England
13 October- 6 November
I didn't keep a very accurate blog of the trip as I had intended but I did send E-mails home and started to use facebook to send pictures. I found that I could easily reconstruct the trip from various sources; I had kept accurate locations where we had spent each night on google earth, digital pictures with both location and time, E-mails I sent home, and finally, Grace collected postcards from every place that we visited. I will reconstruct the trip here, including post trip comments, e-mails, and pictures all jumbled together. Maybe we can give these to a struggling writer to turn into a book someday (Shannon??)
England was an obvious choose for the beginning of the journey. We would start out easy and build up to the harder travel once we were used to life on the road. or we would have an easy exit back home if we hated it.
We Spent 25 days in London waiting for the RV to arrive. We used the time without the RV to explore the city, which would be hard to do with the RV, but lodging is so expensive that when the truck was delayed, we had to find an alternative to pricey London. We found much less expensive lodging in Bath, and then a great off season deal on an Isle of Wight rental. It was wonderful, a 16th century boat house, completely refurbished inside, but with an old country cottage charm on the outside.
We Spent 25 days in London waiting for the RV to arrive. We used the time without the RV to explore the city, which would be hard to do with the RV, but lodging is so expensive that when the truck was delayed, we had to find an alternative to pricey London. We found much less expensive lodging in Bath, and then a great off season deal on an Isle of Wight rental. It was wonderful, a 16th century boat house, completely refurbished inside, but with an old country cottage charm on the outside.
13-21 September
Let the Journey Begin!
13 Arrival into Heathrow Airport
14 Day Off
15 Apsley House
16 Kennsington Palace, Rooftop Garden
17 London Museum, Natural History Museum, St Pauls, Tate Modern
18 National Portrait Gallery
19 Tower of London
20 Banquet House, National Gallery, Westminster
21 Victoria and Albert, British Library
Lodgings- Apartment on Lillie Road
Let the Journey Begin!
13 Arrival into Heathrow Airport
14 Day Off
15 Apsley House
16 Kennsington Palace, Rooftop Garden
17 London Museum, Natural History Museum, St Pauls, Tate Modern
18 National Portrait Gallery
19 Tower of London
20 Banquet House, National Gallery, Westminster
21 Victoria and Albert, British Library
Lodgings- Apartment on Lillie Road
22-27 September
More London, Staying Near Hyde Park
22 Hyde Park
23 Greenich, Queens Palace, Observatory
24 Hampton Court
25 Tate Britain
26 British Museum
27 British Museum
Lodgings- Rhodes Hotel
More London, Staying Near Hyde Park
22 Hyde Park
23 Greenich, Queens Palace, Observatory
24 Hampton Court
25 Tate Britain
26 British Museum
27 British Museum
Lodgings- Rhodes Hotel
28-30 September
Bath
28 Train to Bath
29 Bath City Tour, Fashion Museum
30 Stonehenge, Old Sarum
Lodged in an Apartment in bath
It became obvious that Shachagra's arrival was going to be delayed and the cost of lodging in London was killing our budget so we looked for a low cost alternative and found that off season rentals in summer tourist areas were very reasonable. This was the first verification of the sensibility of traveling off-season in the high cost areas.
Bath
28 Train to Bath
29 Bath City Tour, Fashion Museum
30 Stonehenge, Old Sarum
Lodged in an Apartment in bath
It became obvious that Shachagra's arrival was going to be delayed and the cost of lodging in London was killing our budget so we looked for a low cost alternative and found that off season rentals in summer tourist areas were very reasonable. This was the first verification of the sensibility of traveling off-season in the high cost areas.
1-7 October
Isle of Wight
1 Chill
2 Chill
3 Appuldurcombe House
4 Osborn House
5 Carlsbrooke Castle
6 St Catharines Oratory
7 Osborne House
Isle of Wight
1 Chill
2 Chill
3 Appuldurcombe House
4 Osborn House
5 Carlsbrooke Castle
6 St Catharines Oratory
7 Osborne House
8 October
Shachagra Arrives!
Spent the night just outside the gate to Southampton docks
9-12 October
Getting ready to head north in the security of Lakenheath AFB
Stealth camped in the parking lot across from the commissary.
13 October 2010 First E-mail Home
Hintlesham/ Ancestor hunting
Parked- "The George" parking lot, a beautiful English village pub
Our first E-mail home (I will italicize E-mails)
She made it Unscathed. All my worries unfounded, Shachagra is here in great condition. I was like an expectant father on the ferry from Isle of Wight to Southampton and then from the upper deck I saw her, on the dock, lined up with the tractors. She looked so tiny, but after a quick inspection I determined she was all there, no gapping holes or roof sheared off.
My web page crashed, and in trying to fix it I lost the stuff stored on my computer so it is shelved for a while. The two sites, Shachagra and Centennialyachts got mixed up somehow in the either, i do not know. So I will update via E-mail until I have it figured out. We may do a weekly "Podcast" talking about things we did and learned that week.
So far the trip has been great, but a bit slow. We are only 1/2 as far as we thought we would be because even traveling you have to take time to do school and work on the RV. I should have the heater hooked up today, I would have it done but for some missing exhaust parts that I will get at a muffler shop today. Also I ran short of wire to connect the truck alternator to the house batteries, so I will get that as well. The only big disappointment so far came yesterday when we plugged into an RV park electrical to top up the batteries. Even overcast in October the solar panels have been keeping up with our needs, nearly. We do fall short and wanted to top off, but the inverter would recognize, but not accept the a/c input even after it was stepped down from UK 240V to US 110. Turns out the inverter will not accept UK electricity because the cycles (Hertz) are below 54. My charger will not work, and I didn't bring the trusty sears charger, so off I go today on the Vespa to buy a battery charger as well as muffler parts.
We did wire the A/C power past the inverter/charger so we have been able to heat water and wash clothes. I hope to be able to heat the water with diesel by the end of the day, charge the batteries with the truck alternator, thus never need to plug in at all.
The big drag is that everyday I work on the truck is a day we aren't exploring- but the children can explore locally.
Spent the other night in a tiny village called Hintlesham. Parked in the village lot, at lunch at the local pub, then went out to explore. We know that one branch of the family started here, the Clarkes. All I knew was Sara Clarke of Hintlesham moved to Mistley and married a Ship Master John Burgess, 8 generations later out pops Shannon. We found the Parish church- in the woods about 200 feet from where we slept, and started to look at graves. The children were pretty excited when we found the Clarkes, hard to read some but we took down all the information. The old church has seen better days but is still used and was open, we found all the keys to the church on a big ring sitting in the baptismal font. They are pretty trusting. We knew it was old, the architecture was Norman, but it turns out to have been built before 1080. An historic building like that would be a tourist attraction in the states, here it sits back in the woods, open, with the keyring in the font.
We had to go back at night with flashlights and wander the graveyard, and explore the old church at night. Pretty creepy.
Next stop is Mistley where Sara moved to start the Burgess line, which eventually married into the Cliffs, then Cuthberts. But if we don't get there today, there's always tomorrow. This truck needs heat.
Hintlesham/ Ancestor hunting
Parked- "The George" parking lot, a beautiful English village pub
Our first E-mail home (I will italicize E-mails)
She made it Unscathed. All my worries unfounded, Shachagra is here in great condition. I was like an expectant father on the ferry from Isle of Wight to Southampton and then from the upper deck I saw her, on the dock, lined up with the tractors. She looked so tiny, but after a quick inspection I determined she was all there, no gapping holes or roof sheared off.
My web page crashed, and in trying to fix it I lost the stuff stored on my computer so it is shelved for a while. The two sites, Shachagra and Centennialyachts got mixed up somehow in the either, i do not know. So I will update via E-mail until I have it figured out. We may do a weekly "Podcast" talking about things we did and learned that week.
So far the trip has been great, but a bit slow. We are only 1/2 as far as we thought we would be because even traveling you have to take time to do school and work on the RV. I should have the heater hooked up today, I would have it done but for some missing exhaust parts that I will get at a muffler shop today. Also I ran short of wire to connect the truck alternator to the house batteries, so I will get that as well. The only big disappointment so far came yesterday when we plugged into an RV park electrical to top up the batteries. Even overcast in October the solar panels have been keeping up with our needs, nearly. We do fall short and wanted to top off, but the inverter would recognize, but not accept the a/c input even after it was stepped down from UK 240V to US 110. Turns out the inverter will not accept UK electricity because the cycles (Hertz) are below 54. My charger will not work, and I didn't bring the trusty sears charger, so off I go today on the Vespa to buy a battery charger as well as muffler parts.
We did wire the A/C power past the inverter/charger so we have been able to heat water and wash clothes. I hope to be able to heat the water with diesel by the end of the day, charge the batteries with the truck alternator, thus never need to plug in at all.
The big drag is that everyday I work on the truck is a day we aren't exploring- but the children can explore locally.
Spent the other night in a tiny village called Hintlesham. Parked in the village lot, at lunch at the local pub, then went out to explore. We know that one branch of the family started here, the Clarkes. All I knew was Sara Clarke of Hintlesham moved to Mistley and married a Ship Master John Burgess, 8 generations later out pops Shannon. We found the Parish church- in the woods about 200 feet from where we slept, and started to look at graves. The children were pretty excited when we found the Clarkes, hard to read some but we took down all the information. The old church has seen better days but is still used and was open, we found all the keys to the church on a big ring sitting in the baptismal font. They are pretty trusting. We knew it was old, the architecture was Norman, but it turns out to have been built before 1080. An historic building like that would be a tourist attraction in the states, here it sits back in the woods, open, with the keyring in the font.
We had to go back at night with flashlights and wander the graveyard, and explore the old church at night. Pretty creepy.
Next stop is Mistley where Sara moved to start the Burgess line, which eventually married into the Cliffs, then Cuthberts. But if we don't get there today, there's always tomorrow. This truck needs heat.
14 October 2010
Chill Day/work on RV
Parked- Tomcat Farms Caravan park
Chill Day/work on RV
Parked- Tomcat Farms Caravan park
16 October
Mistley
Mistley Place Animal Park, Quiz night
Parked-Mistley Place Park
We have finished a full week on the road and are starting to get into a routine. A routine, but not a schedule. We tend to spend twice as much time in any one location as we planned. Combination of finding interesting things to do at every stop and the reluctance to leave "the perfect spot" for an unknown site for the next night, which turns out to be the perfect place. We have found everyone willing to bend over backwards to help us. I write this from an animal rescue farm that just happened to be across the street from the Parish church in Mistley UK. The owner is an eccentric old guy who spends his day taking care of 28 acres of animals he has rescued, and charging people to come in and see them. He takes in animals others are going to put down- owls, pigs, sheep, horses, goats- the works. The park is beautiful and he is letting us stay- locks us in at night. We are next to a lake, across from an old church, it is "the perfect spot" but we are off today to find another after we go to church and explore some records and graves. The old guy Mike believes the woods next to the lake are haunted, has no doubt about it. We didn't go out to check.
Last week we stayed in Lakenheath AFB for 4 days, waiting for the bank to open, then on to Hintlesham for one night, two nights in a campground working on the RV and then we came here.
School is pretty durn effective. Shannon works on physics everyday when she's not reading. She consumes books. The physics DVDs she uses are the way to go. Great teacher and she can skip back as many times as needed. She will see each DVD at least 20 times by the time she's done. Grace is working with Stef and I think she learns more in 2 hours than she ever did in a full day at school. Right now Shannon is working Physics,Grace is doing math, and Charles is on the roof taking down the chimney. The stove needs at least 5 feet of chimney, but Charles is the worker of the group. Stef broke the washer door handle while I was running around looking for my part, and the washer would not work unless locked shut. Charles took in apart, glued the broken piece and it is back up and running.
The truck is great. I found that I can't use UK power, even when passed through a transformer- my Inverter charger drops out any power below 54 Hz, and power here is 50Hz. What seemed a huge deal at the time turned out to be easy. I bought a 20Amp UK battery charger and that will feed power straight to the batteries. I am obsessed with power, the electrical kind. I have a constant mental stream of converting Watts, AmpHours and various voltages. The solar panels seem to be just about keeping up, with a slow overall loss. I ran the wiring from the truck alternator (actually just the truck batteries) back to the house batteries. Now they will charge as we drive as well as charge from the sun. The family is very conservation minded of water, electricity and holding tank capacity. Lights go off, they ask to use computers on the RV power, and we always crap in someone else's toilet if we can. Happiness on the road is 13.7 Volts, empty holding tank and full water tanks.
It is getting cold, just in time for the fireplace to be up and running. It works great but was a pain to get working. I spent 4 hours on the Vespa running around a city called Ipswich trying to find a fitting for the diesel fuel, once I got that piece I was up and running. It really puts out the heat and is so comforting. Next on the list is the diesel boiler, I did some work on it, collected more parts and coolant tubing, and it should be working by next week, and I will be soaking in a hot tub.
Mistley
Mistley Place Animal Park, Quiz night
Parked-Mistley Place Park
We have finished a full week on the road and are starting to get into a routine. A routine, but not a schedule. We tend to spend twice as much time in any one location as we planned. Combination of finding interesting things to do at every stop and the reluctance to leave "the perfect spot" for an unknown site for the next night, which turns out to be the perfect place. We have found everyone willing to bend over backwards to help us. I write this from an animal rescue farm that just happened to be across the street from the Parish church in Mistley UK. The owner is an eccentric old guy who spends his day taking care of 28 acres of animals he has rescued, and charging people to come in and see them. He takes in animals others are going to put down- owls, pigs, sheep, horses, goats- the works. The park is beautiful and he is letting us stay- locks us in at night. We are next to a lake, across from an old church, it is "the perfect spot" but we are off today to find another after we go to church and explore some records and graves. The old guy Mike believes the woods next to the lake are haunted, has no doubt about it. We didn't go out to check.
Last week we stayed in Lakenheath AFB for 4 days, waiting for the bank to open, then on to Hintlesham for one night, two nights in a campground working on the RV and then we came here.
School is pretty durn effective. Shannon works on physics everyday when she's not reading. She consumes books. The physics DVDs she uses are the way to go. Great teacher and she can skip back as many times as needed. She will see each DVD at least 20 times by the time she's done. Grace is working with Stef and I think she learns more in 2 hours than she ever did in a full day at school. Right now Shannon is working Physics,Grace is doing math, and Charles is on the roof taking down the chimney. The stove needs at least 5 feet of chimney, but Charles is the worker of the group. Stef broke the washer door handle while I was running around looking for my part, and the washer would not work unless locked shut. Charles took in apart, glued the broken piece and it is back up and running.
The truck is great. I found that I can't use UK power, even when passed through a transformer- my Inverter charger drops out any power below 54 Hz, and power here is 50Hz. What seemed a huge deal at the time turned out to be easy. I bought a 20Amp UK battery charger and that will feed power straight to the batteries. I am obsessed with power, the electrical kind. I have a constant mental stream of converting Watts, AmpHours and various voltages. The solar panels seem to be just about keeping up, with a slow overall loss. I ran the wiring from the truck alternator (actually just the truck batteries) back to the house batteries. Now they will charge as we drive as well as charge from the sun. The family is very conservation minded of water, electricity and holding tank capacity. Lights go off, they ask to use computers on the RV power, and we always crap in someone else's toilet if we can. Happiness on the road is 13.7 Volts, empty holding tank and full water tanks.
It is getting cold, just in time for the fireplace to be up and running. It works great but was a pain to get working. I spent 4 hours on the Vespa running around a city called Ipswich trying to find a fitting for the diesel fuel, once I got that piece I was up and running. It really puts out the heat and is so comforting. Next on the list is the diesel boiler, I did some work on it, collected more parts and coolant tubing, and it should be working by next week, and I will be soaking in a hot tub.
17 October 2010
Chelmsford Cathedral
Parked- Street Outside Essex Record House
Chelmsford Cathedral
Parked- Street Outside Essex Record House
18 October 2010
Essex Record House, Genealogy research
Parked- Street
Essex Record House, Genealogy research
Parked- Street
19 October 2010
Cambridge
Parked- Costco parking lot Leeds
Cambridge
Parked- Costco parking lot Leeds
20 October 2010
York
Railroad Museum
Parked-Naburn Lock Caravan Park
York
Railroad Museum
Parked-Naburn Lock Caravan Park
21 October 2010
York
Jorvic, York Minster Evensong, Cliffords Tower
Parked- Naburn Lock Caravan Park
York
Jorvic, York Minster Evensong, Cliffords Tower
Parked- Naburn Lock Caravan Park
22 October 2010
York
York Castle, Castle Museum, York Museum
Parked- Naburn Lock Caravan Park
York
York Castle, Castle Museum, York Museum
Parked- Naburn Lock Caravan Park
23 October 2010
Maintenance Day/Chill
Boiler works!
Parked- Naburn Lock Caravan Park
Maintenance Day/Chill
Boiler works!
Parked- Naburn Lock Caravan Park
24 October 2010
Traveling North
Parked- Roadside Monument near Welburn (to the 7th Earl of Carlisle)
Traveling North
Parked- Roadside Monument near Welburn (to the 7th Earl of Carlisle)
25 October 2010
Ruins
Ribald Abey, Helmsley Castle, Byland Abbey
Parked- Thirsk, Roadside
Ruins
Ribald Abey, Helmsley Castle, Byland Abbey
Parked- Thirsk, Roadside
26 October 2010
Durham
Durham Cathedral, Science Museum
Parked- Durham, Train Station
Durham
Durham Cathedral, Science Museum
Parked- Durham, Train Station
27 October 2010
Durham
Durham Cathedral, Durham University
Parked- Durham, Train Station
Durham
Durham Cathedral, Durham University
Parked- Durham, Train Station
28 October
Beamish Open Air Museum
Parked- Parking lot, Stanley, England
We are parked in a parking lot of some type, maybe a school, its too dark to tell. I have spent the last 15 minutes looking at the row houses across the street, watching lights go on and off in rooms. I am just starting to get used to having time on my hands, with little challenges. My concerns of the day are 1. Where are we going to park for the night. 2. How much power is in the batteries, and 3. where will we next get water and dump our wastes. That's about it. Its going to be a rainy day today, and we have little prospect of staying in an RV park tonight, so I will have to do a bit of driving to charge the batteries. Still at 12.5 Volts, but thats the lowest they have been. I am in a great routine. Bed at 2130. Up at 0430, light the fire, put on coffee and do yoga. It is so nice to be alone, the only light coming from the fire. Then I start study- the tough reading I want to get through, but can't concentrate on during the day. Shannon is up at 0600 and does her physics. A schedule helps avoid everyone running around at the same time.
We spent yesterday at an outdoor museum- Beamish, Open Air Museum. It is a collection of late 1800s villages, towns, coal mine, farms etc, spread over 300 acres, all real buildings that have been moved here. It gives the children a great feel for life in this area in the past. We went into a mine yesterday. Amazing what they had to deal with, what a harsh life. There was an entire Collier, mining town set up, including company store, housing, church, and school. I didn't know what a Collier was but had seen the word tracing Nana's background, her grandfather was a coal miner, lived in Harton Collier for 30 years in the 1850's. Its 20 miles from here and we'll visit it next with a good idea of what it used to be like. We are spending another day at the museum but it is horrible out, windy and rainy. Maybe we spent the day in the RV and go tomorrow. We'll see.
We were a bit concerned with money when we first started out and didn't have renters. Diesel is really expensive here, about $8 a gallon. The mileage sucks because unless we are on the highway we have to constantly stop to pass other cars and trucks- its a tight fit. Except for paying about $1 a mile traveled, we haven't had a problem yet. We did have to backtrack once last week when the road passed through an old estate, and the gatehouse was the only way through- far too small for us. I also underestimated the miles we would be traveling. I think we will travel near 12,000 miles over the trip. We have been on the road for 3 weeks now and have gone 680 miles. It really is nice to have a comfortable, familiar place to draw the shades and relax. Last night was the first time we had someone come by and ask us to leave. It was the museum parking lot guys- we expected to stay parked in the museum lot (it is huge) but couldn't. Drove a 1/2 mile out and parked here, next to row houses that look just like the miners houses in the museum. We can always stay in an RV park, they are everywhere, but they charge about $35-$40 a night. I have found it necessary to study where we are going to next on the maps and with the satellite imagery. I can then pick out a likely parking spot and avoid driving around too much.
We have decided to skip Ireland all together this go around. It is taking us much longer than we thought, need to get south to warmer weather, and the ferry to Ireland will cost over $1000. It was only $4500 to ship it across the ocean. We plan to be crossing the channel into France before the end of November.
The children are learning more than they can absorb. In addition to the touring we do Shannon and Grace both do courses everyday and Charles is reading the Harvard Classics with me. He is finishing the Autobiography of Ben Franklin and will write a paper on its applicability today. I am struggling through John Stuart Mills. We can send his paper home for the Grandparents to review. Grace is building a presentation on the life of a Monk in the 10th Century. We all went to an evening lecture at Durham University- located right next to the cathedral, on light. It was an old fashioned demonstration, things blowing up type lecture and well worth the time. We toured the University and its 900 year old dormitories, imagine living in a dorm room 900 years old. Must not be easy because 1st year students have to live there, after that they dorm in town if they want.
Durham Cathedral was a highlight. It is my favorite, certainly not as impressive as St Pauls at the Vatican, but the feel is hard to describe, impressive but warm. It was built in 40 years by Norman architects, so its design is consistent, not like most cathedrals that take 400 years to build and have 3 different styles. It may influence me a bit that it was built specifically to house the remains of St Cuthbert, still there today. He's a big name around these parts. I'm not really comfortable with the pagan style worship directed at the saints, but the story of Cuthbert the man is pretty impressive. We stayed in the parking lot at the train station for two nights, easy walk into town. There was a cafe right on the river below the cathedral that we spent a lot of time at- super fast internet. The children satisfy their TV craving by watching two shows a week, The Office, and Glee, both downloaded weekly off the Internet. They watch two shows a week, but about 4 times each.
Time to start the day. Back to the museum, and after that either an RV park further north (I have to make some calls) or a huge parking lot along the beach in South Shields.
Beamish Open Air Museum
Parked- Parking lot, Stanley, England
We are parked in a parking lot of some type, maybe a school, its too dark to tell. I have spent the last 15 minutes looking at the row houses across the street, watching lights go on and off in rooms. I am just starting to get used to having time on my hands, with little challenges. My concerns of the day are 1. Where are we going to park for the night. 2. How much power is in the batteries, and 3. where will we next get water and dump our wastes. That's about it. Its going to be a rainy day today, and we have little prospect of staying in an RV park tonight, so I will have to do a bit of driving to charge the batteries. Still at 12.5 Volts, but thats the lowest they have been. I am in a great routine. Bed at 2130. Up at 0430, light the fire, put on coffee and do yoga. It is so nice to be alone, the only light coming from the fire. Then I start study- the tough reading I want to get through, but can't concentrate on during the day. Shannon is up at 0600 and does her physics. A schedule helps avoid everyone running around at the same time.
We spent yesterday at an outdoor museum- Beamish, Open Air Museum. It is a collection of late 1800s villages, towns, coal mine, farms etc, spread over 300 acres, all real buildings that have been moved here. It gives the children a great feel for life in this area in the past. We went into a mine yesterday. Amazing what they had to deal with, what a harsh life. There was an entire Collier, mining town set up, including company store, housing, church, and school. I didn't know what a Collier was but had seen the word tracing Nana's background, her grandfather was a coal miner, lived in Harton Collier for 30 years in the 1850's. Its 20 miles from here and we'll visit it next with a good idea of what it used to be like. We are spending another day at the museum but it is horrible out, windy and rainy. Maybe we spent the day in the RV and go tomorrow. We'll see.
We were a bit concerned with money when we first started out and didn't have renters. Diesel is really expensive here, about $8 a gallon. The mileage sucks because unless we are on the highway we have to constantly stop to pass other cars and trucks- its a tight fit. Except for paying about $1 a mile traveled, we haven't had a problem yet. We did have to backtrack once last week when the road passed through an old estate, and the gatehouse was the only way through- far too small for us. I also underestimated the miles we would be traveling. I think we will travel near 12,000 miles over the trip. We have been on the road for 3 weeks now and have gone 680 miles. It really is nice to have a comfortable, familiar place to draw the shades and relax. Last night was the first time we had someone come by and ask us to leave. It was the museum parking lot guys- we expected to stay parked in the museum lot (it is huge) but couldn't. Drove a 1/2 mile out and parked here, next to row houses that look just like the miners houses in the museum. We can always stay in an RV park, they are everywhere, but they charge about $35-$40 a night. I have found it necessary to study where we are going to next on the maps and with the satellite imagery. I can then pick out a likely parking spot and avoid driving around too much.
We have decided to skip Ireland all together this go around. It is taking us much longer than we thought, need to get south to warmer weather, and the ferry to Ireland will cost over $1000. It was only $4500 to ship it across the ocean. We plan to be crossing the channel into France before the end of November.
The children are learning more than they can absorb. In addition to the touring we do Shannon and Grace both do courses everyday and Charles is reading the Harvard Classics with me. He is finishing the Autobiography of Ben Franklin and will write a paper on its applicability today. I am struggling through John Stuart Mills. We can send his paper home for the Grandparents to review. Grace is building a presentation on the life of a Monk in the 10th Century. We all went to an evening lecture at Durham University- located right next to the cathedral, on light. It was an old fashioned demonstration, things blowing up type lecture and well worth the time. We toured the University and its 900 year old dormitories, imagine living in a dorm room 900 years old. Must not be easy because 1st year students have to live there, after that they dorm in town if they want.
Durham Cathedral was a highlight. It is my favorite, certainly not as impressive as St Pauls at the Vatican, but the feel is hard to describe, impressive but warm. It was built in 40 years by Norman architects, so its design is consistent, not like most cathedrals that take 400 years to build and have 3 different styles. It may influence me a bit that it was built specifically to house the remains of St Cuthbert, still there today. He's a big name around these parts. I'm not really comfortable with the pagan style worship directed at the saints, but the story of Cuthbert the man is pretty impressive. We stayed in the parking lot at the train station for two nights, easy walk into town. There was a cafe right on the river below the cathedral that we spent a lot of time at- super fast internet. The children satisfy their TV craving by watching two shows a week, The Office, and Glee, both downloaded weekly off the Internet. They watch two shows a week, but about 4 times each.
Time to start the day. Back to the museum, and after that either an RV park further north (I have to make some calls) or a huge parking lot along the beach in South Shields.
29 October 2010
Bingo Night
Parked- Bobby Shafto Caravan Park
Bingo Night
Parked- Bobby Shafto Caravan Park
30 October 2010
Halloween Party
Parked- Bobby Shafto Caravan Park
Halloween Party
Parked- Bobby Shafto Caravan Park
31 October 2010
Attempted Bike theft
Parked- Coastal road, South Shields
Attempted Bike theft
Parked- Coastal road, South Shields
1 November
South Shields, Geneology
Library, Graveyard
Parked-South Shields, England
We are parked on the roadside in South Shields. The road on one side and the sea on the other. We found a beautiful parking lot next to the beach but there were signs every 5 feet informing us that there was not overnight parking allowed. We pulled out of the lot, onto the coastal road and right into a spot along the road. It turns out that by dumb luck we are just a few streets over from where Nana (my grandmother) lived in 1901. We have 5 addresses within a few miles we can wander by and explore. The area used to be a coal mine town, so I am surprised at how beautiful in is. From our spot you can see the mouth of the river Tyne and an ancient fort, then south of that is a small version of Coney Island, and further south that is just beautiful rocky coastline. We watched a cruise liner put out to sea last night, I never noticed before that they look like they float on a ring of light. The lights from the deck make the water around them glow.
We spent two days in a "Caravan Park" just 9 miles from here. The children loved it. Most of the campers come there every weekend, leaving their trailers at the park year round. The area was beautiful, heavy woods, hills and a river. Grace was able to Trick or Treat after missing the last two years. She was a fairy, girl excuse to dress up. Charles met a new friend, Emma, from Newcastle. He didn't want to leave, and when I asked him what time the Halloween party started, he replied "half six". They meld right in. In a park like that we are celebrities, outsiders and in an RV that everyone wants to take a look inside of. The people are really nice and helpful, definitely a working class group, one I relate to very easily. We went to the pub both nights along with everyone at the campground other than Stef and Shannon, for some bingo and a beer (no beer for Grace or Charles) The bingo games were paying off 1000 pounds a game for 3 games ($1600) to get rid of a pot that had built over the season (this was the last weekend.) It was about a 1 in 60 chance to win, but we didn't. It would have been bad form to win the money they had all been trying for the entire summer.
Everyone here speaks of the economic gloom, and there are some towns that just seem dead, like one we took the Vespa in to get bread and milk, but here were trades-folk spending the weekends in a nice park, hitting the pub every night. Life didn't seem too bad. Its also interesting to see their views on other people. They feel the people get friendlier the farther north you go, which makes them the friendliest people in England, only the Scots are friendlier. The londoners are too "Posh," (seems "Charles" is a very posh name) as are the French and the Germans.
I can tell you one thing, there are thief's around here. In the caravan park we had our water hose stolen, so we had to borrow a hose to fill up before we left, and we had an attempt on our bikes hanging on the back. Funny story, but you need to understand how dark the RV looks from the outside, both day and night. During the day the windows completely reflect and at night with the blinds down there isn't any light that escapes, so the truck looks abandoned unless you see us come and go. At 2100 we were watching the movie "Cromwell" as part of our road school curriculum when we heard and felt some movement outside. We turned out the lights, opened the rear blinds and saw 4 kids trying to get the bikes down. You can't get them down without a ladder, but they figured if they pulled hard enough they'd have a new, used tandem. One was on all 4s acting as a step-stool while the other worked to free the tandem. I quietly opened the window which put me face to face with mr crook, about 18 inches apart. He had no idea I was there until I yelled- good deep "Hey!! What the hell do you think you're doing!!" It was worth the indignity of the attempt by someone to take your stuff to see that kid fall straight backward off his cohort of a stool onto the ground. The gang scrambled onto their bikes and rode away. They only got about 400 yards, yelling back at us that we were "F"'in gypsies, when two collided and went down hard. It took them a half hour to sort out, limp around and get the bikes so they could ride them. We did the prudent thing and moved the truck about a mile away.
I am posting to facebook while sitting in a turn of the century railways station turned used book store in Alnwick Northumberland, just shy of the Scottish border. The cafe is the old waiting room, complete with coal fireplace. Heaven. 4 days in South Shields finding our roots and learning about the monk Bede. Everyday better than the one before.
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2 November 2010
South Shields
St Peters Church, Bede's World
Parked-Lot behind ST Pauls Monestary, Jarrow
South Shields
St Peters Church, Bede's World
Parked-Lot behind ST Pauls Monestary, Jarrow
3 November 2010
South Shields
Newcastle University
Parked-Lot behind ST Pauls Monestary, Jarrow
South Shields
Newcastle University
Parked-Lot behind ST Pauls Monestary, Jarrow
4 November 2010
Alnwick
Tyne Priory, Alnwick Castle, Barter Books
Parked- Country road outside Alnwick
Alnwick
Tyne Priory, Alnwick Castle, Barter Books
Parked- Country road outside Alnwick
5 November 2010
Geneology/Driving on the water
Shibottle, St James Church graveyard, Lindisfarne, Holy Island
Parked- Lindisfarne
Geneology/Driving on the water
Shibottle, St James Church graveyard, Lindisfarne, Holy Island
Parked- Lindisfarne
6 Novemebr 2010
Holy Island
Parked- Lindisfarne
Holy Island
Parked- Lindisfarne
7 November 2010
Chill/ Belford, Last day before Scotland
Parked- South Meadows Caravan Park
Chill/ Belford, Last day before Scotland
Parked- South Meadows Caravan Park
