Now, came the part of our trip Margaret had dreaded. We headed for London. It's not that we didn't want to go to London, but driving there was not something any of us - except Barry - were looking forward to. Our luck held, though. Stopping at a filling station, Barry had the good fortune to run into a man who let us follow him to within a block of our hostel. Of course, it still took us 10 minutes to find it! After checking in at our hostel, Barry returned the c...

Today, we headed down the road again to Bath, which held an exceptional surprise for us. Barry had passed through there before on a bus but was not too impressed, so our expectations were pretty low. When we got there, however, we were rewarded with a breathtaking city fashioned around the Roman Baths and heavily influenced by Roman/Palatial style. Because so many of the huge structures were designed by the same man and later his son, there was a fluidity to the ...

We arrived at Stratford-Upon-Avon at exactly 2:19 p.m. (only Margaret marked the exact time in her journal). For Margaret, this was, of course, a really big deal. For an English teacher, this is life-changing! We were delighted at the sight of the famous words (bringing Shakespeare to life) displayed on the many businesses and restaurants. We decided to find our hostel first, and, again had some major "adventures" trying to find our way. However, once w...

Barry got all the practice he'll ever want driving country roads today! We decided to take the scenic route to York through the Yorkshire Dales and saw some wild countryside. Gone are the manicured, perfect roads and instead the trees and bushes grow where they will. We enjoyed the drive, though by the time we got to Thirsk, we were ready to find a major road again. Before arriving in Thirsk, Barry inquired into where James Herriot's house was and didn't get much...

We are off to England. We journeyed down through the Lake District and saw some of the most breathtaking villages yet. Everything seems like a park and the winding roads with their picturesque walls, massive trees and sheep manicured hills and dales are a delight. We stopped at Wordsworth's cottage and enjoyed a lovely stroll around the neighbourhood, imagining the natural inspiration for Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Beatriz Potter and of course Wordsworth himself. W...