Category Archives: Walking

Dublin to York ~ Day Four Part One

Planes, Trains and automobiles were our transportation on Monday September 18th.

We were up and packed and all checked out and ready for our Uber to the Dublin airport before 8am. Our flight from Dublin to Manchester, England was a quick flight on Aer Lingus. We got our bags and headed down to the train station that is conveniently located at the airport. We wanted to catch the 12:44 train to York. We bought our tickets and had time to spare to make it on this train. It should have been just under 2 hour ride to York.

As we approached Leeds the train stopped on the tracks before the station and the conductor said there was a blockage ahead and once that was cleared we would be able to come into the station. After we were in the station and the Leeds passengers disembarked the conductor came back on the line and said that our train ride into York was cancelled and we should get off the train and head to Platform 8 if we wanted to continue into York! WHAT?? We grabbed our bags and headed out wondering where platform 8 was. There were several of us scurrying about and asking questions. Josh saw a nun who was trying to hoist and haul a very large suitcase who needed to get to platform 8 with us. He grabbed her bag and hauled it up the stairs across the platform to the other side of the station and down the stairs to get to Platform 8 where the train steward was yelling that the doors were closing! When I got to the doors and he was still fussing I let him know that we were kicked off our other train and were rushing as fast as we could to make it to this train! He lightened up and held the train till we all got on. OYE! The Nun was very thankful and asked Josh for his name and I would venture that she is still praying a blessing over him! We were thankful, too, that we made it to York and to our hotel room ready to discover a new city.

Our stay in York was at The Judge’s Lodging.

 

After we dropped our bags and freshened up we made our way to Betty’s Tearoom where the line was very short. We waited our turn and enjoyed our one and only afternoon tea during our trip.

Laura and I chose the tea. Greg ordered the Chicken Schnitzel and Josh ended up with a burger.

From Bettys Tea Room we made our way to Bootham Bar while it was light and the weather was right for a walk on the walls. We walked the length of walls from Bootham to Monk Bar and a little beyond. Circled around to get back into the center of York through the Whip-Ma-Whop-Ma gate into the Shambles.

The Walls and Gates deserve a post of their own. We were taken in by York. This was Josh and Laura’s first time in York and our time from 2004 and 2006 needed to be refreshed.

We were very thankful we made it to York despite the stress of our cancelled train 3/4’s of the way into our journey. Thankful for nice lodgings and a lovely tea time. Thankful, too, for pleasant walking weather.

Dublin Day Two ~Tour Part Two

Our second stop on Saturday September 16th was Dunluce Castle on the Coast of Northern Ireland at the North Atlantic Ocean. We were able to see Scotland!

The sun came out for our stops here and at the Giant’s Causeway. We gave thanks to the LORD for this smile of sunshine on our day!

Wonderful time spent here and onward to lunch and then the Giant’s Causeway.

At our lunch spot we were last to order our lunch (back of the bus) but we had enough time to enjoy it. This Cafe was fine tuned to serve a crowd. We had a very short hop to get to The Giant’s Causeway which will be my next post.

Walks North and South

Sunday the 16th of July we headed out our door and walked north on our road until we reached this private drive that leads to many houses (see the mailboxes) and walked down across the stream and back to the main road again. On Sundays our road has a lot less traffic and very few if any log trucks or large chip trucks.

 

A week later on a Saturday we decided to try walking south out our door and onto a less traveled street for our walk. We’ll be doing this walk on the weekends from now on since the traffic is very quiet there on the weekends.

We try to get out the door at 5:30am and that insures even less traffic. Things start picking up at 6:30am.

Guard Your Mind Hodgepodge

If it’s Wednesday it’s time for Wednesday Hodgepodge. Thanks to Joyce From This Side of the Pond for the questions.

1. What’s something bizarre you’ve seen or heard recently? 

Oh boy! I’m going to hubby for this question. He says, “that people can convince themselves to believe what is not true, and claim it and argue it and become immovable when confronted with the actual truth.”

My thoughts and a Bible verse;

Satan is the father of lies and is an influencer in our world.

John 8:44  “You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and has nothing to do with the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks according to his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies.”

2. July 18th is National Sour Candy Day. Who knew? Do you like sour candies or other foods with ‘sour’ flavors?

I can enjoy some of these sour treats occasionally.

Kimchi, rhubarb, gooseberries, tamarind, dill pickles, sour cherries, sauerkraut, cranberries, and  grapefruit…of the sour foods listed which is your favorite? 

Kosher dill pickles!

3. Share a favorite memory of an aunt or uncle. 

This is a tough one for me. I really didn’t have endearing relationships with any of my aunts or uncles on either side of the family growing up. I never had a meaningful conversation with any of my aunts and uncles. There was a language barrier that didn’t help the situation. One nice memory I have is of my Uncle Alex making pancakes when I stayed overnight with my cousins and I enjoyed them. I grew up in a culture and generation where we were ‘seen and not heard’. The kids (cousins) played outside while the adults had conversation inside.

4. How would you describe your ability to manage stress? 

I don’t have the ability on my own to manage stress. I have to go to the Bible and remember that Almighty God is in control and I can trust Him with my life and the lives of my loved ones. Prayer, music, and encouraging conversation and remembering the promises of God help me. Not listening to a lot of news helps, too.

Things in this world are stressful. Studying the Truth is a lifeline for me.

I’m studying Ephesians, a book of the Bible during the summer months. One of the resources I’m using is a commentary of Ephesians by John MacArthur. This is a quote from the commentary I made note of;

“Macbeth pessimistically declared that history is “a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing” (Shakespeare, Macbeth, 3.3.19)

“Apart from the wisdom and insight God provides His children, such a hopeless conclusion is inescapable. But history belongs to God, not to the puny plans of man or the perverse power of Satan. History is written and directed by the Creator, who will see it through to the fulfillment of His own ultimate purpose—the summing up of all things in Christ. He designed His great plan in the ages past; He now sovereignly works it out according to His divine will; and in the fulness of the times He will complete and perfect it in His Son, in whom it will forever operate in righteous harmony and glorious newness along with all things in the heavens and things upon the earth.”

5. What do you think about when you let your mind wander? 

Usually my mind goes to the next thing coming up because I spend so much time in planning that when my mind wanders it goes over some of the things and tweaks some of those plans…weird. If I have my good music and hymns on during the day in the background while I’m doing other things, my mind will wander to some of the great lyrics I’ve heard.

6. Insert your own random thought here.  

We are continuing to walk a few days of the week and on Sunday we finally tried walking out from our own front door down the road and back again. We generally avoid walking on our road because it is a very busy road with several large trucks hauling logs, etc., most days. On Sundays the larger trucks aren’t on the road so we felt safe enough to try it. We made it safely thirty minutes out and thirty minutes back very early in the morning before we got ready for our church services.

Simple Pleasures Hodgepodge

Jo is back this week with some new questions for us to ponder for Hodgepodge Wednesday.

1. Is your life simple? Elaborate. 

For the most part my life is simple since I am retired and do not have every day responsibilities. The only set in stone activities in a given week are prayer meeting on Wednesday mornings and church services on Sunday. The rest of our schedule is free for us to fill in the blanks with weekly keep up of our home and property and any church activities that involve the church kitchen. We typically have our Colville kids over for an evening with dinner once a week. We will throw in a card night with two other couples maybe once a month. We always welcome overnight company that happen to travel our way. We just started up walking on the Rotary trail again with a 3x a week goal. We want to add in 3 days of strength training for our arms/shoulders.

2. What simple pleasure are you are currently enjoying?  

I enjoy summer fruit, especially nectarines.

3. Travel by…

Plane or go on a cruise? Plane

Walk or ride a bike? Walk

Swim or ski? Swim, although I’m not a fan of putting on a bathing suit these days.

Ocean or mountains? This is a tough one. I like to walk along the ocean and drive through the mountains.

4. What’s the last thing you bought online that you really loved? 

The latest is this ‘Sing’ Cd by Keith and Kristyn Getty which I’m enjoying but recently we ordered our new internet service totally online and installed everything to get it up and running. We are so happy with the purchase of Starlink and the improved quality of everything to do with the internet.

5. What’s your ‘back in my day we__________’ story? 

Back in my day girls had to wear a dress or skirt and blouse to school. Those dresses or skirts could not be shorter than knee length. If our girls vice principal thought a skirt or dress might be too short, she’d have us kneel and if the skirt or dress did not hit the floor we’d be in trouble! Photo is of some of my high school friends. I’m taking the photo.

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

These two have super powers! Love the slippers they find when they come over for dinner with their parents! Super Heroes love slippers! It makes me smile and thank our Lord when I find those slippers under the dinner table.

Hot on the Trail

Before all ten of us were together, the seven of us hit the Rotary Trail for a walk on Saturday mid morning.

 

 

 

 

 

JJ’s sunglasses were hung from his t-shirt just like Uncle had his.

 

Back at our cars we went our separate ways until gathering together for a belated Father’s day meal on Saturday evening. One vehicle went to the grand opening of a creamery in Chewelah while Dear and I went to Kettle Falls for a graduation open house. Katie and Andrew were traveling from the westside and arrived at our home three-ish. At five the ten of us prepared a meal. Dan cooking the meat on the grill outside, caramelized onions, beans, macaroni salad and toppings prepped inside.

Dinner was delicious and dessert was good, too. After dinner we used Nikkipolani’s idea for a conversation starter and each of us shared 3 objects that remind us of our fathers. It was a fun interaction. Addy and JJ had some fun responses, too.

Back on the Trail

Last Saturday we left our house early to see how the Rotary trail had shaped up after our Winter and Spring snow. We were hoping for the trail to be free of mud. We were happy to only encounter a very small patch of mud on our three mile course. It was nice to get out in the sunshine for our walk and we hope for many more early walks to come.

Old Marcus

Though the original town of Marcus has lain below the waters of Lake Roosevelt for 60 Years, it is not forgotten. Many a Spring, as the lake is drawn down to generate power, the ghost town of Marcus is again visible. Sidewalks and streets and foundations rise from the water for a few days or weeks, reminding us all of Marcus and the other drowned towns of the upper Columbia.

This happened this Spring and we decided to walk out on the exposed lake bottom to see what we could see. We walked the flats on Sunday the 16th of April, 2023. Vast expanses of sand, mud and rocks are being exposed by a deep reservoir drawdown to make room for runoff from snow from surrounding mountains.

As the Grand Coulee Dam grew higher in the 1930s, the water of the Columbia River rose behind it. 150 miles of the free-flowing river was transformed into the placid Lake Roosevelt, drowning hundreds of acres of timber, farmland, Indian villages, and camas meadows. Also below the waters of Lake Roosevelt lie eleven little agricultural towns with names like Peach, Inchelium, and this town, Marcus, Washington.

Lake Roosevelt is a working reservoir. It is the main storage reservoir on the Columbia River for the United States. The reservoir is lowered in the spring, to make room for the spring runoff. This prevents flooding on the lower Columbia River. The water that enters Lake Roosevelt during the spring is stored in the lake and is used later in the year for power generation and to enhance river flows downstream for endangered species of fish when flows on the Columbia River drop later in the summer and fall.

Walking the old sidewalks that are covered by the lake most of the year.

 

Main Street Old Town Marcus!

Back to the cars and on to lunch.

Here’s what the lake looks like when it is full.

Happy Tuesday. We are looking forward to a major warm-up the rest of the week. I’m going to have to mow the lawn before the week is over.

 

Balliol College ~ Oxford Colleges

On Friday September 23rd, 2022 after we took in the Natural Museum we headed across University Park to the River Cherwell and we found a bench dedicated to J.R.R. Tolkien. The bench has seen better days and could use a sprucing up.

A few of our family are huge fans of Tolkien and his work.

We continued down the river path to a another path that led to South Parks Road and on to Parks Rd.

When we reached Broad we took a right to see if we could get into Balliol College.

Success! From the brochure we were handed we learned some interesting things about Balliol.

The current ‘Master’ of the college says, “Balliol is arguably the oldest college in Oxford, founded in 1263. It has stood on a single site (where you are now) longer than any other college in the English-speaking world. It has also over the centuries played a leading role in the intellectual life of the University and the public life of Britain and the wider world.”

 

This is the hallway that leads to the Chapel entrance.

A smaller chapel but one we could walk into and enjoy all the windows and other craftmanship.

An eagle lectern is a lectern made in the shape of an eagle on whose outstretched wings the Bible rests. Because it soars upward, the eagle is often used as symbol of Jesus’ Resurrection and Ascension (lifting up) into Heaven. The eagle is also the symbol used to depict St John.

The eagle lectern was given to the College in about 1635 by Edward Wilson, a former Senior Fellow.

THE FLYING eagle is the symbol of John the Evangelist (see Revelation, ch 4, v 7) who proclaimed Christ as ‘the Word of God’ at the beginning of his Gospel. The flying eagle is thus a suitable emblem from which God’s word is read, reaching to the ends of the earth.

Oxford Day 6 099

The present chapel is the third on the site and was built in 1857. The architect was William Butterfield, who also designed Keble College. Keble is the college we visited after Balliol so that post is yet to come.

This is a link to another post on Balliol College when we visited in 2014.

I was fascinated to read that John Wycliffe, first translator of the Bible into English, was Master of Balliol in 1360. Later on this day we saw this sign.

When we lived in Huntington Beach from 1975-1984 we attended Huntington Beach EVFree church and shared the Wycliffe Bible Translators office space on Sundays for extra Sunday School rooms. We also shared the parking lot. They are no longer at that location in Huntington Beach.

Here’s some history about Wycliffe Bible Translators:

In 1917 a missionary named William Cameron Townsend went to Guatemala to sell Spanish Bibles. But he was shocked when many people couldn’t understand the books. They spoke Cakchiquel, a language without a Bible. Cam believed everyone should understand the Bible, so he started a linguistics school (the Summer Institute of Linguistics, known today as SIL) that trained people to do Bible translation. The work continued to grow, and in 1942 Cam officially founded Wycliffe Bible Translators.

Over the following decades, Wycliffe celebrated many milestones — from the first translation completed in 1951, all the way to the 500th translation completed in 2000. Around the same time, Wycliffe adopted a new challenge — a goal of seeing a Bible translation project started in every language still needing one by 2025.