We Made It!

To London, England / Addis Abbaba, Ethiopia / Cape Town, South Africa -- August 30-31

Well, I am happy to say, we have in fact made it to South Africa! The last two days have blurred together a bit, starting with a 240 mile drive from Beadlam to Heathrow and followed by two 7-hour flights -- first to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and then to Cape Town -- and finally a half hour taxi ride to our hotel, here in Bantry Bay.

Our flight departed Heathrow at 9 p.m. and the drive, according to Google, would take less than four hours, so leaving David and Margaret's at 11:00 AM seemed like good planning. We did, however, spend half an hour at the post office on the way out of town to send our tent to Boston -- we're not expecting to camp much in Africa and Asia, plus we'd like to have it next year for a potential ride across some or all of the US (we are gluttons). Anyone with free time on their hands is welcomed and encouraged to join us for some or all. We would likely leave Boston in the middle of May, which, given our slow pace, would make a ride back to San Jose doable.

The drive went well -- one stop for lunch and a couple for gas -- but as we neared London we ran into a little traffic and soon the drive became much more stressful as we frantically tried to figure out exactly where the Budget return lot was. The Budget agent was sure we had plenty of time, but by that point it was already 6:45 and we weren't yet at the terminal. Naturally, the baggage check in line was a complete mob fest, and to our amazement, when we finally got to the front of the queue, the woman explained that we really needed tickets out of the South Africa before they could let us onto the plane!  

We did, however, have the original birth certificates for Dex and Kylie to prove that we were indeed their parents. Nevertheless, the manager was summoned to see if we could be allowed to check in our bags. She finally suggested signing a waiver (exonerating Eithiopian Air for our lack of compliance), which we were only too happy to sign -- time was a-wasting.

After getting through security at 8:15, we literally ran through the terminals to get to gate B44 just as the final boarding call for ET 701 was being called. Phew! The panic was over... or so we thought. 

The boarding gate attendant once again requested passports and birth certificates. No problem. She frowned as she compared the passports and birth certificate. “Margaret Mary Gehred," who is she? Uh oh. We quickly explained that Meg was short for Margaret, but she looked unconvinced and asked us to step aside. She would need to verify with the front desk that we were okay to board. A few tense minutes later and we were finally allowed to pass.

Seventeen hours later, including a stop at the basic and congested Addis Ababa terminal, and we had made it. The final hurdle was to convince the customs agent that we not only were Dex and Kylie's parents, but that we really did plan on leaving the country, in the not so distant future. She was a bit of a hard sell, but eventually seemed satisfied.

The taxi driver we hooked up with outside the terminal, gave us a reduced rate after he decided to pack in four more passenger. As we zoomed along the highway into town, we couldn't help notice the looming silouhette of table mountain as well as the huge stretches of shanty towns along sections of the freeway. Despite the erratic lane changes, Kylie was sound asleep as we arrived at the very nice Bantry Bay Suites. We rallied long enough to find a nearby Simply Asian restaurant for dinner, ready for our next big adventure... Africa.

Heather Heather Everywhere

Beadlam, England -- Day 2

David and Margaret helpfully outlined a number of activities for us: a nearby historic manor, a steam train ride, a falconry visit, a scenic drive and hikes in the nearby national park....

We opted for the last option, and to our delight, our timing was excellent. As we drove along the narrow winding roads, past small farms and grazing sheep, we began to see the lavender hue of heather blanketing the soft, well-watered hillsides. We found a spot to pull over and headed up the nearest footpath. It was fantastic.

Every time I turned around, I was convinced the latest view was more spectacular than the last. At our lunch stop, Dex, Kylie and I played a game hopping between the small rock outcroppings sticking up between the heather.

The second stop of our circuit was Robin Hood’s Bay. Although the rocky shore was covered in seaweed, we walked along the sea wall and watched the waves crash into the Rocks.

Upon arriving home, we were treated to drinks on the small back patio, which gave us another chance to talk. 

Margaret had stayed home raising their two daughters, Fiona and Katriona. In her spare time, she taught swimming at the local pool and, to Kylie's delight, plays piano beautifully as well as organ at the nearby church.

We also learned more about David's work. He had spent most of his career as a medicines inspector and eventually started his own company. His real passion, however, is for anything mechanical -- cars, trains, planes. BMWs and Jaguars seem to be at the top of the list, and for many years, he owned a Red covertable E type Jaguar.  Dex and Kylie couldn't wait to see the O scale model trains in the upstairs workshop in action.

The evening meal of Cottage Pie, was once again outstanding. We learned that Shepard's Pie implies lamb, while Cottage Pie is beef.  It was delicious and provided us with yet another warm, easy and lovely evening. 

Like Royalty

To Beadlam, England -- Day 1

We woke to a more typical grey, drizzly English day. A dozen campers were up and huddled under tents, drinking coffee and tea. What an incredible group of people. Clearly Sal and Rob had done something right that so many were willing spend the long weekend with them...year after year after year. Once again, unfortunately, it was time for us to move on.

Phoebe, Sal, Dave, Will, Rob

Giles, Toby, Theo, Harry, Josephine, Dex, Kylie, Caroline

Sally's dad, Dave

Incredibly, our time in Europe was quickly coming to a close as we would be leaving the continent for the start of the next leg of the journey in Southern Africa. But first would be a quick detour to Beadlam near York to visit David and Margaret Begg. We were lucky to have met the dear couple through our neighbor Dave during one of the occasional neighborhood happy hours. Neighbor, Dave had grown up with Margaret in England and they regularly get together, at least once a year, either in California, or here in Beadlam. When we had last seen them in California, they earnestly invited us to visit if we were in England...so here we are.

The drive to York was uneventful. Once on the highways the driving was pretty easy as we followed a series of M (motorways) and A (major highways) roadways almost the entire time. Around 6:00 we made it to the gravel drive of David and Margaret.

Pipe cleaners in action

Nipper's big cousin

Once again we were treated like royalty. We've done nothing to deserve this but are extremely grateful nonetheless. It was reassuring to know that David and Margaret's four grandchildren often visit, so they were somewhat accustomed to the noise and energy of a 9 and 10 year old. Wine was served and a magnificent, crab and prawn dinner was awaiting on the table. We are lucky indeed.

Heath Cottage

To Shortwood, England -- August 26-27

We had no big plans this morning in Bristol. It turned out the hotel was just across the street from an impressive shopping area -- Cabot Circus -- with multiple levels and a cool glass roof, reminiscent of the British Museum.

Kylie had been asking for weeks to get some yarn for knitting, so we found a craft shop and all voted for our favorite color. She ended up with a ball of thick, deep purple and a pair of 6mm needles. To make things fair, Dex picked out two packs of thick pipe cleaners, which were soon being twisted into various shapes and simple creatures.

Although there was a dozen tempting restaurants within a stones throw, we decided to mind our budget and eat the food we'd bought yesterday, enjoying a sunny picnic in the park before heading out of town.

Our destination for the next couple days would be Shortwood, a small town in Gloucestershire and the tiny hometown of my friend Sally. More precisely, the actual destination was the large field behind Heath Cottage (Sally's dad's house) in Shortwood. The fact that many English addresses are devoid of a street name or number, still confuses me a bit. To an American like me, the addresses just look like a series of descriptive names. It's all pretty quaint and British, I suppose, but I’d really hate to be the new postman.

I first met Sally and Rob in the fall of 1997 during a white water rafting trip in Nepal. We, along with my good friend April, were assigned to the same raft for the 5 day trip. This happened to be the same visit to Nepal where we had first met Cameron (now in Norway) as well as fellow Aussie compatriot, Helen (still in Australia) whom we hope to meet up with early next year.

As with Cam, Sally, Rob, and I have somehow managed to keep in touch over the years. Although, the last time we actually got together was in 2000 when Meg and I attended their wedding in the same field behind Sal’s father’s house that we were now looking for. One hour, one phone call, and one U-turn later, we had successfully navigated the narrow country roads from Bristol and arrived at the large, white tent already erected for the anniversary celebration.

How great to see Rob and Sally again after all of these years. It wasn’t long before the intervening sixteen years seemed to disappear. They, like us, were now parents of two and perhaps had an extra grey hair or two. A couple dozen of their friends and family members had already arrived and set up their tents and campers in the field. We were welcomed with open arms. It was clear the friendships went back years and the quick, wry English sense of humor was on full display.

Dex and Kylie spent much of the two days there running around, either playing with the other kids or one of the half dozen dogs. They also quickly hit it off with Toby (8) and Theo (6) and it was great for Meg and I too, getting to know their parents, Giles and Caroline.

By 6:00 p.m. on Saturday, another couple dozen people had shown up. The BBQ was soon going and the country band, The Bees Knees, was tuned up and ready to play. The square dancing was a blast, though I'm pretty sure at least a quarter of the time I was completely messed up.

Meg, Kylie and I were out on the "dance floor" for almost every dance while Dex was out running with a half dozen boys chasing him in giant game of tag. He did however join us later in the evening, and I was particularly happy when he asked to stay for the last couple dances even after Meg and Kylie (light weights) had retired to the tent.

For the first time in a month we were back in the tent and (at least on Friday) under a magnificently clear night sky.