Enchanting England and Wales (July 3rd and 4th, 2011)

July 3rd, 2011

Wales, the Cotswolds, Bath, and Cheddar...so many places in so little time...

After an interesting night's sleep (mostly due to time change and a severe lack of sleep), Kris and I were up by 5 am (we were up a bit earlier than that but really wanted to still be asleep...so we tried to force it for a while. Terri was able to get back to sleep for a while.

After entertaining ourselves with photo editing, blog posts, and other electronics, we started getting ready for the day. The hotel offered a free breakfast with many good selections. They had a great automatic coffee and hot chocolate maker. After breakfast, we were ready to head out for the day.

Knowing our first stop for the day didn't open until 9:30 am, we were open to attractions listed on the side of the road. Lucky thing too, as we stopped at a very nice castle, the Bodelwyddan Castle, in Wales for about 45 minutes.

Bodelwyddan Castle

The castle had interesting amusements (like a gigantic chess and checkers set) and shops.

Kris and Terri play chess at the Bodelwyddan Castle

Uh-oh...Kris caught me shopping for postcards.

We headed to the town of Conwy in Wales for a nice tour. We spent time walking the old town walls and then hit the Conwy Castle. Conwy Castle was built in 1283-1289. The creators of this castle were pretty ingenious too. They built a really sophisticated defense system in the walls. Instead of creating regular windows, their windows were made rather narrow and had inset grooves to each window that allowed three different archers to pull their arrows and send them flying quickly without putting the archers at risk...it was the 13th century equivalent to the machine gun...and brilliant!










They also had a pretty neat (but hard to photograph) prison and chapel.

I also liked the later added suspension bridge, seafront view, and the shipwrecks viewable from the towers.

After throughly exploring the castle, we were off to the see the smallest house in Britain. It was tiny! Kris had trouble fitting inside. The guy who lived there was 6' 3" (even taller than Kris).

Photograph of the second floor

The little old lady who was running the place recommended Archway Fish and Chips for lunch, so we went and enjoyed some fresh food and free wifi. (Kris and Terri had fish and chips, and I had roast chicken with the crispiest skin I have ever sampled.) We were quite happy with our meals, though Terri would not eat the mushy peas.
After eating, we were off for a topsy-turvy drive through the Snowdonia National Forest. I had found a scenic drive on the internet and adapted it to take us to Stratford-upon-Avon. The first stop was Betws-y-Coed and the second was Gellilydan. Taking this route allowed us to see a lot of the pretty scenery of the area. We also got a glimpse of a lake. We saw a slate quarry and many quaint buildings. We stopped for some chocolate truffles and Diet Coke.

Terri climbed down to get a closer view of the river

Kris drives on the incorrect side of the road like a pro

It took quite a while to get to Stratford-Upon-Avon, but we finally made it to our B&B, the Hamlet House, about 6pm. We checked in then walked about the town.

We stopped to see the town fountain before hitting the Old Thatch for Sunday Roast.

The Old Thatch Tavern...great Sunday Roast

The Old Thatch Tavern menu

I had the turkey. Kris had the beef. Terri had more fish and chips. The meal was fantastic. In addition to the tasty meat, there was parsnips, potatoes, cauliflower, broccoli, and more. Really enjoyed the ambiance in the pub too. They had real candles on the table, and it didn't feel like all of the other pubs I have seen.

We then hit Shakespeare's Birthplace, Cox's Yard, Hall's Croft, Old Town, the cemetery with Shakepeare's grave, and a few statues. The town was quite lovely, and it was a very nice temperature and rather lively.

Shakepeare's Birthplace

The Shakespeare Statue in Stratford-Upon-Avon is surrounded by statues of characters from his plays

The B&B when we got back, however, was disappointing. The wifi did not work despite our best efforts. We could not reach the B&B owners to attempt to fix the problem, and it was quite hot in the room.

Row of homes in Stratford-Upon-Avon...I adore the contrast of the brick and the white roof trimming.

Oh well! Least I am in new places seeing new things!

July 4th, 2011
I found out this morning that the wifi code was taped to our television in our room. When we had initially asked about the wifi, we were given a slip of paper with the code. It was incorrect.  The one on the tv was right, but we found out too late.

Breakfast wasn't until 8:30 this morning, so we had to force ourselves to sleep in a bit later than our bodies wanted. However, the breakfast was quite tasty. We were offered a complete English breakfast, but we were complicated. I had two eggs, toast, beans, a roasted tomato, orange juice, and tea. (I skipped the mushrooms, bacon, and sausage.)

We headed out quickly and headed toward Bourton-on-the-Water.


In Bourton-on-the-Water, we went to a model village.


It was built in the early 1900s using the same stone much of the town was built with, and, was made to one ninth scale size of the town.

King Kong Kris

The model had a model within a model within a model within the town.


We walked a bit of the town and saw the 18th century footbridges. We could see a bit why the village is called the 'Venice of the Cotswolds'.

Terri in Bourton-on-the-Water

Just driving down the road is so pretty with lots of places to stop and stare.


We were then off to Bibury. Bibury has a row of homes called Arlington Row. These cottages were originally built in 1380 as a monastic wool store but were eventually converted into weavers' cottages. The other houses in the village felt historic. They had moss and lichen growing on the roof.

The town had a rather nice stream flowing through it with ducks, swans, and two birds building a nest in the middle of the stream.  I was really fond of the bridge.

Ducks building a nest.  Teamwork...that's good to see.

We drove through a bit of Cirencster which had some lovely views. We also saw more hilarious signs, of which my favorite has to be the elderly crossing sign complete with a depiction of a man and woman hunched over with canes.

We headed into the town to see what is thought by many to be the grandest of all the Cotswold wool churches. It has a 120 foot tower and cemetery.

From the church, we stumbled upon the Swanyard Cafe where we had paninis for lunch.

Next on the agenda was the gorgeous and tranquil village of Castle Combe. This is truly a hidden gem of a town. I can completely understand why it has been voted the prettiest village in England. Just walking the town took my breath away.

The Old Post Office of Castle Combe

As if we hadn't done enough yet, I had more on the agenda. We were off to Bath (a UNESCO World Heritage Site). We got to tour the Roman Baths and Pump Rooms - which I found completely fascinating.








We also visited the Pulteney Bridge (one of the few bridges of the world with shops built into it).

Then we were off to see The Circus and The Royal Crescent, considered architecture masterpieces.


I diverted our route to go through Cheddar specifically to see the Cheddar Gorge. (It was more impressive than I had realized from my research.)  We saw many rock climbers and goats.

We got dinner in town at Tuckers Fish and Chips shop where I had chicken kiev, Kris had a chicken and mushroom pie, and Terri had a fish sandwich with chips...but she didn't eat the bun...so she really had fish and chips again.

Kris's chicken and mushroom pie

Check out the allergy warning on this tomato sauce...what's that about?

We made it to our B&B for the next two nights, Drake's Farm. We have a fabulously large family ensuite bedroom with three beds and space to move about in! It is fabulous. Nova and Michael are fabulously nice too. Favorite B&B already!

To be continued...



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Enchanting England (July 1st - 2nd, 2011)

June 30th - July 2nd

Our 2011 summer travel story begins long before July 1st. In fact, the trip was almost a year in the making. Regardless, on June 30th, I worked a full day, then hurried home to Kris (my husband) so we could drive from Dallas to Houston.

Our flight was at 4pm on July 1st with KLM Airlines (my initials). Wayland (Kris's father) and Adam (Kris's brother) drove us to the airport after a homemade meal of fajitas. A few almost wrecks later, we made it to the airport with plenty of time to spare.

Adam enjoys lounging in the backseat on the way to the airport.

Kris, Terri (Kris's mother), and I made it through security without any real snafus. We had plenty of time to kill in the IAH airport while waiting for our flight. We made sure to get a few snacks and bottles of water for the flight. We also investigated the local landscape.

Nothing quite says Texas like a longhorn window display at the airport.

Our flight from IAH to Amsterdam was 9 hours, but the pilot got us there a tad early. The KLM flight, while squished, had a wonderful setup for personal entertainment during the flight. Every seat was given a personal tv and, with that tv, you could watch (on demand and without charge) your choice of tv, movies, and more. They also had some popular music to listen to and a language game you could play. I watched The Lincoln Lawyer, HOP, an episode of The Big Bang Theory, a small travel piece on the Netherlands, and listened to music. They also offered a variety of free newspapers for your reading pleasure.



Meals weren't too bad either. We got Chicken Parmesan for dinner and eggs, ham, and yogurt for breakfast.

We did our best to sleep...but it didn't really happen for us. After arriving in Amsterdam, we were quite shocked that we did not yet have to go through customs. Our luggage was sent on to Manchester without our having to retrieve it. It gave us four hours to explore the AMS airport, which is quite nice. There were stores, restaurants, places to get a massage while you wait, oxygen bars, a free library, cozy spots to sit, and even a free mini museum.

Terri and I even got a free amazing piece of chocolate from a chocolate shop which had chef rolling Godiva truffles in milk chocolate before rolling them in a vat of nuts. It was heavenly.

Signage at the AMS Airport

Our flight to Manchester was interesting. We had to go through a quick security check again, then hopped on a bus to charter us to our small plane. We then climbed the stairs to board the plane. This was a super quick flight...less than an hour...and very comfortable. They gave us cookies and a beverage.

We finally make it into Manchester, go through customs without any issues, and get our rental car.

Our Skoba had great storage, but it was a strange car.

Kris immediately has to learn how to drive on the wrong side of the car and the wrong side of traffic right into not one, not two, but three immediate round-abouts. Poor guy is a trooper. There was no rest for the weary as we made our way down to the Albert Dock to go to the Beatles Story Experience.

The Albert Dock

We had to figure out parking, and wound up parking at the Liverpool One mall.

This sign just cracked me up.

We went to the Beatles Story, walked around the waterfront, grabbed sandwiches from a food truck, and saw a quick Beatles movie in 4D and more of the exhibit.

Terri poses with a Beatles display.

We then walked to Matthew Street to see the Cavern Club. Kris was hassled by a British police officer who made fun of him for carrying a map. We found the Cavern Club and John Lennon statue though.

Kris at the Cavern Club

We found our car and was then off to see Penny Lane. We almost missed it.

Kris driving along Penny Lane

We also saw the childhood homes of John (though I didn't get a photo), but I did get a photo of the Shelter in the middle of the roundabout and the barbershop.

Shelter in the middle of the roundabout - apparently it has been a bus shelter, public toilet, and the Sgt. Pepper's Bistro.  It is currently closed.

Our final stop before heading to our hotel was the Yellow Submarine at the Liverpool airport.



We then checked into the Holiday Inn Express Liverpool which has comfortable beds but no air conditioning or fans. Also, our sleep schedule is all messed up. I am writing this at 4 am after already sleeping away the night. It is light outside. I am all messed up. Regardless, that will sort itself out. The good news is...we are here!

To be continued...



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Colorado by Surprise - June 2011

Day Surprise - Friday, June 17, 2011

The adventure began at 6am, when Kris, Wayland, and I all awoke to begin the journey to Colorado. The guys were gearing up for their summer hike, and I was tagging along for the ride to surprise my sister for her birthday. She had no idea...I had worked it out with her husband, Jason.

Sadly, Jenny was at home dealing with a feverish Aubree. I sincerely hope my surprise is a good one and not a stress on her.

We made Wayland break out of his shell and didn't let him get a salad at McDonald's. We went and got salads from Wendy's instead. He had to step outside the arches for dinner too, and he got a salad from Chik-Fil-A instead.

We saw a volcano on the ride:



We stopped for the restroom, and I found a gas pump graveyard behind it.



There was also a helicopter that passed by carrying something I could not identify.



Later on, we saw forested areas that appeared to be heavily affected by fires. Maybe the helicopter was carrying water?





Finally arrived at Jenny's at 7:30pm. Jason and Aubree were waiting for us.

Jenny arrived a bit after 9pm. I hid in the stairwell. I was going to jump out and say boo, but sleep deprivation (or, at least that is what I am blaming my ineptitude on) made me miss my cue. She saw my stuff before she ever saw me.

Day 2 - Saturday, June 18, 2011

Today Aubree was still not feeling well. Jason brought us Rumbi for lunch, then Bonnie and Jim came over with gifts. Jenny opened (or rather Aubree and Lily opened) some birthday gifts from Bonnie and Jim and Jim opened his Father's Day presents.

Later, when the girls were down for a nap, Jenny and I went shopping.

Jason and Jenny made a fabulous breakfast for dinner of french toast, bacon, eggs, and fruit.

We are now watching The Other Woman, which I am not sure if I like. Lily is a bundle of energy. Kayna should be here tomorrow.

Day 3 - Sunday, June 19, 2011

Jenny's birthday was a good day.  We took the girls to the park before Kayna got back.  Jenny opened birthday gifts, and Jason opened Father's Day gifts.  Good day with the family.

Day 4 - Monday, June 20, 2011

Aubree was feeling better, so we went to Pump It Up for a few hours to let the girls jump and slide to their hearts content.  We had lunch at Red Robin and took time to shop today.

Day 5 - Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Another great day with the girls.  Just spending time reading books, playing, enjoying each other, eating good fun, eating good ice cream...great visit!

(I'll update the photos soon!)


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Denton CAD and Recycled Books - June 2011

It is always so much fun to protest your property taxes. Finding comparable sales in our neighborhood is especially difficult since there are few homes selling in our neighborhood. Most of the ones that do sell are foreclosures.

Using Zillow and the Denton CAD home sales, I prepared an argument that our property has been overvalued this year. Fingers crossed that we will win.





In the meantime, I sit here in Denton at the Denton tax office.

They called my number at noon.  We met in the middle.

Then I headed over to Recycled Books in Denton.

This awesomely huge recycled books and albums store is located inside the historic purple Opera House of Denton and is 17,000 sq. ft. of wow.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Frisco, TX Calaboose - June 2011

I travel a lot, but I rarely visit the places in my immediate area.  Sharon, a co-worker, brought me to the old Frisco, Texas historic calaboose today.  

It was the first Frisco jail.  It was two cells, slightly built into the ground, and very basic.  I had to squat down when inside, so it wasn't very tall.

Now it reeks of trash, has graffiti inside, and is crumbling, but it's nice that it's still there.  I think I enjoyed my stay more than any of the prisoners did.