Home at last

I'm sorry I didn't get something written yesterday. It just didn't happen. But I did get the laundry done and lots of other stuff put away. It does pile up with we're gone for a couple of weeks.

We had a terrific trip. The trip to Iceland went off without a hitch. We loved the alumni group and the company that put the trip together. We're already looking to take another trip that way - maybe next spring.

We were on a brand new French vessel - only about 240 passengers. Our group of alumni from various universities were 40; there were about 110 with a Tauck Tour; and the remainder were independent French travelers. It was a beautiful ship, with great food, unlimited house wine with dinners, lovely cabin. We learned a lot about Iceland - the geography, people, culture, and the geology/glaciers/volcanoes - just lovely. We haven't downloaded the pictures yet, but we'll get that done soon.

Our visit to England was fun, too. We spent a couple of days with an old friend who has a flat in a tiny town near Oxford. They're there twice a year for a couple of months each time. Her daughter (who was in Kate's class in Hendersonville all those years ago) has lived in England for 30 years, so that's the connection. They drove us around the Cotswolds (lovely little towns). We picked up a rental car and headed out on our own. John did all the driving - getting very frustrated at times because of the stick-shift - but finally getting "not too uncomfortable" with driving on the left side of the road.

I'll have to write more specifically on each area, but we did get to Avebury, Stonehenge, Woodhenge, Old Sarum (maybe the best - and we'll have to reread Pillars of the Earth), Salisbury Cathedral, Bath. And with local recommendations, we found wonderful places such as Warfurd Castle, Cernan Abbas, Sherbourne Castle, ate terrific pub meals, and stayed in some neat B&Bs.

The trip home was long, but uneventful, and we may get over the jet lag fairly quickly. At least by tomorrow, it'll be back to swimming and WalMart.

That's enough for now.