Geo: 54.5995, -3.13256 We got and headed out to the west coast of England. It is a beautiful morning, the sun is shining and it is fairly warm. We drove to Workington, but it was an industrial town, so we headed south toward Whitehaven. We found a place by the water and took a few photos. We decided to go to St. Bees Head, which was a few miles down the road. We parked the car and went into a tea shop and bought sandwiches, crisps and water. We then hiked to the top of St. Bees Head and had a little picnic lunch. It was a bit windy, but the sun was out and it was lovely. After our big hike, we drove to Cockermouth to visit that little village. William Wordsworth was born here. ... read more

Geo: 54.5995, -3.13256 First , a story to tell. We stopped at a Shell station to use the restroom and decided to fill the suv with diesel. As I was leaving to go get in the suv I saw a man about 50 years old coming out of the station. He had short cropped hair, about a 2 day growth of beard, a nice pair of earrings and a black and white polka dotted dress with black tights on. I did a double take. He walked to his car and left. I looked inside and no one at the station seemed to care at all. Interesting! We finally arrived in Wigan. We checked into our hotel and they printed out a map to get to the cemetery. I found a curator and he looked up where ... read more

Geo: 51.9301, -1.72382 So, yesterday we headed out to Blenheim Palace to look around. It was about a 25 minute drive. So far, I have not hit anything, including Stacy. Ha,ha. I did make one error though. A woman slowed so we could turn right from a side street. I was so intent on watching her that I just turned without looking to the right. A van was coming and he braked and honked at me as I pulled out in front of him. Whoops!!! We arrived at Blenheim Palace in one piece and went inside. This palace is the only palace that is owned by a private citizen. Actually, Winston Churchill was born here. His parents were visiting the 9th Duke of Marlborough at the palace when she went into labor. Winston Churchill is buried ... read more

Geo: 51.5085, -0.12574 We woke up to a little drizzle yesterday morning. We headed out towards the Duke of York column where we were to pick our tour for Buckingham Palace and the changing of the guard. The guide wasn't sure that the full changing of the guard would happen because of the intermittent rain. Lucky for us it stopped long enough for the full change to take place. He then took us to the entrance of Buckingham Palace and we went inside. There is a security check point there just like at the airports. They said take everything out of your pockets and proceed thru. I had a backpack with me and put it on the belt. Then I stepped thru. BUZZ!!!! Off go the alarms. The guy pulls me aside and wands me. Oops, ... read more

Geo: 47.5667, 7.6 We woke up on the river and had our next stop. We were met by our buses and went on an excursion to the black forest of Germany. We drove thru a few beautiful little villages. We finally stopped at a place where they demonstrate the making of cuckoo clocks. Also, there was a glass blowing demonstration and the worlds largest cuckoo clock. It covered the entire side of the house where it was mounted. Stacy watched the cuckoo clock making demonstration while I went for a hike into the black forest. We then met up for the glass blowing demo. Stacy says that they had a replica of the first cuckoo clock ever made. It had a rock as the counterweight! We returned to the ship in time for lunch. Then we ... read more