England 2026

 I was up this morning at 6:30, Dean had been up since 5:30. After coffee and breakfast,  Caroline took herself off to Thomas' to babysit her grandaughter Eva. She won't be home until tomorrow. I tried marmite on toast for my second and probably last time. Steve had some contractors for the bathroom arriving so we stayed back until about 10am. Then we drove to the Chirk Canal where we proceeded to walk along the aqueduct that was about 150 feet above the sheep pasture below. We saw some canal boats and then proceeded to walk through the 421 meter tunnel along the former horse pull track. It was very dark and a little disorienting.  We continued on up the hill eventually arriving at Chirk Castle.  On the way we walked through fields and woodlands with large oak and chestnut trees. We had tea and coffee with scones before touring the castle and gardens. Both were very impressive. I had been there in 2010 and it hasn't changed. The gardens are flanked by many sculpured ...

 Dean arrived at 6:30am, took a train to Paddington station and then on to Euston Station on the underground. Our train was scheduled to depart from Euston at 12:40 so he had about 4 hours to spend there, so he familiarized himself with the station and try and figure out where we would be departing from.                                                                 I arrived at Gatwick about 9:30, both our flights were on time. I cleared immigration quickly and went through the Nothing to Declare line which all together took about 30 minutes including a 20 minute walk. I only had one carry on bag which made it very convenient.  But I couldn't board my Gatwick Express until 11:26 so sent a few emails, picked up my tickets and waited until about 11. I had received some conflicting information about which platform t...

 Dean left from Calgary, flew to Toronto and then on to Heathrow. I flew direct from Halifax to Gatwick leaving at 11:45pm.

 In just under a week Dean and I will be leaving for the UK. It all started when I had some expiring Westjet flight credits and decided to return to one of my favourite and most visited part of the world.  I believe this is my 16th trip here since 1994. I had planned on going back to Southern England around Chichester where i gardened in 2009. So much to see and do there and lots of good memories. Then our friends Steve and Caroline Morris who live near Oswestry, Shropshire found out I was coming and extended an offer for me to stay there with them in their 6 bedroom home that they bought in 2023 and are restoring to their taste. Having visited that region twice before in 2010 on a Rotary home exchange with Carol, Barry, Bonnie, Pam and Billy and again in 2023 when I attended The Open with golf friends it was an easy decision. Then in February while visiting Julie and Dean I mentioned that I was going and asked Dean if he would be interested.  He only needed a day to conf...