Geo: 52.0497, -1.78013I woke up about 5am (midnight for you) after a decent few hours of sleep. I thought we had overslept because the sunshine was so bright. Nope, just that far North that the sun rises long before 5am! So I forced myself to go back to sleep until 6:30. Breakfast, ordered the night before, was ready for us at 7:30. We wanted to fit a few things in before we caught our bus to Chipping Campden at noon. Our first stop was the Holy Trinity Church, the burial site for Shakespeare. Stratford is a beautiful town. Everyone seems to have flowers or flower gardens (even if they have only drilled a hole in the sidewalk and have them growing out of the sidewalk) and neat little houses. The walk took us by parks, a ... read more

Geo: 51.5002, -0.126236Our flight from Detroit to London was pretty uneventful....not that we're complaining! I fell asleep almost immediately and I'm not sure Mom slept at all. She passed the time with Harry Potter and by watching the Dilemma (not a very "Jean Whitson" type movie). I slept except when I would turn to glare at the gentleman behind me who seemed to use his touch screen tv (in the back of my headrest) as a punching bag. Bastard.Upon arrival at Heathrow, we noticed two things....raindrops and the announcement that it was 48 degrees (fahrenheit not celcius)! Crap! We looked at each other and I'm sure we could both see the wheels turning in the others head.....what did we pack that might be considered warm enough? Umm, not much! We were bolstered by the fact that ... read more

Geo: 41.3989, -83.6539Where did all my planning time go? Ok, ok....yes, it's all planned. Ranger Rita was in full effect over the last few months. For those of you not "in-the-know", Ranger Rita is one of my personalities. She makes certain that no detail is overlooked, no amount of planning is too neurotic and every book ever written has been read. She is the reason I carry a 20lb. day pack. She is loved and respected by the rest of the family since they benefit from her lunacy (and they don't have to carry that 20lb. pack).So, we're ready....I think.~Plane tickets and passport, check!~Accomodations, check, double check and re-confirming in a few days!~Train tickets out of and returning to London, check!~Planning guides (what does one DO without Rick Steves?), check!~Blog (for those of you that want ... read more