Day 1 - Atascadero, CA to Kingman, AZ We left the house only a little later than planned and started heading east. Once we hit Barstow CA, we did a lot of reminiscing about our Route 66 Trip 4 years ago. If you are interested in that trip, read it's blog . Our goal today was Kingman, AZ. These first few days will be mostly driving as we try to get to somewhere we haven't been before. The highlight of the day was stopping for lunch at a Long John Silver's in Barstow where Tony created a perfectly beautiful ketchup cup for Anne. The KOA in Kingman, AZ is very nice if you are headed out that way. we set-up camp, hit the pool, made dinner, and relaxed with a few games. Day 2 - Kingman, ... read more

Day 26 - Behind the scenes Today was dedicated to a tour of the Warner Brothers Studio where they made the Harry Potter Movies. We snagged some tickets and transportation from London even after the direct sales were sold out. The tour was set up so that you progressed from the indoor sets through some props and special effects, past the outdoor sets (and the Butterbeer), through the creature shop, by the models and out through the gift shop. They estimate 3 hours for the tour but we could have spent all day there. We also had a audio guide that gave a bunch more information as we went along. Anne's favorite part was seeing all the details worked into the sets. Michelle really enjoyed the creature shop where we saw the Monster Book of Monsters, ... read more

Day 24 - Back in the UK We packed up this morning and said goodbye to the cows and our bucolic time in the county Clare countryside. We drove back to Dublin under gray skies and the threat of rain. It held off until we got the car back to the rental location and then decided to pour. Our trip through Heathrow was much better this time and we made our way back into London and the Royal Gardens Hotel by 6PM. A very nice hotel with a great location thanks to our Disney (DVC) points. Our room has a postcard picture view over Hyde park and Kensington palace. The staff was very welcoming, and even had a goodie bag for Michelle with puzzles and a brownie. When we turned on our TV, it greeted us ... read more

Day 22 - Wet Caves, Wet Us Today, we decided to explore the area. We first visited Crag Cave, a million year old cave that was discovered in 1983. They are very sure no human has been there before since you had to go 500m into another small cave, then do a 12m dive through a narrow underwater passage to get there, and there are no other entrances. The cave is nearly 2 miles long with 3 distinct passages. The guide was very good, explaining how they can tell the ages of different sections, how the cave was formed, some of the chemistry behind the formations, and some of the history. The most unique thing about this cave is that it is the least disturbed tour cave (or cave of any sort, really) we have ever ... read more

Day 20 - Pre Pre History We started off with a really nice breakfast at our Bed and Breakfast (Greengates in Blackrock, Ireland). The hosts were very friendly, and they had a girl about Michelle's age who sat and had breakfast with us. Another American family was staying there tonight as well, and it turns out that they lived in Arroyo Grande until 2 years ago. Small World! Michelle got to spend an hour playing with the host's daughter, including some fancy free time in an Irish rain shower. After saying goodbye and exchanging emails and pen-pal promises, we headed towards a neolithic site nearby. Bru na Boinne is a collection of passage tombs (3 big ones) built thousands of years before Stonehenge and the Pyramids. We were very impressed with the engineering work that went ... read more