The forecast wasn’t good for our first full day in Derbyshire with rain and thunder showers predicted throughout the day.  Nonetheless, we set off from Dovedale Lodge for nearby Ashbourne to check out the town.  It’s comfortably small but bustling and full of shops.  It was market day, so it was quite busy.  Today is also the start of a long weekend as Monday is a bank holiday in the UK as well as the beginning of mid-term school break week.

We wandered around for awhile before visiting St Oswald’s Church.  St Oswald’s is the parish church for Ashbourne and is one of the most beautiful and most visited parish churches in England.  It is named after Oswald of Northumbria and was dedicated in 1241.  It is a very nice church with lots of stained glass.  We also stopped in at the associated St John’s Church on the opposite side of downtown.  Both are Anglican.

We found a great bakery in Ashbourne and bought a loaf of country sourdough bread that turned out to be amazingly good.  You don’t get bread in the UK like you do in France, but this loaf was damn close.  We also discovered a butcher shop where we will return to buy game pies for dinner one night this week.

As we walked around, it was sprinkling off and on with the sun sometimes sneaking out.  No rainbows though.  Back to the car we decided to drive the 15 miles to visit Haddon Hall.  I was afraid it would be teaming with Brits out on the long weekend.  And the gardens, supposedly beautiful, wouldn’t be very enjoyable in the rain.  But luck was on our side.  It wasn’t crowded at all, the clouds cleared, and we visited under bright blue skies.

Haddon Hall, famous for its tapestries and gardens, is often described as the most perfect house to survive from the middle ages. Set in the heart of the beautiful Peak District National Park, parts of the house date from the 12th Century, sitting like a jewel in its Elizabethan terraced gardens, and overlooking the River Wye.  Film-makers flock to Haddon Hall to use it as a location. The house and grounds have played host to no less than three versions of Jane Eyre. Screen credits also include Elizabeth, Pride & Prejudice, The Other Boleyn Girl and The Princess Bride, the cult classic movie in which Haddon Hall becomes Prince Humperdinck’s Castle and village. Haddon Hall is recognized as one of the most romantic houses in Britain.  The gardens were lovely, full of blooming flowers that sparkled under the beautiful sunny skies.  It lived up to its reputation.

We then stopped in nearby Bakewell for a walkabout.  It is known as the ancient capital of the Peak District.  The River Wye meanders gently through the center of this beautiful old market town.  It is famous for its Bakewell Puddings.  Bakewell grew up around a cluster of thermal springs and wells that attracted Iron Age settlers.  The town has a long and fascinating history; mentioned in the Domes Day Book of 1085,`Badequella’ meaning Bath-well.  Bakewell was hopping as it was the day for the monthly farmer’s market, second biggest in the UK.

Then we headed home to Dovedale Lodge for a rest and for cocktails.  We waited too long to make reservations for dinner in White’s Restaurant in Ashbourne, so we made a reservation there for Thursday night, our last night in the area.  For dinner we ate the leftover steak burgers and potatoes served with that delicious bread we bought.  The clouds were back and it rained periodically with the occasional thunder claps.

And tomorrow is another day.

Click on Pictures to Enlarge

We loved our stay in Swanage.  Rowena Cottage was perfect.  The restaurants, save one, were excellent.  The scenery was outstanding.  And the weather was as good as it gets.  But on Friday morning at 9:00 we packed up Pierre Peugeot and set out for Derbyshire, a four-and-a-half hour drive pretty much due north.  The drive, mostly on British motorways including the infamous M1 and a short stretch on England’s only toll road, the M6 near Birmingham, was uneventful although stressful (because the traffic in England is always heavy on the motorways).

We arrived in Ashbourne, the closest market town to our next cottage in England’s Peak District, at about 1:30.  It’s a very pretty town.  We quickly found our way to Sainsbury’s, a supermarket chain, to stock up for the week.  We bought a week’s allotment of wine, some makings for sandwiches for picnics, water, bread, Rose’s lime juice (an essential), and other odds and ends.

Then we drove the additional 8 or 9 miles to the small village of Blore and to Dovedale Lodge, our home for the next seven nights.  We arrived around 3:00.  It’s a lovely cottage with all the amenities including washer, dryer, dishwasher, microwave, fridge, etc.  We rented this one from Rural Retreats, the same broker that we used for Rowena Cottage.  We unloaded the car and set up shop.  The WiFi works just fine.

The weather was perfect once again for the drive, and the temperatures reached the low 80’s, unheard of for England in May.  We took a very short walk to and around Blore’s St. Bartholomew’s Church and Graveyard.  I changed into shorts and we enjoyed cocktails in front of the cottage on the peaceful lawn.  Dovedale Lodge is in a remote area, but there are two other homes nearby.  We waved to one of our neighbors as they drove off into town.

For dinner was had steak-burgers with potatoes and a salad and a nice bottle of Chilean pinot noir.  Then early to bed.  No plans yet for tomorrow but there are rain showers predicted for late morning.  In fact, it looks like a pretty cloudy week.  No worries, we will soldier on.

Click to Enlarge Pictures

Hard to believe we arrived here in Dorset last Friday night and we are about to spend our last night before heading north to Derbyshire.  It was a great week, and today was like yesterday weather-wise – bright sun and warm (for Britain) temps near the 70’s.

Wanting a relatively quiet day, we ventured into Swanage and took the steam train of Swanage Railways to Corfe Castle on a better weather day than our last visit last.  The ride is just 25 minutes through pleasing countryside.  Having already done Corfe Castle (which was built by William the Conqueror, we visited the pleasant but underwhelming Miniature Village and then settled in at the National Trust Tea Room for a cream tea:  a cup of tea with a scone and clotted cream and jam.  Clotted cream should be illegal!  A final stop in small unpretentious Corfe Castle Town Trust Museum and it was time to get back to the train station.

After the train ride back to Swanage, we hopped in the car and drove back once again to Shell Bay for lunch at the Shell Bay Café.  This was our splurge meal in Dorset.  For a starter Elaine had Thai Fish Cakes with Chili and I had Mackerel and Trout Pate with Garlic Butter.  OMG!  Elaine had a delicious cod filet for her main while I had a delectable whole Plaice with asparagus and potatoes.  The bones were a pain, but the fish tasted wonderful.  We skipped dessert.

Then we stopped at the Coop for a bottle of wine for dinner and some cold cuts for the picnic lunch for tomorrow’s ride to Derbyshire.  Cocktails were on the patio in bright sunshine – windy on one side of the cottage but calm on the other.  Dinner was at home: scrambled eggs with smoked salmon and strawberries with a New Zealand Pinot Noir.

Click on Pictures to Enlarge

=

The Swanage Railway Steam Train

 

Wednesday turned out to be a glorious day weather-wise – bright sunshine and temperatures in the mid 60’s but it felt like the 70’s.  We decided to have a casual day of sightseeing on Brownsea Island (which is administered by the ubiquitous National Trust).

We drove the 10 miles to the Sandbanks chain ferry and parked in the NT lot at Shell Bay.  From there we boarded the 5-minute chain ferry to get to the Poole side of the bay.  Then it was onto another 10-minute ferry (passengers only) to Brownsea Island (also called Branksea).  First order of business after landing was to find a spot for our picnic lunch.  Mission quickly accomplished.

A little history of Brownsea Island (interesting, but skip if you find this TMI – too much information).  Dating back to the Tudor period, Brownsea was once a thriving community with homes, shops, a pub, a school, a church, etc. 1.5 miles long and 0.75 miles wide, it was purchased in 1927 (for £125,000) by Mary Bonham Christie to be a nature preserve for birds and animals.  Over a period of six years she essentially kicked all the residents off the island, after which only invited guest were allowed to land.  In 1934 a fire destroyed 2/3rds of the island.  Traumatized by the event, Bonham-Christie banned all public access to the island for the rest of her life.  Mrs. Christie lived alone in the island’s modest castle.  The only other residents were a housekeeper, a boatman, and a caretaker.  As she grew old, she refused to go to a nursing home on the mainland.  The Demon of Brownsea, as she was known, died in 1961 on the mainland the same day she was transported off Brownsea in extremely poor health.  She was 96 years old.  Her son couldn’t afford the death duties due on his inheritance, and a group of environmentalists raised the necessary funds to bequeath the island to the care of the National Trust.

Today the island is totally owned by the National Trust save for the church which is still owned by the Church of England.  The NT considered the castle to be of “little antiquity or architectural interest” and leased it to the John Lewis Partnership to be converted to a five-star hotel for use of its employees.  So if you work for the Partnership which owns Waitrose, the upscale British grocery chain, you get to take vacations here for three-star prices.

We enjoyed a long walk about on the island, stopping in to see the church of St Mary the Virgin.  The church has no electricity but is still used for a weekly Sunday service and for weddings.  We got a private organ recital from the NT volunteer on duty.  In walking we saw examples of the island’s population of peacocks and red squirrels.  The squirrels are currently threatened by a form of leprosy.  We also saw a beautiful pheasant.

After our walk, we took the two ferries back to Shell Bay where we stopped at the Shell Bay Café for a well earned drink.  It has a stunning location, and we decided to book a table for lunch on Thursday.  Then it was home to nap and have a cocktail on the patio under still perfect blue skies and warm temperatures.

Dinner was at Swanage’s highly rated Black Swan Pub.  We both enjoyed a delicious Luxury Fish Pie (Salmon, King prawn, hake and skate in a crab and white wine cream sauce, covered with cheesy mash and served with vegetables of the day or a mixed leaf salad).  I had grilled sardines as a starter; Elaine had a stuffed mushroom  We drank a bottle of Pinot Vero from Italy with the meal and skipped desserts.  Instead we drove down the waterfront and enjoyed ice cream cones there.

PICTURES (click to enlarge)

 

Forecast not great today – mostly cloudy but no rain was expected – accurate forecast, it turns out.  We drove an hour west to Weymouth, famous for golden sandy beaches which we did not visit.  Rather we crossed the short bridge onto the Isle of Portland.  The Port of Portland is one of the largest man made harbors in the world.  Stops for the day:

Portland Castle

Portland Castle is not really a castle, but rather an armed fort that was converted to a residence later in its history.  Lots of history here with lots of cannons to fight off the invaders from the south.  Portland is the southernmost point of the eastern UK.  Nice gardens.  Bought some ginger butter at the gift shop.  Elaine loves it (they had samples).  It should be great on toast or crackers.

 

Castletown D-Day Centre

The Castletown D-Day Centre is an immersive visitor attraction telling the story of the embarkation of the US Army 5th Corps and 1st Division for D-Day from a busy wartime dockyard in 1944.  It’s a small venue but very well done, all run by volunteers in costume.  This apparently just opened in 2017.  It was great!

Chesil Beach

We didn’t really stop at Chesil Beach except for a quick view through the fog.  Have you read  On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan?  I haven’t but Elaine loved the book.  Apparently there is a movie version to be released this year.

Portland Bill Lighthouse

Portland Bill is a working lighthouse (run by Trinity House that also administers our Anvil Point Light) that is also a major visitor attraction.  Lots of bunkers around the area as this the southernmost point of Portland Island.  We did a quick look around.

 

Billy Winter’s Bar & Diner

Billy Winters Bar & Diner is just a shack really, overlooking the beach and harbor.  Scrumptious food!  I had squid and chorizo meatballs in a sweet chili sauce on flatbread.  Beer and wine, of course.  They are normally closed on Tuesday, but they were open today to celebrate the one-day presence of the Disney cruise ship.  It arrived this morning and departs tonight.  It’s the largest cruise ship to ever visit Portland Harbor.

Sand Sculpture Exhibit

Back in Weymouth, we stopped at an amusement center (aquarium, train ride, etc) to visit the Sandworld Sculpture exhibit.  Weymouth annually holds a sand sculpture festival.  The sand here is apparently perfect for creating sculptures.  The ones we viewed were amazing.  Some are painted, some are not.  There is an area where you can create your own sculpture.  We did not.  I expected this to be a waste of an hour but it actually was quite enjoyable.

Then it was home again, stopping on the way to buy some more fresh strawberries from the same girl we bought from on Saturday.  Drinks on the chilly patio; dinner at home (leftover Chicken Rogan Josh – I couldn’t find any Josh Groban music to accompany the Rogan Josh.)

When we arrived in Swanage on Friday, we came over the Studland/Sandbanks chain ferry and drove the main road through Studland Bay.  Studland Bay is a glorious slice of natural coastline in Purbeck featuring a four-mile stretch of golden, sandy beach, with gently bathing waters and views of Old Harry Rocks and the Isle of Wight.  It’s ideal for water sports and includes the most popular naturist beach (think nudist) in Britain. The heathland behind the beach is a haven for native birds, reptiles, and deer.  We decided to spend the day there.

We drove the short twenty minute drive to the NT parking lot at Shell Bay just where the chain ferry goes across to Poole.  We walked for about a mile along the sandy North Beach watching numerous boats going by us – a ferry, three high speed police boats, a British Navy destroyer (?), and a tall ship.  This was the nudist beach and indeed we saw one guy taking advantage of a clothes-free walk on the beach.  (I resisted taking his picture.)  We demurred from stripping ourselves.  We also saw a bird catch a garfish.  He tried to swallow it whole, almost did it, regurgitated it, tried again, regurgitated again, and finally flew off with his catch to seek other eating options.

Click on Pictures to Enlarge

Then we drove up the road a bit and stopped at Knoll Beach where the National Trust maintains an information center, shop, and restaurant.  I had a diet Coke, and we chatted with a local British couple who said this was their favorite beach in the UK.  There are all kinds of watercraft to rent and the beach is lined with beach huts that people own or rent.  You can’t overnight in them, but you can store all your beach gear for a day on the dunes.

Further up Studland Bay we stopped at Middle Beach where we found the perfect spot for a picnic lunch.  Elaine had prepared ham sandwiches which we enjoyed with Kettle Chips and drinks overlooking the picturesque beach.

All along the beaches you can see the famous chalk of the Old Harry Rocks off in the distance.  As we came to the final beach, South Beach, we were at the kickoff of the one-mile walk to Old Harry Rocks.  There was no daunting hill on the walk, so we set off for a close up look.  The path was busy with walkers coming and going.  You can’t see Old Harry Rocks as you approach, but suddenly they are there.  They look pretty spectacular up close and personal.  After numerous photo ops, we headed back to our car.  Actually, it is just three miles from Old Harry Rocks back into Swanage proper, and many people do that walk.  Maybe next trip.

Back at the NT parking lot there is a convenient pub, the Bankes Arms, located right next door.  We sat outside whilst Elaine enjoyed a glass of still cider and I had a nice cold Carlings lager.  I decided against a hand drawn ale or beer since those are served at room temperature.  Lager is most always cold, and we were warm after our two mile hike, all done in bright sunshine.  (Temperatures were right around 60 degrees).

 

Then it was back to Rowena Cottage for the obligatory nap before cocktails.  Drinks were on the sunny patio before we drove off into town for our reservation at Harlees Fish for dinner.  It had been recommended by a local on Swanage Pier.  Recommendations don’t always work out!  Harlees downstairs is a basic fish and chips takeaway operation.  Upstairs is their restaurant.  It’s pretty basic.  Red wine choices were merlot, cab, or shiraz.  We chose shiraz which turned out to be Yellowtail, not our favorite.  We shared very nice squid rings for an appetizer.  We both choose tuna as our main, and it was pretty bad – thin, overcooked, and tasteless.  Even the chips (fries) were average at best.  The best part of dinner was the price – it was cheap.  Still hungry, we took a short walk, found an open ice cream stand and both enjoyed a double dip cone.  At least dessert was good!  And home to bed!

 

 

 

Sunday was forecast to be a nice sunny day.  After a nice breakfast (toast, tea, yogurt & fresh strawberries, we decided to spend the day in Swanage town.  We left Rowena Cottage at about 8:30 with our first stop being in Durlston Country Park, just up the narrow winding private road from the lighthouse to proper city streets.

Durlston Country Park is run by the Dorset County Council.  It has a castle, now restored,  that was built by the eminent Victorian, George Burt, and it contains a legacy of fascinating artifacts.  It wasn’t open that early, but our main goal was to see the “Great Globe” constructed of 40 tons of Portland limestone.  It is located outside the castle on the seaside walk.  The globe was constructed in Greenwich (near London) and transported to Swanage by sea. Its surface is carved in detail and lettered to show the continents, oceans and certain more specific areas of the world.

Then we drove into Swanage town and, it being early, procured a prime parking spot for Pierre the Peugeot right along the beach.  We did a walkabout through the beachfront area filled with amusement arcades, fish and chip shops, souvenir stands, ice cream vendors, and deep-sea diving vendors.  It cost £1 each to enter the Swanage Pier for “strolling”.  It cost more if you wanted to fish or dive.  It seems Swanage is a major center for divers.  There are lots of shipwrecks in the area, and they are all popular dives.  We saw hundreds of divers readying their equipment and dressing up in their wet suits.

At 11:00 we decided to embark on a 45 minute boat trip with Marsh’s Boats.  We bought our tickets from Roger who would also be the captain of the small boat leaving at 11:30.  Roger is a character.  He had lots of jokes and a reasonable but not overwhelming knowledge of the area.  There would be no complaint of “too much information”.  He was a lot of fun.  We went round the point, and at the most distant point of the trip we found ourselves directly below Anvil Point Lighthouse and Rowena Cottage.  People were impressed that we were staying there.

Back to shore around 1:00 PM, it was time for lunch.  First we booked a restaurant for Monday night at a recommended spot.  Then we decided on fish and chips (what else?) at the Fish Plaice,  Excellent cod and chips!  Then we did a walkabout through downtown Swanage.  Just before returning to the car, we stopped at Budgen’s to buy the makings for tonight’s dinner at home.  Then home for naps.

I had a camera issue to resolve.  My battery seemed to die much more quickly than usual.  And the supposedly fully charged spare was dead as well.  So today’s pictures were taken with my Moto G4 cell phone.  It has an OK camera, but I prefer to use my Canon G16 camera.  Anyway, it appears that charging the camera batteries with a third-party USB dual charger is resulting in only a trickle charge even when the green light indicates a full charge.  I charged up the batteries with the Canon plug-in charger and I think that has solved the problem.

We had cocktails out on the patio – sunny but chilly.  Dinner was home cooked Chicken Rogan Josh with a nice salad.  The wine was a Pinot Noir from Oregon’s Willamette Valley that we had purchased at Costco the day we arrived.

Pictures (click to enlarge)

Saturday broke cloudy, but there was a promise of sunny breaks and only a slight chance of rain.  We decided to visit a couple of sights close to Swanage.  First stop was the Village of Corfe Castle.  It’s a cute little town just ten miles or so inland from Swanage.  There were still patches of blue sky as we arrived.  We parked downhill from the town and took a hiking path up to Corfe Castle.  The castle is maintained and administered by the National Trust (NT), a charitable organization that runs innumerable sights in the UK.  We are members of the Royal Oak Society, the US branch of the NT.  Over the years it has saved us a ton of money on NT admission charges.

The castle is an interesting and quite popular ruin.  We hiked through the grounds and then spent a bit of time in the cute town of Corfe Castle.  We saw the Swanage Railway steam train that travels to Corfe Castle from Swanage.  Perhaps another day for that.  Elaine visited the NT shop and purchased a pair of NT binoculars to replace the one she inadvertently left at a Fall League baseball game in Mesa.  And we visited the village parish, the Church of St. Edward, King & Martyr which was being readied for a wedding.

Then it was on to Lulworth Cove on Dorset’s World Heritage Jurassic Coast.  The cove has a huge parking area, and it was filling fast as we arrived at 11:30 AM.  As we paid our parking fee, it started raining.  The cove and the nearby Durdle Door (more later) are not very enjoyable in the rain.  Anyway, we hightailed it immediately to the Cove Inn, a popular pub at Lulworth Cove for a spot of lunch but more importantly to get out of the rain.  Elaine drank Aspell Cider while I had a couple of Kronenbourg 1664 lagers (French beer from Alsace).  Elaine had a chickpea and squash burger (“Lightly spiced and made with butternut squash, chickpeas, adzuki beans, seeds & pulses, with Monterrey Jack cheese, gem lettuce, tomato, red onions and our burger sauce”) with chips (fries).  She loved it.  I had a delicious Steak and Tanglewood pie (“Our signature pie – braised British steak in rich velvety gravy made with our award-winning Tanglefoot beer, served with buttered mash and seasonal vegetables”) which won the 2015 award for best pie in England.  Yum yum!  And I ate all my broccoli and carrots too!  No desserts.

The rain stopped and we wandered down to Lulworth Cove.  There was a group doing survival training in the very picturesque cove.  Delightful place.  Then it was time to decide whether we walk the mile-long gravel path to see the Durdle Door.  You could see the path winding up a rather steep hill.  Oh, well, we came this far, so we had to do it, especially since the clouds were dissipating and sunshine seemed likely.  Off we went.

So you finally get to the top of Mount Everest Dorset-style and you can see basically nothing.  The path proceeded to go down, down, down an even steeper climb to the overlook.  Down we went fully knowing that we had to eventually come back up again.  Finally we were there!  It’s a beautiful sight, the Durdle Door and the White Cliffs of Purbeck.  It was worth the walk!  I’ll let the pictures describe the panorama.

Pictures taken, we headed back up and down the steep hill to the parking lot.  Getting there, we were spent.  It was 3:00 PM now and we headed back to Rowena Cottage for a well earned nap.  On the way we stopped to buy some local strawberries from a stand along the road.

Elaine had planned to cook a light meal for dinner after our big lunch, but we were so tired that we didn’t feel like stopping at the store for the makings.  So dinner was mostly a repeat of last night after cocktails (vodka gimlet for me, red wine for Elaine) – crackers, cheese, and strawberries.  It was delicious and the strawberries were so much better than the usual store bought ones we are so used to.  A little TV – episodes of our favorite shows – the Chase and Dinner Date.  And off to bed!

PICTURES (CLICK TO ENLARGE)

Our flights were mostly non-eventful.  No fights on board.  No overbooking dramas.  We left Phoenix on American Airlines 50 minutes late because of a gate hold due to anticipated runway congestion in Boston.  (Really, they knew that hours in advance?)  The prevailing westerlies were blowing hard, and we arrived in Boston right on time.  Virgin Atlantic from Boston to Heathrow left on schedule and arrived about 30 minutes late as the winds were less favorable.

At Heathrow we picked up our brand new Peugeot 3008 GRIP with no issues and by 11:30 AM we were heading south on the three-hour trip to Swanage in Dorset.  We had time to kill since we can’t get into our cottage until 4:00 PM.  So we had two stops planned.  First stop was in Farnborough for a visit to a UK Costco to pick up a few items:  folding chairs for picnics, a cooler for the car, a current UK road atlas to supplement the Peugeot GPS (sat nav to Brits), vodka (!), wine, etc.  Second stop was in Poole at a large Tesco Superstore to pick up groceries for the cottage.

Then, including a short ferry ride, it was into Swanage at 4:30 where we proceeded to Durlston County Park and down the private road to Anvil Point Lighthouse.  It is a working lighthouse run by Trinity House, the British organization charged with running and maintaining all the lighthouses in the UK.  For many years all the lighthouses were manned 24 hours a day by lighthouse keepers.  For that purpose, there are two lighthouse keeper cottages on site.  Nowadays the lighthouse operation is fully automated and is monitored from off site.  So Trinity House had the lighthouse keeper cottages fully updated and modernized so as to rent them out to tourists.  The tourists had arrived!

Then it was unloading the car and getting settled.  Rowena Cottage is beautiful.  It is well apart from the other cottage, and there isn’t another residence in sight in any direction.  We have a beautiful ocean view and watched the Condor Ferry arrive in nearby Poole as we sat outside drinking our cocktails.  It was cloudy and occasionally raining as we drove down from London.  Once here the clouds had cleared, and the weather was beautiful albeit chilly – mid 50’s.

Elaine’s sister Cindy suggested we name our car Pete Peugeot.  That sounded OK, but we made it a bit more French.  It is now officially christened Pierre Peugeot.  The Sat Nav (GPS) has an English accent, and our navigator has been named Penelope.  The 3008 Grip is one nice car.  The dashboard is as modern as possible with button for everything.  And it drives like a charm.  I find driving in the UK (on the left) much easier when piloting a left-hand drive car (like a US or French car) rather than a right hand drive English car.  Pierre is left hand drive since he was born in France and delivered to Heathrow for us.

Some pics of Pierre and Rowena Cottage at Anvil Point Lighthouse (click to enlarge in new tab or window):

Winter has past, and a busy travel season is about to begin.  Time to get the suitcases down from the garage and start trying to remember what all we need to bring on the first trip.  We leave this Wednesday for London Heathrow via a plane change in Boston.  The blog will probably kick off on Saturday from our first stop: a week in Rowena Cottage at Anvil Point Lighthouse just outside of Swanage in Dorset.  It looks delightful.  Now if only the reality matches up with the internet expectations!

We are buying a car again.  This time we will be getting a Peugeot 3008 Grip which hopefully will be awaiting us with the automatic transmission that was ordered.  You’ll remember last year our Renault had a manual transmission, not something I wanted to deal with while driving on the wrong (left) side of the road.  After an anxious hour or two, everything worked out and we enjoyed a very nice Volvo on the trip.  I didn’t switch to Peugeot because of that; rather, Peugeot had adjusted their US$ rates to properly reflect the new exchange rate realities whereas Renault had not.  The agents from whom we pick up the car at Heathrow are the same guys we dealt with in previous years – good guys, a father and son team.

We’ll be back at you from Swanage next Saturday!  Future trips will include Saratoga Horse Racing in Jul/Aug (Joe only); Toronto to Vancouver by 4-day train followed by eight days at Depoe Bay, Oregon in September; Elaine’s exciting adventure to Ireland with sister Caroline at end of September; Thanksgiving with family in Las Cruces, NM; and, finally, a surprise Christmas and New Years adventure in Dingle, County Kerry, Ireland – our European home away from home.