit awry, we made the best of it together.  For that, I love my papa even the more, if that is even possible.  We left the next days worries for their own and just relaxed to enjoy our time together. 

I hope that you have enjoyed going on this journey with me so far.  Everything is not always tulips and honeycombs, but when those darker, broken pieces of ourselves reveal themselves it can be scary.  Nevertheless, we can make it through by relying on those we love and our Savior for hope and peace within.  Thank you all for your support and prayers for me along this journey!  There is no way for me to express my gratitude for you.  I hope that you have a blessed day.

Day 4

Once again, I am on the train. This seems to be the only time I truly have to jot down my adventures.  Yesterday I visited some of the most beautiful countrysides in all of England, the Moors.  Not only did I get to visit them, but I rode the steam train through the hills and some of the little villages on the moors.  It was gorgeous!  As suggested by many people, I rode the steam train out to Whitby and visited the Abbey there, traveled on down the coast to Robin Hoods Bay, and spent some time there. This was the most physically taxing day of my trip thus far, but it was entirely worth it.

Before climbing the 199 steps up to the Abbey, I spent some time just enjoying the sites and pleasures of Whitby as a town.  Being a town set on the eastern coast and centered on a river, Whitby life revolves around the sea.  Boats and fishing traps line the river docks on one side of the main road and Fish and Chips cafés line the other side of it filling the streets with the mouthwatering smell of fried fresh fish.  Boats take tourists out onto the sea to look back at this beautiful village and the Abbey ruins that tower over Whitby.  Overall, this is just a beautiful area to explore.

I started out my day in Whitby with some amazing fish and chips made of fresh Haddock.  The flavors and the perfect crunchiness of it made it amazing and gave me the energy I needed to pull this day off.  Then I hopped onto one of the boats and rode it out to sea to see the sights from the sailor’s view.  From there, I went straight through the village up to the beginning of the 199 steps to the Abbey.  Many people had warned me of this climb but said it was entirely worth it.  It was! 

The old Abbey was stunning in its beauty.  It commanded attention and respect by its presence and no one who walked in the ruins spoke louder than a whisper.  Just as wonderful as the Abby was, the museum was a flop.  To learn anything interesting about Whitby Abby, I had to go searching through the Booklet that I bought at the front desk. It was only there that I learned that the destruction of the Abby was very similar to the destruction of Nottingham Castle.  The Abby exchanged hands many times and one man wanted to rebuild it, but he never finished. Then time, people in need of building supplies, and the wind wore it away to what it is now.

As I was just leaving the Abby a funeral procession proceeded from the Abby car park down through the graveyard on the hillside, and to the old church that sits just to the side of the Abby. Interesting fact: The priest, I suppose, that was leading the precession in white and purple robes was an older woman.  As soon as they moved into the church, made my way through the graveyard, down the steps, through the village, and over to the bus stop. Along the way, there were a few boats and different views of the city that caught my attention.

When I arrived in Robin Hoods Bay, the scenes just took my breath away.  There are not enough words in my small vocabulary to capture the picturesque village, towering cliffs, and rolling countryside.  All I know is that it was gorgeous, and I couldn’t stop breathing in the crisp sea breeze.  The hills in Robin Hood’s Bay are steep. In the pictures, they don’t look too bad but pay attention to how quickly things move down from one area to the next.  I started out up next to the hotel sitting on top of the Northern Cliff and made my way down the path to the bay and out onto the sea floor.

While out in Robin Hood’s Bay it is important to note that there was seaweed everywhere laying out in the sun waiting for the tide to return. (I was out at the peak of low tide.)  In some of the areas closer to shore and the cliffs where the wind couldn’t circulate as well, the smell was quite ripe. 

I climbed up out of the Bay into the lower edge of the village.  Wondered the streets a little bit before taking the hike up and out.  Looking back, I could see just how crazy of a hill I was climbing.  This quaint little village set out in the middle of nowhere on the east coast is an absolute gem.  The culture with few people walking the streets, wonderful smells of various foods, and the breathtaking views combine to make this place one that I will forever hold in memory as one of the most beautiful places in the world.

After leaving out of Robin Hood’s Bay I traveled back to Leeds to rest a little before my evening began.  Some of papa’s colleagues invited me out for supper and drinks.  Papa and I slept through the time that we would have met for drinks and just joined them at a true Indian restaurant.  It was an enjoyable evening with the conversation flowing easily around the table,

even though the music of the restaurant was a little distracting, me not being used to such music.  I spoke with multiple people and was glad to find a group of deeply intellectual people who were thinking critically about multiple facets of life and such.  It was encouraging to be able to interact with them and bounce ideas off them.

From here the evening quickly came to an end with both of us crashing almost immediately after getting back to the hotel room.  An achy body and a full spirit lead to long, and deep sleep.  Thank you so much for joining me on this journey!  I hope that you have a blessed day.