Day 22 - on our way home

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I’m writing this final blog from the airplane home somewhere over the Atlantic. I wanted to take the time on this very long flight to reflect on our latest adventure before the reality of normalcy sets in and it all becomes a happy blur.

A few statistics about our adventure.


• Total miles driven in the car: approximately 2200
• Total kilometers walked: 185.4
• 19 breakfasts with eggs; 12 breakfasts with baked beans
• Number of castles / palaces visited: 14
• Roundabouts navigated: approximately 247
• Number of sheep viewed: approximately 2 million










We’ve been asked by various cabbies and people we’ve met towards the end of our adventure what we enjoyed the most. As Don has said, that’s a very difficult question to answer as we saw so many different things it’s impossible to really compare. How I’ve decided to answer it is two ways:

Things we’d do if we were to go back. If time and life permit, these are some the places that we’d be interested in spending more time:


• Scotland highlands.In particular, we’d be interested in going to some of the islands and other northern communities. I also don’t think we saw the best of Inverness as we had such a short visit. And, of course, Don would still love to play St. Andrews!
• Oxford.There were so many activities going on in the community at the libraries and within the colleges, we’d love to go back and spend a few days going to lectures, performances, punting on the Thames and otherwise exploring.
• St. Paul’s Cathedral and surrounding area.It wasn’t until our last night there that we learned from Felix that the area around St. Paul’s was the original downtown core. We missed that area and, if we’d had more time, would have liked to have wandered around.
• Bath. This is just on my list. For various reasons, we didn’t give Bath a fair shake. For all that I’ve read about it, I would have liked to have seen more of the town. Maybe we’ll take the train someday!






Things we’d wholeheartedly recommend to others. If anyone asks us what the “must dos” are from our adventure, here’s our list in no particular order:


• Tower of London
• Dover Castle
• Bletchley Park
• Culloden Battlefield
• Edinburgh Castle
• Hop on, Hop Off buses (except the blue line in London)
• Sunday lunch at The Stubborn Duckling somewhere in Wales
• Dinner at The River House in Inverness
• Tina: The Musical
• Churchill War Rooms


















Given that we spent 24 hours a day together for most of the past 3 weeks, I’m also happy to report that we still are getting along well which we think bodes well for (eventual) retirement. Tomorrow I’ve taken most of the day off to do unpacking, laundry, grocery shopping, and all of the other things that need to get done upon returning from a trip while Don heads straight back to work.

Thanks for following along on our adventures with us through the blog. We have several hundred more photos that we will pare down to a reasonable number if you’re interested in hearing more about adventures. But we promise we won’t force you to!

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