Teri's Blog

Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Day Trips 2011 - Thursday

Thursday

Thursday morning we went to the American Embassy in London. I went to turn in my Social Security paperwork and a copy of our marriage license so I can have my name officially changed to McCabe. I figured it would help when we apply for Dave's visa. It's a good thing we went to see the line for visas. It was HUGE! I can't believe that many people still want to come to the US. I didn't take the camera because I couldn't take anything in the Embassy with me except my paperwork.

I ran out of Ina Paarman spices so after the Embassy we went over to the South African store between the Embankment and Charing Cross tube stations. Plus we got P.S. candy bars, YUM!

We then headed back to the Surrey area to go to the London Temple. Dave went to the MTC when it was in London and I've been here after my mission with my Mom.

For dinner we decided to take the scenic route and find Hever Castle.

We couldn't get close enough to get a good picture though.

Taco Bell is located in the Lakeside Shopping Centre.

It was good to have the Grilled Stuft Burrios again!

Day Trips 2011 - Wednesday

Wednesday

I have mentioned that I think I found my 3rd Great Grandfather John Perkins. Well, the 1841 Census says that the registration district he lived in was Shepton Mallet.

So we headed to the Shepton Mallet Visitors Information Center to get info about the area and why John Perkins would leave for Australia sometime between 1841 and 1845. Lorraine was very helpful and full of good info and just as we were leaving Fred the town historian walked in and told me there was a recession during that time period, so many people left for Australia to find a better situation. I told him I have read John's journal, so he would have been educated, which was a rare thing for the son of a laborer, so now I need to find his father in the 1841 Census and find out what his dad did for a living.

Farming was common in this area

Mining was also common

Shepton Mallet has the oldest Prison in England

We drove by it, the walls are VERY tall

In the 1841 Census, the sub-district John Perkins is in is listed as Stoke Lane, but Lorraine said that Stoke Lane is now called Stoke St Micheal.

And on the actual Census, Gurney Slade is listed as where John Perkins lives. This is one of those villages, if you blink you will miss it.

After our adventures in Somerset, we were heading to Surrey.

We happen to drive by Stonehenge

I came to help the dancers at the Surrey Hills Dance Centre because they were nice enough to fill out my surveys

This road by the dance studio looks just like BYUH campus

Day Trips 2011 - Monday

We were suppose to go on a honeymoon to Disneyland Paris last week, but the Council Tax decided to charge us extra money, so honeymoon plans disappeared. (Council Tax is like property tax in the US, except it's more like an occupancy tax AND you have to pay every month. The Council decided to increase Dave's tax in 2007 without telling him or increasing the debit amount taken out of the bank until now. Thank Heavens we are not staying in England!) Instead I made Dave take me around and do day trips again.

Monday

I wanted to see the Lake District, so I checked out the national park website and the picture of Ullswater Lake was prettier than the others so I decided we were going to go there. One of the brochures at the visitors center says Ullswater is the prettiest lake in England. Once we got there we decided to hike up Aria Force, which means waterfalls. Turns out the poet William Wordsworth hiked this area a lot! It was pretty.

This was a good hike, easy and pretty!

This part made me think of the Little Red Riding Hood story ;)

The town at the south end of Ullswater Lake is called Glenridding

We drove to Ullswater and back on the A592 road. The Kirkstone Pass is 1,489 feet, which made me laugh because Provo is 4,551 feet in elevation.

It was foggy in Kirkstone Pass

After hiking we drove to Lancaster to visit my friend Rosie and her husband Dave because it was her Birthday! Then we went home because Dave had to work on Tuesday.

Rosie and Dave's office