By the way, just because we are posting daily doesn't mean the rest of you are off the hook.

Well, today, we were wise and took a cab to Paddington Station to catch the train to Devon. It was MUCH easier than hauling 50 lbs up and down stairs...especially since the down escalator at Marble Arch was broken and you had to walk down about 3 stories in one fell swoop. It was very scary for me on Thursday night with how sensitive I am to heights...but with my suitcase would have been impossible. So the decision was easy to take the cab. We had purchased a first class Railpass so we travelled in style with big windows looking out at the beautiful green countryside. It took about 2 hours to get to Exeter where we changed trains onto a train that was much more proletariat. That one we took out to Barnstaple. Not near so much distance but it probably took at least an hour. We saw many cows and sheep. The baby lambs were quite fun to watch scampering after their mothers.

When we arrived at Barnstaple we called Enterprise to come and pick us up. After getting back there to sign the papers, we started our adventure with right hand drive cars...and staying to the left. To say there was tension in the car is definitely an understatement. Marnie can appreciate this after driving in downtown Seattle trying to find a Holiday Inn Express with us! First, I got my left and rights mixed up. Since the right turn was like a left turn at home, I would say take a left when I meant a right. This was all made more difficult since the rental agency did not have any city maps! So I was trying to do my usual seat-of-the-pants navigation. Dad seemed to think I should know how to get to Bideford in spite of the fact that I had also never been here. We ended up on one street which was supposed to be only buses...and turned around on several others. We finally found the signs to Bideford but then turned too soon on a critical round-about. At that point we spotted a Pizza Hut and figured since we were hungry and had to find a bathroom in order to de-stress us a bit!

After a bit of refreshment, we finally tackled the roads again and successfully made it to Bideford. We were also out of Pounds so we stopped at a superstore to get cash and some food for our place so we didn't have to eat every meal out. The first thing that threw us was that you had to put a pound coin in to unlock the carts. We had no coin so we each got a basket and took off into the store. We bought some basics and then headed out to Parkham where our cottage actually is. The road out here was quite narrow...with the last one being a one laner that we needed to back down to give a truck coming the other way room to get down. We finally found it and it is quite lovely and comfortable. When we settled in, we took a walk around the village. We first took a "nature" walk around the grounds and determined that it was a little too isolated and bumpy with roots etc in order to use it for my run tomorrow. So we went and walked around the other homes in the area...some very old and some look like English tract homes. We found the parish church which looks VERY old. The oldest gravestones around the church were from the early 1800's but then there were many that were totally unreadable. This place where we are staying is from the 1700's ....I would guess the parish church is at least that old but I would guess it might be earlier. No one we asked seemed to know and we couldn't find a date on the outside. I found lots of possibilities for my run tomorrow morning. My plan has me going 9 miles.

We have now just finished a stir fry dinner here and have some rice pudding here for dessert and have been watching Britain's Got Talent.

We'll post some more pictures....or I'll have Kenn do that...

Love,
Mom
(ps. for Kim, the gate for the stairway is under the stairs at the front on the kitchen side of the coat closet)