Patti and Wayne's Grand Adventure: Planes, Trains and Automobiles, Oh My!! Part 1

Saturday, May 12, 2018

It is finally here!! Our 8 week trip to England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland begins with a train ride from Everett to Vancouver BC.

This is what packing for 8 weeks looks like!

We spent Saturday finishing our packing and doing last minute chores, preparing to leave the motorhome for 2 months. Once we were packed and ready to go, we had time to sit and relax which was good. Our friend Cheri took us to the train station in Everett, so we took her to dinner at the Outback first. It's so hard to time things like dinner out so we ended up at the station well in advance of our 7:50 PM train.

Our 7:50 PM train soon became the 8:15 train

We ended up being almost 2 hours early, good thing we had our books

Inside the Everett Station

Once on the train the countryside went rolling by in the waning light with the train whistle as our sound track

We arrived in Vancouver about on time, 11 PM. By the time we made it through customs there was a line at the cab stand. By the luck of the draw we got a cab driver who thought he was a race car driver and he whisked us to our hotel. Of course it was after midnight by the time we made it to bed.

Sunday, May 13, 2018-- Happy Mothers Day

The hotel had a continental breakfast, but it was so limited that we walked around until we found a real hot b'fast at the Local A&W. Bacon, eggs and sausage works for me!

After breakfast we went for our morning walk, then waited for the shuttle to Vancouver Airport. We figured we could wait there as easily as at the hotel so we had extra time to kill. We took the 4 PM Air Transat flight to Manchester England where at 9:45 AM on Monday, my cousin Andy picked us up.

Monday May 14, 2018

We had a good flight, other than neither of us could sleep, so we had to have a nap in the afternoon to make sure we could make it to a more normal bed time. Jet lag sucks, by the way! On such a long flight food was included as well as in flight movies. But what I liked best was the map of our flight path. We went diagonally across Canada, over the Hudson's Bay, slightly below Greenland and then onto England. It was fascinating to watch.

Although we arrived our bodies said it was 1 am, the clock said 9 am. We passed through customs again, picked up our luggage and went to meet my cousin Andy who had arrived to get us about 2 minutes before we showed up. Timing is everything!

Andy and Sharon hung a Welcome Wayne and Patti banner

Andy and Sharon are both cat and dog people.

As some background, my mother didn't know that she had a first cousin still alive in England. While researching family history, a guy in Australia helped Andy in England find my dad in the US. After determining that my grandfather and his were brothers and hence his dad and my mom were first cousins Andy and Dad kept in touch using Skype. Then came Mom's terminal cancer diagnosis. When Andy heard about it, he made arrangements to bring his dad to the states to meet my mom. Some of the family photos of each side are amazing, showing how closely we are related. After Mom passed, Andy and his brother David came back to the states for a 2 week visit. While they were here, Wayne and I decided we'd visit them back, evolving into our current trip.

Once we got to Andy's house, we were pooped. A nap at 1 PM (first sleep in 21 hours) made it possible to stay awake until the evening. It was an early evening.

Tuesday, May 15 2018

We started our morning with a walk with the dogs.

We drove to a working forestry unit

Andy, Wayne and Honey walking through the new planting area

Freddy waiting to show Wayne one of the trails. Unfortunately it is a non-motorized area. Freddy and Honey are Lurchers. It's a greyhound based breed. Learn more here. http://www.vetstreet.com/dogs/lurcher

Like their greyhound forefathers, lurchers are sprint animals. After a long walk Freddy will be riding the couch all day!

After lunch we went to the Dorothy Clive Gardens. This magical 12 acre garden was created in 1939, when Colonel Harry Clive began his transformations of a disused Victorian quarry for his wife Dorothy. The Dorothy Clive Garden is a hillside garden that accommodates a wide range of choice and unusual plants, providing something of interest all year round. Features include the quarry with spectacular waterfall, and magnificent displays of rhododendrons, herbaceous borders, and scree.