Sat. June 14th

We woke early to meet the bus coming to our hotel to take us to Dover.   Robert said he got a text at 5am from BA saying our bags were found in Austin, TX and asked if we would like them sent to London or back home.  BA said they could express the bags and have them in London by 9am Sun..  Being that we are about to leave London, he sent them a message requesting the bags be sent back to Durango where we would pick them up on our return.  We did not want to even try to get those bags sent somewhere along the way in Norway.  They would never catch up.  Ah, now we know for sure, it is good opportunity to buy new clothes!

The bus ride to Dover was a chance to see the English countryside which was very much like rolling hills and farm land of Tennessee, to me anyway.  There was only one stop on our drive which was the Battle of Britain National Memorial which is a tribute to the RAF which provided a significant victory in the skies over the coast and southern UK during the summer and fall of 1940 against the German attacks. This was a significant turning point of World War II.  While we were walking around the memorial, two spitfires circled the area above us giving us all Goosebumps. We walked out to the coastline to see the coast of France way in the distance across the English Channel.  The city of Calais is the closest point in France to England and the Channel Tunnel goes there from Dover.   (Hint:  click on a picture to enlarge and see the pics in slideshow.)

It began to mist rain and everyone from the bus started running for the very small gift shop, the only place to get out of the rain.  While waiting for the bus to turn around in the parking lot and come pick us up, I thought, what a pity, it is going to rain on her parade, the Queen that is.

But in putting this blog together, I went to You Tube ( who knew that was such a great resource of info ) to see if there was a video of the Queen's birthday celebration.  Sure enough and it is included here just in case you want to check it out.  It did not rain on her parade...beautiful day in London.

Queen Elizabeth’s 88^th birthday:
http://www.youtube.com/embed/dmjfgpvsbNE?rel=0&autoplay=1

We boarded the cruise ship after a short wait, found our cabin and unloaded our bags.  Oh, forgot, did not have any.   It was time for lunch and we made our way to the buffet, the first of many on the course of the next several days.  Let the feast begin.

Sailing away for our first day at sea from the Dover port: 

 Dover port and the White Cliff off to our port side (that would be your left for the non-nautical folks):

 White Cliffs of Dover:

 Mike and Robert in our borrowed pants.  The pair we wore originally is now in laundry!

Where was I?  Oh yea, the boat tour.  (It is still Thursday, June 12th)  The ticket stand is on the river behind the London Eye.  It was a grand way to see city Central.  We got great views of the London Eye, Big Ben, Westminster Abby, Tower Bridge, London Bridge, and more bridges.  There are many, many bridges across the River Thames. The Tower Bridget in this pic is the most majestic especially when seen from the river.

Many people often mistake this bridge for the London Bridge and probably because the latter is very dull and boring.   See for yourself.  I took a picture when we went under it on the river boat tour as the name is etched in the concrete foundation. 

The current London Bridge, which opened to traffic in 1973, is a box girder bridge built from concrete and steel. This replaced a 19th-century stone-arched bridge, which in turn superseded a 600-year-old medieval structure. This was preceded by a succession of timber bridges, the first built by the Roman founders of London.  The previous bridge which was built in 1831 was dismantled in 1967when it was determined it could no longer support the heavy load of traffic.  The City of London sold this bridge to Robert McCulloch, of McCulloch Oil Corporation, who is the founder of Lake Havasu City, AZ.  He had the bridge dismantled brick by brick and rebuilt in 1971, and links an island in the Colorado River with the main part of Lake Havasu City.  Other than the historical significance of the London Bridge being rebuilt in AZ, I would not go out of my way to see it.  

Wouldn't you agree the Tower Bridge ( below) is the more spectacular?  Well, enough of the history lesson.  London, as you can well imagine, is full of historical significance and there is so much to see and I am already overwhelmed.  Big Ben in foreground and Westminster Abby in background where royal weddings are held. 

The river boat tour was a neat way to see the sights...sort of like a hop on hop off bus on water except no hopping off.  Oh, that was next but I will save that for tomorrows (June 13) adventure.

So after a 9 hour plane trip and three hours of touring, we were beat and decided to head back to the hotel and prepare for dinner.   We stopped at a local neighborhood grocery near the Marriott hotel where we were staying and bought a couple bottles of wine to take to our room ready to settle in for the night.  We are Marriott Rewards members so staying at a Marriott we can use the concierge lounge which we planned to use as our dinner spot.  But by the time we got back to the room, enjoyed our wine and got caught up some with Michael and Chuck it was late.  So when we got to the lounge there was only snacks but some marvelous cheese and crackers and also free wine.  Oh my, I'm loving this life already.

Back to the room and go online to the BA lost luggage website again to see about our "not found" luggage.  It is not lost yet according to BA so cannot call it lost luggage....still tracing they say.   Since we had bought a couple London t-shirts today, we figured this would get us through tomorrow hoping the luggage will appear tomorrow (Fri.) as we do not leave London until Sat. morning on an early bus to Dover to board the cruise ship to Norway and the Midnight Sun.

Tah tah for now. Check back for the rest of London in the next log.

Norway Cruise to the Midnight Sun via London

June 11th, 2014 - Fly from Durango, CO to Dallas,TX connect to Austin, TX to fly to London Heathrow International Airport.  Austin to London direct flight, who knew.  And why?  Anyway, upon our arrival at Heathrow no luggage.  This is the next day already, June 12 as England is 6 hours ahead of our Mountain CO time.  British Airways does a search and they say our bags did not arrive. Duh, we sort of figured that out already.   BA cannot locate luggage and can only say the bags are in transit.  So we file the search form and leave for hotel.  Good thing we are going to be in London for a couple of days, bags will arrive tomorrow for sure, just come on one of the next flights.  We head to find the "tube" to get across London to our hotel to meet up with our two friends Michael and Chuck.  They were kind enough to get us very very discounted cruise tickets on Holland America for sailing with them on this trip.  It is the "Voyage of the Midnight Sun" which leaves from Dover,England and sails up the coast of Norway into the Arctic Circle and back to Dover, two weeks altogether.
(Thanks guys!)



We had done some research on navigating once we arrived in London so we had an idea of what to look for and where we needed to get on and get off the "tube."  But switching subway lines to get there was still a challenge. 

Once we got to the station nearest our hotel, we walked out into the new world of London city streets, quite different even from our big city days in Tucson, AZ.  And they drive on the wrong side of the road too!

After a short 10 minute walk, we find our Marriott Hotel on the north side of London near St. James Park and meet up with Michael and Chuck.  We decide not to waste the day so chart out a day to take in sites and head back to the "tube" to catch a boat tour on the famous Thames River.  The big tower is "Big Ben" but that's not its' real name; more on that later.

The big Ferris wheel structure is the Millennium Wheel or London Eye that opened in 1999 as part of the New Years millennial celebration.  There are 32 pod "capsules" which can handle approx. 25 people and it continually moves in a circle.  As the "capsule" comes to the landing area, people exit, cleaning crew jumps in to remove trash and then exit, and the next load of people board.  It never stops....sort of like gondolas. One go-around takes half an hour with the wheel rotating at only twice the speed of a tortoise sprinting, so you can step on and off without the wheel needing to stop!

The London Eye is the fourth-tallest structure in London, so the far-reaching views over London are spectacular. On a clear day you can see as far as Windsor Castle. And the slow speed of the rotation means there's plenty of time to see everything and take lots of photos.  Not!  Only for the brave and not for the faint of heart...we only observed.  It is majestic though!

                                                                             

Here is poster pic. (not mine)  

Oh my, this is work and I am only on day 2 of 17 days.  Stay tuned "gentle reader", to coin a phrase from a good friend.     Hehe, I am taking a page out of Wally's handbook for this blog, thanks, Wally.   There is more to come but that is all I can do for now....so check back every couple days for a new segment of "Keeping up with Mike & Robert".

Back in our house in Dolores, CO

It has been awhile since we posted on blog so thought it was time to revisit.  I (Mike) am over Facebook, tried Instagram...much like Facebook and could not get with it on twitter.  So I am going back to try my hand at the blog.  Robert was doing it and he only likes it when we are traveling.  Any who, here is an update on us for the last year since our last blog post last August.

When we got back into the house after our renter moved out, it took us couple weeks to get things back to normal and settle in.  We both starting looking for jobs as we needed to work with no rent income coming in.  Robert found job at Hospice, 40 hours a week, but it did not work out.  First on Nov., he quit and started working for county clerk office 20 hours week making same amount of money as the 40 hr job.  I went back to the community college and taught computer class fall semester but also got a part time 20 hr/wk job there as tutor and testing coordinator.  We are both very happy with our jobs and we both get full benefits which drastically lowered our health care costs.

We put our house back on market to sale at much reduced price but at break even.  So we will see what happens.  We hope to move into town, Cortez.   The RV was traded for a pull-behind trailer back in Feb. but have yet to use it.  We have a camping trip planned in two weeks to go to the lake with friends for about 5 days.  Yea.

Pets are aging just like us but we are all fat and happy!

Mike & Robert

It's Official...

...the votes are in and by a score of Two to Zero, Robert and Mike have voted to stay home this winter.  (spoken like Julie Chen from Big Brother on CBS, yes I love that program!!) 

Mike and I have both decided to stay home this winter which means I will not be returning to Tucson in September as planned.   It was a tough decision but one that feels right.   After my "little" health scare this past winter I am ready for some time in our home, even if it means watching the snow fall...

Here is a link to a virtual tour of our house taken when we were thinking about selling it a few years ago.   I'm so glad it didn't sell!!   The link address to the virtual tour is
http://idx.imprev.net/03782F07/66/77266/1389596/index.ipv

Take care everyone and have a great winter! Hugs to all!!

Monday, July 22, 2013 - WE'RE HOME!!

After parking the motor home at the Cozy Comfort RV Park in Dolores, House Creek Campground 13 miles north of Dolores and one night in Mike & Marie's driveway in "downtown" Dolores we have parked the coach AT HOME!!

Mike and I have hauled most of the "stuff" from the coach to the house so we can spend the first night in our home since September 9, 2011.  Man, what a great feeling to park both cars in our garage!! 

Yes, I know the picture is a little crooked but I was so excited to get this picture I didn't take the time to aim properly.  Because I was so far away you can't see the BIG smile on Mike's face!  I don't know which one of us is happier to be home, me or him... or Jenny!

 



Tuesday, July 2, 2013

We left Tucson on Thursday, June 27 about 9:30 and stopped about 12:30 on the north side of Phoenix where I-19 intersects with Hwy 101.  Our friend Grace was staying nearby and we met her for lunch at Macaroni Grill Restaurant.  Finding a place to park the coach was hair-raising!  I finally parked in a nearby movie theater parking lot and had my fingers crossed no one would block me in.  Lunch was wonderful and, as always, we enjoyed visiting with Grace.  We were back on the road by 2.

We spent that night at Munds Park RV Resort on the south side of Flagstaff.  Our original destination for the night was Greer’s Shady Pines RV Park on the north side of Flagstaff but he was booked.  He said a lot of people were escaping the heat and we may trouble finding a place for the night.  Munds Park was one of the places he recommended and it turned out to be a good recommendation.  We set up about 4:30 and had our glass of wine in hand by 5.  It was cool outside!  We didn’t even have to run the ac at all. 

Munds Park RV Resort, yes, that's a poop bag.  Sorry!

The next morning, Friday, we were up and on the road by 7 because we knew we were going to lose an hour when leaving Arizona.  We stopped for lunch in Kayenta about noon and passed the Four Corners Monument and crossed into Colorado about 1:00 and pulled into the Ute Mountain Casino Fuel Stop to fill up.  After leaving the casino we had to wait in traffic because of construction.  I noticed a herd of longhorn cattle next to the road and took a picture while waiting for traffic to move. 

Four Corners Monument Sign, Welcome to “Colorful Colorado” sign, Longhorn Cattle

From there we went to the Cortez dump station and then I went to get the LP tank filled while Mike took the bikes over to Lee’s house.  We figured we would probably ride them in town before we rode them in our hilly neighborhood!  I parked in our driveway about 4 that afternoon.  It was unusually warm so we had to run one of the ac’s which meant turning everything else off.  What a pain. 

Here we are in our driveway!

We stayed here two nights but decided we needed 30 amps so we could run both ac’s if it was going to stay this hot.  Our friends Brenda & Tony, who own the Cozy Comfort RV Park in Dolores, had a vacant site so we have parked here for a couple of weeks.  I even cancelled our reservation at McPhee Campground because we wouldn’t have water or sewer there and here at Cozy Comfort we are “cozy and comfortable!” 

Cozy Comfort with Granath Mesa in the background.