Category Archives: Great Britain

Scotland Travel Journal ~ Dunfermline 3

On September 21st which was a Saturday and our journey from St. Andrews to Edinburgh we stopped to visit the Dunfermline Abbey and Palace. Although I’ve posted the exterior and interior of the Abbey already we toured the palace grounds first on this day. The kiosk to pay for our visit was located in the palace ruins area. This part of our visit involved going up and down different elevations within and along the ruins of palace.

In the cellars with some great acoustics we had an impromptu moment of worship as Laura began to sing ‘Praise God From Whom All Blessings Flow’. We all joined in and it was a sweet time together.

Praise God from whom all blessings flow, praise Him all creatures here below, praise Him above ye heavenly hosts, praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost, Amen.

The Abbey was obliged to offer hospitality to pilgrims and to other travelers whether rich or poor. The guest house was built here in the 1200’s and later became part of the royal palace. 

Not all overnight visitors would stay in this guest house; those of lower social rank would be given beds in nearby hostels. Because Queen Margaret founded the monastery and later monarchs chose to stay here, what you see is frequent alterations and additions to provide comfortable royal apartments. 

After the union of the crowns of Scotland and England in 1603, these buildings were abandoned and robbed of stone leaving the spectacular south wall with its windows overlooking the glen.

St. Benedict required the abbot dine with all visitors to the abbey. ‘Let the abbots table always be with guests and travellers’, he directed. However, when nobles knocked on the door, the abbot probably arranged for poorer pilgrims to eat elsewhere, while he enjoyed lavish feasts with his high-ranking guests.

This was such a worthwhile stop on our way back to Stirling to drop off our rental car and take a train to Edinburgh for the last few days of our Scotland Trip. Our sunshiny days were behind us.

Back to the present:

Today, January 20, 2025, in the United States is the inauguration of our 47th President, Donald J. Trump. We will be watching the ceremony. We hope for the best for our country and it’s people and our world. For us as believers, the very best is yet to come and it’s not happening here. In the meantime, we pray, we hope for the best, and we remain good citizens of our country doing our part as citizens. We acknowledge that we are not in control of the world and what is happening around the world but we know the One who is in control and who holds our world together.

As the song resounds, ‘This World is not my home I’m just a passing through, my treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue, the angels beckon me from heaven’s open door, and I can’t feel at home in this world anymore.’

Fifty Years and Counting…

Today Dear and I are celebrating the day we got married fifty years ago. We were married on a Friday evening in Southern California. Our 50th anniversary lands on a Friday, too.

Sharing lots of photos from our years together.

Greg and I on stage in England. We are on the right in this photo.

We met at a church parking lot where Greg was singing in a contemporary Christian Band that my best friend auditioned for. I went to the concerts she was singing in with the group and that is how Greg and I met. Later the group needed an alto so I auditioned and joined the group, too. We fell in love while traveling with this group.

Dating, Engagement party and early marriage collage.

Lousy photo from one of my bridal showers with my mom and Greg’s mom.img560

The rehearsal for our wedding ceremony. Our officiant Andrew Semenchuk turned 99 this week!

December – When December’s snows fall fast, marry and your love will last.

Our wedding day…

img568I love this photo of my dear maternal grandmother and me. She was a gem.

img567My maternal grandmother, my mom and me.

img566Our sweet and oldest niece was at our wedding. Her mom and dad were our matron of honor and best man.

My sisters on our wedding day. Kathy, kneeling on the left, also got married in 1974.

img578My paternal grandparents came to the wedding, too. This was not a given and we were pleased that they came.

img576This is Dear’s paternal grandmother and she was not able to travel to the wedding but she visited us in our first apartment.

img570Here we are heading off to our honeymoon.

Our first apartment in West L.A. We were in it for less than a year. The great thing about this apartment was that it was 2 buildings down from a grocery store and easy to get last minute items we needed for a meal.

Our first home with a mortgage in Huntington Beach across the street from my sister Vera and Nick, 1975. Greg tiled the entry.

Early in our marriage with Greg’s side of the family before we had children.

My first pregnancy and our first son, Joshua.

Almost 2 years to the day after Josh was born, our second son, Daniel, was born.

Our boys were born while we lived in our second home in Huntington Beach.

Three generations of Bayles Boys!

1985 in Arizona on a bicycling trip. I was pregnant with Katie.

Our sweet surprise, Katie, was born in 1985.

On our move from California to Washington state we stopped in Yuba City to drop off Greg’s mom Verna who would join us later in our home in Bothell. Aunt Carol supervised our three on the horse.

Our first camping trip after we moved to Washington State with our friends who were a big part of the motivation for our move. Rainier in the background.

The University of Washington years. We were able to get tickets to the Rose Bowl Championship game in 1992.

Josh and Laura’s wedding in 2001

Edinburgh 2006

2008

From 2007-to early 2010 Greg and I walked the shore of Emma Wood State Beach every Saturday morning when we were living in Camarillo.

My birthday in 2009 at Tam O’Shanter in Los Angeles.

My 60th birthday in 2011.

Katie’s wedding in 2012.

England 2013

England in 2014 for our 40th Anniversary

Dan and Jamie 2015

First granddaughter

First Grandson

We’ve walked together as man and wife for 50 years. We lived in Los Angeles in 1974-75, Huntington Beach 1975-1984, and Ventura 1984-1988 in California. We moved to Washington State in 1988 and lived in Bothell 1988-1997, Kirkland 1997-1998, Kenmore 1998-2018 and now Colville since 2018. We lived temporarily in Camarillo, California from 2006-2010 while still owning our home in Kenmore.

I was a file clerk when we got married and then a school teacher until Josh was born. Greg was a painting contractor with his dad when we got married. When our sons were young Greg got a job with an aggregate company which prompted our move to Ventura where he ran heavy equipment in a quarry. Katie was born in Ventura and Greg was encouraged to finish his education and he decided to take some science courses to see if Pharmacy would be a good fit for him.

We moved to Washington State so he could finish his schooling at the University of Washington and then apply to Pharmacy school. While Greg was in school in Seattle I started a cleaning business for homes during the day and a dental and medical office at night. He finished his courses in 1992 but went on to a year of residency at Overlake Hospital in Bellevue before moving into the Biotec industry dispensing medical information on therapies or treatments that the companies he worked for discovered. One of the big names you might be familiar with is Enbrel. After his residency was over I retired from the cleaning business.

I homeschooled Katie for a couple years and when she went back to public school in 7th grade, I substitute taught for a few years.  Greg continued in the Biotec realm until he retired in 2019. We are happily retired in the country in the small town of Colville with Dan, Jamie and our Grandchildren close by. Our ‘Coast’ kids have the freedom to visit us several times a year and we like to visit them, too.

Here we are in Kenmore, Scotland with Josh and Laura giving a nod to Kenmore, Washington where we lived for 20 years.

This post is just scratching the surface of our 50 years of marriage and all the experiences and opportunities that God opened up to us. We were both Born Again Christians when we married and have been in the Sanctification process these past 50 years. Our life with Christ has progressed with some mountain tops and valleys but has always gone forward bit by bit as we choose obedience instead of our self-centered bents. Some of those bents are easier to identify than others. We’ve been members of Bible teaching churches all our years. Evangelical Free church in Huntington Beach, Bible Fellowship Church in Ventura, Sunrise Christian Fellowship in Seattle and Edmonds, Evangelical Free Church Conejo Valley,  Northshore Baptist Church in Kirkland, and now First Baptist Church Colville. We attend and we serve.

This post doesn’t cover any of the friends that God has surrounded us with who have sharpened us like iron sharpens iron. Friends who have helped us grow in the Lord. Friends that were by our side for so many life experiences. Friends that God graciously put in our lives. That will have to be another post.

As my dear old Pop would say we are so thankful to God for all He “did to us” these fifty years! Thank you God for what you did to us” was my pop’s prayer. Thank you, LORD God Almighty for bringing us together in our marriage covenant. You have given us peace and joy through the hard times and good times. You continue to lay your hand upon us and lead us beside still waters.

We already had a wonderful anniversary celebration in Walla Walla with our family of ten but that doesn’t stop us from continuing our celebration today. We are having a small overnight getaway in Idaho to celebrate our actual day. The photo above is our celebration meal at Parallel 47, a restaurant in Hayden, Idaho. The food was so satisfying. After dinner we walked the Christmas lights boardwalk at the Coeur d’Alene Resort.

We trust God for the future of our marriage and thank Him for his lovingkindness and mercy in our individual lives and as husband and wife.

Thank you, Dear Readers, for making it to the end of this long post.

A Significant Hodgepodge

If it’s Wednesday it must be time for the Hodgepodge. Thank you, Joyce for the questions!

1. How did you meet your significant other? If you don’t have a significant other, tell us how you met your best friend. 

We met at a church where this Christian singing group was performing. Greg was in the group and my best friend became a part of the group. I went with my friend to her first performance with the group and met Greg there. Later when they needed to replace an alto in the group, I auditioned and became part of the group. We are on the far right in both of these photos while on tour in England. The sign that got chopped off in the photo above says Jesus is Alive Today. In England we sang in schools during their religious education classes. In the evening we would sing in a church or community center. Our relationship blossomed during our 70’s Christian Rock band tours of England.

Here I am being mobbed for my autograph by young girls at one of the schools we performed at.

img521

During our tours in England we’d have a holiday week after 3 weeks of singing at least 3 times a day across parts of England. This photo of Greg is from when we were on holiday at the end of our concert series.

2. It’s Department Store Day (October 16)…do you still shop in department stores? If not do you miss that kind of shopping experience? Do you have a favorite department store? Any fun memories of department store shopping when you were a child? 

Living in the country my department store experience is limited to Wal-Mart. I don’t have childhood memories in a department store. When we lived on the other side of the Cascade Mountain Range my favorite department store was Fred Meyer. I suppose Costco is a type of department store or at least it fits the definition. That is a store we always stop at when we travel south to Spokane.

3. Something you’re currently nuts about? 

I love Autumn/Fall. I’m enjoying the change in weather and all the fall color that is showing. I love soup weather.

4. What’s your favorite nut and is there a favorite recipe where this nut is used? 

I enjoy nuts and my favorite nut in recipes is the walnut. Our mom’s Russian Nut Roll (Roolyet) is my favorite.

Our Mom’s Roolyet (Russian Nut Roll)

 

5. On Wednesday we officially reach the ’70 days until Christmas’ mark. Have you purchased any gifts? If you don’t celebrate Christmas then how about Hanukkah presents? 

I have purchased a few things. While in Scotland, I bought a couple of new ornaments for the tree, too.

6. Insert your own random thought here.  

Me and my guy waiting for our charter flight to England in 1973.

My photo sharing site is giving me grief again so it might be a while before I can post more from our travels in Scotland. These kinds of problems are never easy for me to solve. OYE!

Planning is Work Hodgepodge

Our daughter with her dad before we toured Edinburgh Castle in April of 2004.

Hello to our first September Wednesday Hodgepodge of 2024. Thank you, Joyce!

1. Something you’re working on currently? 

I am working on finalizing all the things for our trip to Scotland. Besides packing lists in my head and buying a few extras, I’m filling out 4×6 cards on the different locations we will be in with all the recommendations for sites and restaurants for that city or village. So much to see and do. We are taking this trip with our son Josh and his lovely bride, Laura.

We also are busy making some meals for my cousin’s family. Her husband is being released to Hospice care in their home today, Tuesday. She will be busy caring for him and the least we can do is to offer some meals for her and her sons so shopping for food and cooking won’t be a priority for her. Since we’ll be gone next week we wanted to do some extra meals to freeze, etc., for them to fall back on.

2. Tell us something about your first job?

My first ‘real’ job with an actual paycheck was in my senior year of high school. I was done with my required courses by noon and would get a ride from a fellow student who had a job at the same company, Link Belt. I worked in one of the offices with Dan in charge and Pat his assistant. I helped Pat with paperwork. Pat was a smoker. This was in 1967-68 so smoking was still allowed everywhere. I honestly can’t remember how I got home from this job. I probably got a ride with someone who lived close to me. I started this job to earn money for college. My first year of college was at the University of Redlands, about 60 miles from my home.

My second real job in my Cal-State LA college years was at Montgomery Ward Service Center. I worked in the Parts Department.

Was it a positive or negative experience for you?

The job at Link-Belt was a positive experience for me. Neither Pat or Dan had children and they both were so kind to me and treated me like a daughter. They took me out to lunch on my last day of working before college and they also bought me a gift. Lunch was at a nice restaurant and I remember ordering a steak sandwich.

My job at Montgomery Ward was not as positive but it was something I needed to do. I commuted back and forth to  college and to my job. I worked at least 20 hours a week and sometimes 24. My sister Vera worked there, too. Vera and I were successful in our work and had a good work ethic. One day the two of us were called into the head manager’s office and told we were being watched because we were Russian and we might be Communist infiltrators. True story!! They feared Young Communists were moving up in companies with clandestine motives. We were flabbergasted and in disbelief that we could be accused of this. We told him our parents put their lives at risk to escape Communism and flee Russia and we all were Americans who loved the U.S.A. Thinking back, it is comical to us that he or anyone felt Montgomery Ward was a worthwhile target!

Did your parents insist you work while in school (either high school or college) or did you work because you wanted to? 

My parents never insisted that me or my siblings needed to work. We worked to put ourselves through college and for extra spending money or to buy a car. Our Russian culture did not expect children to leave home until they got married. I lived at home until I got married in 1974. I never paid rent to my folks.

3. Have you ever had a job that required overnight travel? How did you feel about that?

I never had a job that required any sort of travel. The jobs that Greg had did include travel to meetings and conferences around the U.S.A. and some international travel, too. Whenever I could I’d tag along for the free hotel room and go out and about on my own while he was stuck in a booth giving information to other professionals about the Oncology services/medications his company provided. I traveled with him to Chicago, Las Vegas, San Antonio, Atlanta, Washington D.C. and Milan Italy. Besides these cities, he traveled to New Orleans, Denver, Vienna and Marseilles.

Have you ever had a job that required you to wear a uniform?

If you count working hard at being a song leader in high school. A Cheer leading uniform was the only one I had to wear. I never wore a uniform for a paying job.

Do you work better in the morning or at night? 

I will go with morning. I have the most energy in the morning. I never had a night job. Greg has had the night shift in a hospital and that did not bode well with his system and having to try to sleep during the day.

4. What’s something you bake or cook that is labor intensive? Is it worth it? 

Many of our heritage recipes seem more labor intensive and they are worth it. This week my DIL and I will be making some piroshky.

Here are some photos of a Piroshky baking day we had in my kitchen in November of 2019.

Our cousin Cindy who is in the photo above on the right is the one whose husband is in Hospice at this time. For those of you who are Believers, prayers would be appreciated for her and her family.

5. One thing you’re looking forward to in the month of September? 

Our trip to Scotland! We will be in Glasgow, Stirling, Pitlochry, Stonehaven, St. Andrews and Edinburgh. Lord willing, we will visit castles, cathedrals, Highlands, Lowlands, Kenmore, the Old Course St. Andrews, universities, a soccer game, a chocolatier, pubs, good restaurants, lochs, view points, villages, monuments, and many cobbled lanes.

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

The last time we were in Scotland was in May of 2006. Here we are with our traveling friends in front of the Elephant House where J.K. Rowling spent time and had some of her inspiration for the Harry Potter series of books. (Greg is across the street taking the photo). The Elephant House is closed now and boarded up but people still visit the site and then go down to the Kirk where some of the names in her books can be found on the gravestones. In 2006 we and our friends had a meal in this restaurant.

I loaded another Hodgepodge with way more words than you might want to read. I’ll be late getting around to everyone because we left for Spokane early Wednesday morning for my annual eye exam. We’ll be getting home later than usual, too. See ya later!

The Cross of My Redeemer ~ Hymn

The Cross of My Redeemer

On Calvary’s distant mountain
The cross of faith I see,
Where once the Lord of glo­ry
Was cru­ci­fied for me.

Refrain

The cross of my Re­deem­er,
O may I still defend,
And through the grace He giveth
Be faithful to the end.

As on that cross extended,
He suffered, bled and died,
To sinful thoughts and pleasures
May I be cru­ci­fied.

Refrain

He bore that cross with patience;
Through sorrow dark and sin,
He bids me now, be­liev­ing,
Take up my cross for Him.

Refrain

Had I no foes to conquer
No cross on earth to bear,
A victor’s crown of triumph,
I could not hope to wear.

Refrain

Words: Fanny Crosby, (1820-1915)

My Fortress

“Battle Hymn of the Reformation”

Psalm 18:1-3:

I love you, O LORD, my strength.

The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. 

I call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised, and I am saved from my enemies.

Are you feeling weak or discouraged or overwhelmed? I hope you can take some time to just breath in the words of this Psalm. Read it out loud and look with me at the definitions of some of the words in the text.

Stronghold: A place that has been fortified so as to protect it against attack.
A place where a particular cause or belief is strongly defended or upheld.

Fortress: a large fortified place; a fort or group of forts, often including a town; citadel.
Any place of exceptional security; stronghold.

Shield: To cover with, or as with, a shield; to cover from danger; to defend; to protect from assault or injury.

Call upon the Lord today. Praise him because he is worthy of all our praise. Rest in the fact that He is our Rock and our deliverer. He is always with us, guiding us through His Spirit within us.

A Mighty Fortress is Our God

A mighty fortress is our God,
A bulwark never failing;
Our helper He, amid the flood
Of mortal ills prevailing:
For still our ancient foe
Doth seek to work us woe;
His craft and power are great,
And, armed with cruel hate,
On earth is not his equal.

Did we in our own strength confide,
Our striving would be losing;
Were not the right Man on our side,
The Man of God’s own choosing:
Dost ask who that may be?
Christ Jesus, it is He;
Lord Sabaoth, His name,
From age to age the same,
And He must win the battle.

And though this world, with devils filled,
Should threaten to undo us,
We will not fear, for God hath willed
His truth to triumph through us:
The Prince of Darkness grim,
We tremble not for him;
His rage we can endure,
For lo, his doom is sure,
One little word shall fell him.

That word above all earthly powers,
No thanks to them, abideth;
The Spirit and the gifts are ours
Through Him who with us sideth:
Let goods and kindred go,
This mortal life also;
The body they may kill:
God’s truth abideth still,
His kingdom is forever.

Words and Music: Martin Luther, 1529.

This song has been called the great­est hymn of the great­est man of the great­est per­i­od of Ger­man his­to­ry, and the Bat­tle Hymn of the Re­for­ma­tion. It was sung at the fun­er­al of Am­er­i­can pre­si­dent Dwight Ei­sen­how­er at the Na­tion­al Ca­thed­ral in Wash­ing­ton, DC, March 1969.

Brambly Hedge

I started a new puzzle last week and what a delight this one was. When a puzzle company like Cobble Hill includes a puzzle poster in the box it makes me grateful. It is much easier finding where a piece goes by looking at a poster instead of the top of the box.

The box lid always has portions of the art work covered up.

I finished the puzzle last weekend.

This was the Spring Story. They also have a Summer, Fall and Winter story. Are you familiar with Brambly Hedge books and China? The Fall teacup and saucer is the only one I have. It was a Goodwill purchase several years ago.

Royal Doulton Autumn, England, Jill Barklem 1983. Jill Barklem was a British writer and illustrator of children’s books. Her most famous work is the Brambly Hedge series, published from 1980.

Not sure what inspired me but I got some much needed tasks done in our office this week. I’m patting myself on the back for the organization that I completed this week. I shredded two large trash bags full of paperwork/receipts/etc. that we didn’t need lying around cluttering our world. Sorting through my desk I was able to again throw away things we don’t need and put things where they more logically belong. In the process our grab and go box is all set, too.

Do you have a grab and go box?

Happy Friday everyone!

Happy Thanksgiving 2023

The table is set and we are getting ready for our guests. The turkey will go in the oven about noon since we aren’t eating until 4ish. I’ll be trying the convection setting on our oven for the first time. (Hope nothing goes wrong!) The yams are boiling and will be ready to peel, slice, and put into a casserole sprinkled generously with butter and brown sugar and topped with marshmallows, then baked to perfection. That is a family favorite. Jamie is bringing pies, her Granny’s buns and brussels sprouts. Linda is bringing whipped cream and cranberry sauce.

My Yorkshire dishes hold even more meaning this year after our walk along the Yorkshire Dales in September.

I saw these photos from 2017 and 2019 from our ‘Grands’ first Thanksgivings and couldn’t resist sharing them this year.

Addy’s First Thanksgiving

JJ’s first Thanksgiving.

Happy USA Thanksgiving Day!

Thanks be to God who gives us all good things to enjoy.

Thanks be to Jesus who died on the cross for our sins and made the way possible for forgiveness of those sins and peace with God.

Thanks be to the Holy Spirit who is with us teaching us and comforting us.

Truth for Today will resume next Thursday. I’ll leave you with this benediction from the book of Hebrews.

Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.

Liverpool and Futbol ~Day 10

Sunday September 24th was day ten of our travels in Ireland and the United Kingdom. We enjoyed a well appointed breakfast buffet in the Delta Hotel dining room before we arranged for an Uber ride to see the waterfront statue of The Beatles.

Proudly perched on the peaks of the historic Royal Liver Building, the Liver birds are the mythical symbols of Liverpool, overlooking the city for well over a century.

The story of the Liver bird is said to date back to 1207, when King John decided to award Liverpool a Royal Charter, making it an official town. The document was sealed with the image of a bird – and so, the Liver bird was born.

Standing an impressive 18ft tall, the Liver Birds are made of copper and hold a wingspan of 24ft! The two birds are a prominent display within the city and previously rekindled the idea that the Liver Bird was a mythical bird that once haunted the local shoreline.

History suggests that the Liver Birds are a female and male pair that go by the names of Bella and Bertie. The female, Bella, looks to the sea, watching for the seamen to return safely home. While the male, Bertie, looks into the city, watching over the seamen’s families (or old wives’ tales – making sure the pubs are open!)

An urban legend also has it that the LIver Birds face away from each other as if they were to mate and fly away, the city would cease to exist. Another local tale also tells of the Birds being chained down, as if they were to fly away, the River Mersey would burst its banks and flood the city of Liverpool.

After a brief time at the waterfront we decided to Uber back to the hotel and to check out and get our luggage stored while we got on with the rest of our day. We got another Uber to take us to the Liverpool Cathedral which we were hoping to be able to explore. Our timing was off and they turned away visitors because it was time for a Sunday Service. We walked around the ‘longest Cathedral in Europe’ through St. James Gardens before we dialed up another Uber to take us to the Liverpool v. West Ham futbol match.

Our Uber driver took us right up to Anfield Stadium. Anfield is a football stadium in Anfield, Liverpool, England, which has a seating capacity of 54,074, and is currently under expansion to seat 61,276, which will make it the fifth largest football stadium in England. It has been the home of Liverpool since their formation in 1892.

When you are talking football in the United Kingdom you are actually talking about Soccer. Wanted to clarify for those of you who have no interest in this sport. This day, September 24th, 2023, will become our historical moment at Anfield Stadium.

We arrived early enough to get our shopping done before the game. As you can see the store was filled to the gills with fans doing the same thing we were.

It took a while to find just the right hat.

With our shopping behind us it was time to find the Beat Lounge. Josh was able to get our seats with special access to the Beat Lounge where we could hang out before the game, enjoy refreshments and other perks, a free drink at half time, access to our seats right off the lounge and easy access to restrooms. ‘Beat’ for the Beatles. There were musicians in the lounge playing some Beatles tunes, too.

 

It was a treat to be a part of the Liverpool Football tradition and see and hear the avid supporters in the Kop.

The actual score at the end of the match was Liverpool 3 and West Ham 1.

After the game we ended up walking all the way back to the hotel to drop off our purchases to be stored for us. Then walking again we were in search of a good spot for dinner. It took a while and a few false starts in establishments we weren’t that thrilled about. Finally getting a little hangry we walked into Salt House Tapas and were so glad we did. The service was great and the food was amazing. The Lamb dish we ordered was the best we had ever eaten.

We took an Uber back to the hotel to gather our stored luggage (which was not as easy as we expected). The front desk was slammed with a tour bus checking in and other patrons with complaints. Ludmilla was a gem and kept here cool and we breathed a sigh of relief when she found our last bag.  Josh ordered our last Uber of the day to take us to the Liverpool (John Lennon) Airport to our hotel for the night with an early departure back to Dublin on Monday morning. (That was a long sentence). Even with all the Uber rides we took on this Sunday we accumulated close to 16,000 steps!! Day 10 in the books we had one more full day left in our travels. Day eleven would start with a flight to Dublin and being reunited with Andrew and Katie for our final full day in Dublin. Cheers and Slainte for making it this far.

That post will happen after Thanksgiving Weekend which will be full of family time for us.

We are thankful to God for all of His love, grace, forgiveness and for filling our lives with so many good gifts from above.

From our house to yours we wish you a very Happy Thanksgiving.

Psalm 28:7 ~
The LORD is my strength and my shield;
my heart trusts in him, and I am helped.
My heart leaps for joy
and I will give thanks to him in song.
Господь–крепость моя и щит мой;
на Него уповало сердце мое,
и Он помог мне, и возрадовалось сердце мое;
и я прославлю Его песнью моею.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

 

Fountains Abbey Part Two and Onward

Continuing Day Nine of our travels, after the ruins of the Abbey we kept walking a circular path that would take us back to the main entrance going past the water garden.

We went through this dark tunnel upward to view the octagon tower.

We crossed the lake and continued to St. Mary’s church instead of going on to the deer park.

We were disappointed to see the church would not open until 1pm.

We made it back to the main gate and enjoyed lunch before heading back to York to drop off our car and take a train to Liverpool. At the Enterprise car rental station we had another good experience and we got a special ride back to the railway station. Once at the station we had time before our train would depart so we found a table at a pub at the station and played Phase 10 to pass the time. Soon it was time to head to platform 5 for our 2 hour train ride to Liverpool.

Thankfully our train ride had no delays and no cancellations. We enjoyed meeting a gal, sitting in front of us, who had just gotten back to England from our neck of the woods. We were surprised to hear her talking about being in Bellingham and she was shocked to hear that Laura went to university in Bellingham. We arrived at the Lime Street station in Liverpool with a short walk to our hotel.

We got our luggage into our rooms and then ventured out for a place to enjoy dinner. We headed to the Denbigh Castle and realized right away there was not even an inch of space with the crowd enjoying an Everton game. It was so great to be there on the outside looking in when Everton scored and the whole pub erupted with cheers.

We moved on from The Denbigh and found the Hawksmoor and there was a table in the bar for us even though we did not have reservations.

We placed our orders and it took quite a long long time before any food appeared at our table. They finally came to our table apologetically and told us that my hamburger was dropped on the way to our table and they had to go out and buy some buns because they had run out of buns. LOL!

The food was good and we were okay with the wait. Greg had a vegetable wellington that looked cool and tasted good. Josh called an Uber for us when we finished dinner instead of walking back to the hotel.

This was the end of day nine and time for a good sleep after a very long day of travel and walking. Two more full days of travel before it was time to fly home.