Sunday, November 21, 2010

So what?


Dear family and friends,

Getting our things this fall has brought back a flood of memories. Memories that are starting to seem far away, yet were just a breath ago.

Last February in London, my precious husband was so dear when one night in bed I announced, "I have a little dream." Not a dream as when you are asleep, but a dream of the future, something you desire to experience. Now mind you, this is not the first time my husband has heard this announcement as I've had a lot of little dreams over the years.

Just tonight at the table the children were talking about one of my little dreams. When we moved back from overseas the first time, the European experience grew a desire in my heart to see my own country. That year we were studying moving out west and living in Colorado. My dream included our children riding in a Conestoga wagon across the Oregon trail, which we did. A five day trip into Wyoming, a common American vacation. I even found a tepee that we could camp in for $50. Ed made my dream happen, but he drew the line at the tepee firmly stating that he was not sleeping in a tepee with three giggling children and a infant, no matter how much it furthered their education.

This dream I had in London didn't involve a tepee, it involved a motorcoach.

Ed had a two week break in April and we'd been praying about how we were going to spend our time. Lots of neat ideas were on the table as we were pounding out our priorities of the travel we were going to try to experience while we were in Great Britain. At first we were thinking Europe but then I got on this tear that we should see England and Scotland. It would have been a real shame to be there and not venture far out of London.

So once the decision had been made, the planning began. I had several travel guides on the table and my laptop full of ideas. A few Brits had given me their take on what they would consider musts. I had a vague plan of where we wanted to go and what we wanted to see, but then I hit an obstacle. Places to stay in England do not accommodate a family of six very well. Most places wanted us to have two to three rooms which meant large amounts of Great British Pounds.

One way we've gotten around this little snafu when we went to Rome and Paris was to rent an flat, ie apartment. This is a fantastic way to go in Europe, but you usually have to commit at least three nights. This was not in our plan as we knew we wanted to cover quite a bit of ground in a short amount of time and would not be anywhere for more than a night or two.

One evening Ed and I were at the College for an evening function and I was sharing this with one of the proper English wives. After listening politely she piped in, "Why don't you rent a motorcoach?" After she told me what a motorcoach was, I knew I had a dream!

So there we were, a family of six with five rolling duffel bags, backpacks all the way around, Miss Pear our handy grocery cart, and one other large but light bag stuffed with all of our pillows. Normally when you travel in a motorhome you drive it up to your house and pack all you need before you head out. We were laughing as we were standing at the elevator to head downstairs to take the tube to the train station that it was not a typical camping trip, yet we were hauling everything we needed for eleven nights...toilet paper and all.

My sweet husband had volunteered to be the driver of this adventure. I had driven in New Zealand on the left side of the road for five days. Ed had driven in Japan on the left side of the road for five minutes. Considering our vast experience I quickly agreed he should be the driver. I knew it would take him a little to adjust, I just didn't know the man was going to be baptized by fire.

I had rented the motorcoach on the edges of London rather than central where we lived as it seemed obvious that downtown driving would not be the best place to start. So he took off the left rear view mirror in the first five minutes, we were not to be deterred as it was either hitting a high old stone wall or being hit by a car. I thought the wall was a pretty good choice considering Ed's options . Bless his heart, after that little incident the serious praying began.

Did I mention it was a stick shift? Did I mention the Sat Nav took us straight into the heart of London rather than heading out through the countryside towards Stonehenge? Did I mention their curbs are not curved but have a hard 90 degree angle? Did I mention it was Friday night traffic? Did I mention it was quickly dark?

If any of you out there want to learn to drive on the left side of the road, I can set you up!

We spent two and a half grueling hours of sweat, prayer, and fear just heading out of London. I've never been so grateful to be out of city traffic in my entire life.

So now we were a tid bit behind schedule or sh eh dule as the British would say.

The first night we were planning on staying in a motorcoach park, but it was closed when we got there. This was cracking us up. You see at this point we had just been given a load of perspective and we were not even bothered by the fact that the owners would not let us in. They had said they close at 8:00 and boy howdy did they mean it. Americans are about the all mighty buck...not the Brit's. 8:00 means 8:00 and they had no concern that we'd just survived the ride of our lives by the skin of our teeth. They sat watching the telly while we knocked at the door, but didn't budge.

So the evening was rounded out by eating Kentucky Fried Chicken at a truck stop 5 minutes from Stonehenge. That night we slept in the parking lot with the truckers on the side of the road 4o feet from the highway. It was a good night though. I hardly could believe how close we were to such a famous piece of history that we were going to get to see for ourselves the very next day.

When I first wrote this particular blog, I hit this point and clicked "SAVE NOW". I didn't really have a reason for writing it, I usually have a point, but not this time. As I talked to my mother several days later she pointed out, "You may not have a point, but God certainly does!" I agree...

Even if I never understand why God lets me experience something, it's not for naught. In Isaiah 14 this week it's been a wonderful reminder that we cannot thwart God's plans!

Love in Christ,

Dinah for The Troops

P.S- I apologize for so many pictures. Ed would say choose your best 10;but it's my blog and I'm going to choose many more. I worked hard to get it down to this many! I'm hopeful I'll get all of our trips up on our blog in the next few months while everything is still fresh on my mind...we'll see.

This trip was well planned by God, but I'd not had much time. We had a basic road map of where we thought we wanted to go, a reserved motorcoach, and lots of books! Stonehenge was stop number one...we loved it! Please notice the guidebook in hand. Once we were members of English Heritage we leaned heavily upon the guide as all of those stops were paid for.

There she is...the faithful little motorcoach that was home for 11 nights. Big by English standards, tiny by American.

Stop number 2....Bath. It was so amazing to see what the Romans built up front and personal after studying about it last fall. We were blown away time and time again at the details that went into their buildings; they were setting up shop for more than the 400 years that they were there. On the other hand, since we'd just been to Rome, we were very aware that their arts did not compare. B Team accomplished a great amount though.

Nothing like being put into your first corset by your brother. Boys just do things differently now don't they?

The meal here has the all time record as it was only 2.99GBP's. We could hardly believe it. We were the only family eating in the local pub and we were happy to be there. We didn't know the game was going to start while we were there and it was fun watching the place fill up quickly. We were given our table by three men who were just generous and kind. We had to leave earlier than I would have as Caroline gave it away to some college students while I still had a few fries left on my plate. We still love teasing her.

Day 3...Kenilsworth...the largest castle ruin in England! Queen Elizabeth had several visits there and Sir Walter Scott wrote a book called Kenilworth that Caroline was able to find an old copy of while we were in England.

After so many years of having very few pictures together, it's fun to have children who are happy to get behind the camera. Wyatt took this one.

There was a wonderful hill at the back of the property that brought us a ton of fun. How that boy gets me to do some things, well it must be love.


The next morning we were heading to Hadrian's wall and came across an enormous farm house that ended up being Melanee Kate's favorite, hence the picture.


We were all completely fascinated by the shoe...talk about some old leather!


This is the story of my life :). I'm trying to not only keep them under control, but the goal is to teach them to control themselves. Oh the process...


We were at a fort and the tops of the walls that you see were the floors. They had heated water that ran underneath in order to provide heated flooring. The commandant had the largest house and the children quickly decided Daddy would have needed to be in that position.


Students and Mother sitting on a tiny portion Hadrian's Wall...still hard to believe!


When we got into Scotland the weather went south. We spent an entire day in the motorcoach which also ended up being our only laundry day. I don't know that my hands have ever been so cold as I walked through the sideways rain carrying a heavy black trashbag of laundry. I felt really old school even with a washing machine. The children read and played games, and late afternoon we went on a little shopping trip which was a wonderful opportunity to see God's grace. I'd not brought enough clothes for the snow and in April there's not much left for winter at the stores. We hit a TKMaxx and found an extra layer for everyone. We also found hats and gloves at a sporting goods store. Since we were moving to Alaska it was not wasted money AND we paid 70% of everything. The pickings were slim and God had something for everybody! To round of our down day we ate a delicious dinner in an old stable. Jefferson was very excited to try Haggis as he'd not been to Robert Burns night with us in February.
So the girls 70% hats weren't the most stylish, but they DID NOT care! This day we participated in a group tour in order to head into the Highlands. Very worth our money so Ed didn't have to drive on awful roads, on the left side of course. I have no doubt he could have, but was very happy he didn't have to. We are standing in front of Edinburgh Castle where we met the bus.
A ride from big brother is always welcomed. Jefferson now has the warmest fleece lined flannel shirt you've ever imagined.


This young man is always happy to not have his feet on the ground!


It's so much fun watching our girls love each other...God is doing a really neat thing here!


On the way home Jefferson and I were GREEN due to the bus getting too warm and the incredibly winding roads. Don't you just love when your family photographs you at your finest moment?

The daffodils were fabulous; a tremendous sign that spring was on it's way.

This day we spent in York, hot pasties all the way around. I have to say we kinda ate our way through York.

Nothing like getting a little snuggle from your Daddy.


I was very sad to miss the evensong, but Caroline was at another old bookstore. She did find some amazing treasures though, I will say.

I'm trying, I'm trying...

I'm not going to tell you how many people were burned alive in this turret.

I told you we ate our way through York. I love Fish and Chips. They are a heart attack on a plate though.

This was our table, the boys beds, and where the children rode in seatbelts for many, many hours. Wyatt's pleased about something and Kate is semi disgusted. We're working on that.

This is our pitstop in Sherwood forest. As we made decisions going North it had gotten thrown off the drawing board, so we pulled over for a quick stop when we came back through.

This was the night before Easter. A sweet reminder that the next day we would celebrate that Jesus rose. He is risen!
Oh, and it was the night we laughed and laughed at this British man walking around the motorcoach park in his bathrobe. It did not seem very proper but managed us a great family memory.
I love this picture. I think Wyatt must have been scaling a wall, saving a damsel in distress, or possibly in trouble.
The family still lives in a small portion of the largest house I've ever seen. Portions of the latest Pride and Prejuidice were filmed here. This was not on our English Heritage list, but it was worth the money!

Back to little America...it had been a long time. We had not been to any American bases as a family since Hickam AFB in November; a Thomas Troop record. Our last stop was at RAF Mildenhall. The children were thrilled to be at a BX and to eat Taco Bell. I was thrilled to be at an American Commissary with American prices. We mailed four huge boxes of groceries back to London. Well, not all the way to our flat, but to our mailbox that was an hour out.

Now that's a lot of books for 11 days. This was the pared down version of what the children and I originally selected.