Got up late this morning; slept about 10 hours last night. Tired. Got up, did breakfast here and headed out to The Tower of London. Awesome. Spent about 4 hours there taking it all in in addition to a special presentation on King Henry VIII. Left there, took the Tube to Westminster, dropped by Big Ben (again), over to the Churchill War Museum. Also, well done. Lots of history there. Came up and out to walk by the London Marathon, which is tomorrow. Did a long walk to Buckingham Palace which was closed. More viewing of the marathon route then through Hyde Park to Marble Arch. Dinner near our hotel and in for the night. Up tomorrow and off to Heathrow for the flight home. See ya soon. Dad and Mom

We left our country home yesterday, trained to London and got here about 1200. Dropped off our bags at the hotel; walked to the Tube and rode out to Hebdon, north of the city. Visited the RAF Museum at Hebdon. I'd have to say second only to what I've seen at the Smithsoninan (from an airplane display stand). From pre-WWI to present. Well displayed, great presentation, etc. Anyway, from a long visit there, we Tubed back to London. We got off the train in Soho to find a good restaurant. Out of the tube, the crowd was SO large that we just settled for a Cornish Bakery and had our first Pasties (turnover with meat and veggies wrapped inside). Did some more walking, shopping and went back to the hotel and crashed almost immediately. Now, some 10 hours later, we are getting up for the day. Going to Churchill's War Museum, The Eye, The Tower of London, and whatever else fits the hours. Tomorrow is the London Marathon and the crowds are overflowing the city. Not the best weekend to be here to see the attractions. Sort of like going to Disneyland on a holiday weekend. On our way home tomorrow morning. See ya soon. Dad and Mom

Near San Jose

My current job perfectly described. Watch from 3:16 to 6:53. Hopefully 6:54+ never happens:-)

Mike

We got up and drove to some small villages on the SW coast of Devon. Visited Stoke and Hartland. Stoke had a very nice cathedral there that was open to walk through. Found some interesting grave sites there with the name of Babb. I will bring or send photos. Went to an Abbey turned Manor which included a cottage used in the filming of Sense and Sensibility. Not sure if the version was the BBC version or Emma Thompson's. Apparently some mods were made to the front of the cottage for the movie. Spent most of the day there, walking and visiting the different structures and coast. Had another round of Cod and Chips. Mom thinks I am growing gills. Tomorrow, we head for London, drop our gear and head south to an RAF museum. Saturday, I have no idea what we are doing. I'm sure Mom does.

Anyway, here are some more pics with others to follow. Dad and Mom

It’s been a few weeks since I’ve posted and I have been meaning to but something else always come up that I need to do instead. You know, really important things like napping…(I wish)

Life’s still busy. I had my last midterm last Thursday and have my first final tomorrow. They really like to cram those tests in, huh? I then have a few weeks with no tests – instead I get to write three group papers and give 20-minute presentations for each of those. May 22nd can’t come soon enough.

I got a more official “yes, you are accepted” from the Norwegian school I am going to in the Fall last week. I haven’t received the paperwork from them yet so I still had that lingering feeling that for some reason they were going to find a way to say I couldn’t come. But they have said they are “very excited to have me attend” so I’d say that is pretty firm confirmation. I’m starting to make some arrangements – renewing the passport, applying for the lovely Norwegian free health insurance, all that. Three months till I leave…it’s gonna go by fast.

This last weekend I took my self-appointed mandatory study break before finals. Went line dancing at a local country club with some friends and old roommates. Most of us had no idea what we were doing but it was really fun anyhow. I also visited the Fallbrook Avocado Festival where we roasted in the hot, HOT 100 degree sun. I was determined to only eat food made from avocados while I was there and am happy to report I was successful. I tried the “best of the festival” guacamole (delish!), avocado gelato (mostly tasted like vanilla with a hint of salty avocado taste), and deep-fried avocado wedges (W-O-W). I also got the chance to have my de-stressing pre-finals trip to Disneyland on Monday. It was a great day to go (other than the 107 degree high) because it is the week after the last Spring Break of the year so there was barely anyone there. We went on almost every big ride including the hot-day necessities, Splash Mountain and Grizzly Mtn. Rapids. I'll add some pictures to the post when I get them.

So on to things that aren't as directly related to my life - I'm still really enjoying Idol, obviously. I thought Adam did great last night. A little musical theater but that's his thing and I don't think they're gonna do a musical theater week this year so I'm glad we got to hear him sing a little more of a ballad. Some of you have likely already seen the results show but I'll be shocked if its not Anoop and Lil that get voted off.

Haven't seen a movie in a while but I'm pretty excited for the next big flick to come out - Wolverine (May 1st). My superstar boyfriend, Hugh Jackman, just got his superstar-dom a little more recognized. He got his hand and footprints in front of Hollywood's Grauman's Chinese Theater a couple days ago. I think I'll be having to take a trip over there next time I am up visiting LA...

A few more movies I am looking forward to in the coming months...Star Trek, Harry Potter (trailer 4a is amazing), Angels & Demons (liked the book more than Da Vinci Code), Extract (from the guy who did Office Space), Year One, Away We Go, Where the Wild Things Are, 500 Days of Summer, Termination Salvation, and Up.

Music finds? Ok, I’ll admit it – I bought a Miley Cyrus song. "The Climb" is such a great song, I just try to forget who is singing it. (No offense, Jane & Sadie)

Sidenote: HDTV and BluRay are amazing.

I think that's all I've got in me for today. Must stop. Good to hear from all those who have posted and I'm really enjoying seeing and hearing about the wandering parentals. Keep it coming.

We took the train from Barnstable to Exeter today. We were going to take the train from Exeter to Plymouth, however, it was delayed for a time. Then, the second train going the same way was also delayed. While standing there, the train to Torquay arrived and we just jumped aboard and took it to that destination. That was a wise choice as Torquay is the English Riveria. Not too populated today, but very beautiful. We spent the day and then trained back to Barnstable, then drove home. Not funny, but today on the way to Barnstable, we were going on our little hedgerow road to the highway and came around a corner headon into another car. The problem was that I, out of normal US reaction, turned to the right and that was exactly the wrong place to go. There was just enough room for me to correct to the left and get around the little red car and the angry Englishman behind the wheel. He gave me a dirty look, probably said a few words and just sat there with his brake lights on as I drove on my way. Close call. The rest of the trip went just fine. I think I had my 7th serving of Cod and Chips today, with peas. Mom laughs, but I do enjoy them. Better with smashed peas. So, here are today's photos. Tomorrow, I am sure we will go on down to Plymouth.

Dad and Mom.......back on Sunday at 2145.

So, off we went to Bude on the SW coast of UK into North Cornwall. A beautiful sea coast town reminiscent of Seaside, Oregon but with a bit more taste. I'm not a fan of Seaside. This was much nicer. Met our kayak guide, "Eggy", a young man about Kim's age with a very friendly and helpful nature. He guided us 3 miles up a canal with two portages above the locks and a third stop at a tea room in the country, just off the canal, then back down the 3 miles, with portages to our starting point. Not a lot of pictures of the canal as the camera was in a dry sack, but we did stop for a few just to let you see the landscape. It was wonderful and Eggy was a great guide. We came back to our room in Parkham and had dinner at the Penhaven restaurant, adjacent to the cottages. Tomorrow, we're off to explore Cornwall and Devon on the train. ( of course, this is after Mom's 6 mile run tomorrrow and my 3 mile run.) Just trying to work my way back up to my 5k preparation. That's about it for today.

I am back to school now, after the wonderful weekend I had at the warm beach. It was SO hot today, I liked it though. I am more of a warm weather person. Tonight we are having the sister missionaries over for dinner. Today was not really that interesting, but I felt bad because I have not blogged in a long time. I am in MS success and tomorrow and this week we are talking about Autism and the six pillars of character. I am pretty excited about that,one day we have to be "handicapped". I am reading Gone with the Wind, it is really good so far. Well, bye.

So, today's journeys took us to two major towns, Bideford and Barstable. I failed to mention yesterday that "Captain Sully" and I have something in common. Whilst purveying along the road from Bideford to Clovelly, suddenly to our front were two avies of the genus, "Crow". Up they came at a slothful rate from the tarmac before me that, I hence, the second planted his slovenly body against my windscreen with a "thud", bounced off to the right and disappeared from my sight. End of story. Dead bird, I know not, however, I now can claim "birdstrike" as did Sully...and we both saved the day as our craft continue ahead without harm to the occupants of either vehicle. In other words, the dumb crow hit my windscreen and bounced away, I hope to his demise as I do not like Crows. Next:

We went back to the town of Barnstable. We walked the streets, did some shopping and then headed toward another site. However, we noted a sign for the Combatan, a small village with a farmer who has the largest collection of WWI and WWII vehicles and weaponry. Three quonsat huts full of gear. From there we rode back to Bideford to our favorite "Safeway-like" store, had Cod and Chips, picked up some needed items and went home to listen to the story of Henry the Eighth and Anne Bolyn. That's it for today.