European Vacation 2016 - June 15th

About all week rain has been a constant.  Thankfully only a mist here and there, and when it did downpour, we were either in bed, or somewhere inside.  However, I wanted to make sure there would be good weather for a trip to my "happy place" - Eastbourne.  This day was it, and we were off.

Leaving from the home, we wound our way to Victoria Station, and then a train into Eastbourne, passing POLEgate along the way, and the Longman of Wilmington - who has been welcoming me to this city since I was a young boy.

Upon arrival we wove our way up to the English Channel coast from the station, and sat down for a traditional lunch of fish and chips.  Yum.  Then we visited the Eastbourne Pier, where I mourned the loss of the grand ballroom, where I blew countless pounds in their arcade.  It burned down a few years ago, and now it's only a wide spot in the pier.  Hopefully they will rebuild.

We made our way around the pier, and then took part in a long-standing tradition - enjoying a "99 Flake" ice cream cone.  I've had hundreds of these over the years, but Sam was able to have his first. It's just a bar of flaky chocolate stuck into a soft serve ice cream, but it sure is good.

After that bit of reminiscing we began our walk down to my grandfather's old flat along the Channel. We sat in his memorial bench out front (getting pretty faded), then proceeded down to the beach to scatter a bit of my mom's ashes in the approximate spot where my grandfather's was scattered some 20 years before.

Then began the journey up to Beachy Head.  First we stopped in for a pint of beer at the Buccaneer pub, then off on a open double-decker tour bus to the cliff head.  What a wonderful experience - we sat in the back on top, with the wind and sun in our faces as we listened to a commentary about all the sites we were passing by as we made our way up.

We were dropped off at the top, and walked a few hundred feet to the cliff edge.  Around us was an absolutely stunning view of rolling green hills and the Channel.  The South Downs are now a national park, and it's easy to see why.  Just breathtaking beauty all around.  Sam then walked along the cliff edge, with a nervous father looking on.  We finished up in about an hour, hopped back on the bus, took and additional tour of a nearby village, then back to the station, and caught a train to London soon after.  All along enjoying the party sunny weather throughout.

Back in London we decided to wind our way up to the location of Abbey Road Studios - where the Beatles recorded.  A bit surreal with some "fans" taking turns on the famous crosswalk.  Their gift store was closed, so I committed to come back the next day.  To be different we jumped on a bus and rode it close to our home, then a very short tube back.  More late night chatting with Roma and Toby ensured, and off to bed.

European Vacation 2016 - June 14th

After putting in 30,000+ steps in yesterday, time to get back it again.  This time it was the Tower of London first thing.  We arrived to the site in a drizzling rain - of course - then proceeded to walk up, down and round the Tower.  Amazing facility - built originally in 1070ish, and added on as the years went by.  Was the home of kings and queens during the middle ages, and also served as a prison.

We started by scaling the walls, and going in and out of the many towers that make up the outer fortress.  From there we waited a bit and visited the Crown Jewels.  Since my last visit to the Tower they have created a fantastic display for the emblems...very impressive.  Once out of there we went into the central White Tower, with tons of armaments, then ran into a Beefeater giving a tour and followed him into a chapel.

After the tower, we kept with the theme and visited Tower Bridge.  Didn't know where to enter, but once we found it we took a lift to the top and walked along skybridges.  These had tons of data on the bridge, as well as a glass walkway, which was occupied by a number of tourists doing their best vouging.  We descended down into the engine rooms for a peek on how the bridge worked.  Stuff looked like a movie set.

From Tower Bridge, I fancied riding a shared bike up the 2012 Olympic site.  Sam whined quite a bit about this due to the traffic congestion.  I totally understood why - London streets are hard enough for cars to drive.  Even so, I still had some time left on the bike share from yesterday, so I doggedly trekked on to find a station.  I did - right next to the Tower - and began our journey.  Thankfully within a few hundred feet of the bike port was a cycle superhighway!  We jumped on and rode a good two or three miles west.

I needed to ditch the bikes since my time was running out, and I couldn't locate the darn Olympic site. Thankfully the port was located right by a train station, and we took a ride out to a spot near the Olympic park area - or so we thought.  I got off at West Ham, and then accessed an elevated greenway (score!) that obviously was built for the Olympics, but has fallen into disuse.  We walked as far as we could on the path, then had to divert for a spell to reach the park.  In all we probably walked over two miles from the station - FAIL.

At the Olympic park we scanned what was the home of the world four years before.  Lots of stuff happening now, which is a good thing, but still very sparse.  After we were done sightseeing there, we made our way into a huge mall, and then to the train station and back to Roma's.

European Vacation 2016 - June 13th

Our first day touring London had us walking to the West Finchley station, and off to the British Museum.  LOTS of incredible historical artifacts, although not the most impressive to Sam...or probably any teenager.  He did his best to follow me through most of the museum, which took us over three hours.  Amazing it's all free.

From there we made our way down to the Thames and the London Eye - the largest Ferris-wheel-like structure in the world.  We got in and got out fairly quick - probably the rain chased tourists away. First we saw an incredible 4-D movie about the attraction, and once on the Eye we enjoyed absolutely amazing views of the city.

After this we decided to a circle tour of famous landmarks such as Buckingham Palace, the Mall and then over to Piccadilly Circus.  From here we walked over to Grovesnor Square and the US Embassy, where I enjoyed seeing the only statue of FDR standing up.

Apparently we were not worn out that bad so we decided to walk around Hyde Park - the largest park in London.  After about half-way through, I decided to rent for us two bikes, which got us over to the Diana memorial fountain.  I'm still a bit lost on the meaning of it.  Thankfully we found an underground station right as our feet were ready to fall off.

In all I logged in over 30,000 steps - by far a record, but not such a big deal in a city like London :)

European Vacation 2016 - June 12th

Finally a great night of rest, and up to Camden Town to meet up with my cousin Aeron.  He met us at the train station, and took us to the sprawling Camden Market.  It seemed like it would never end - t-shirts, leather, jewelry, and just about everything else back to back and double packed.  Made for a very unique experience.  We spent several hours there, and thankfully very little money!

Afterwards we decided to high-tail it downtown with Aeron giving us a lightning-quick tour of the central area.  We rode a bus down to Trafalgar Square where some even was going on, then walked it over to Big Ben, and over the bridge to the London Eye.  From there we walked back across the Thames on an amazing pedestrian-only bridge.  Then we rolled into a tube station, and back to Roma's for dinner.

Roma cooked a fantastic spread for us, including Aeron and his girlfriend.  We were also joined by Toby and Jake, his brother.  Fantastic time together and loved sharing this fun with my mum's family. So crazy-blessed to have them in my life - a lasting gift from my mum :)

European Vacation 2016 - June 11th

After some spotty sleep in Jake's room (very nice view of the backyard - and a bit weird with no screens - no "mozis" you know), I wandered down for some breakfast.  This was simply an acclimation day to get us used to the time zone.  We started by joining Roma at a birthday party at her friend Penny's house just nearby.  We were woefully underdressed, but it didn't matter.  All the guests were super-nice to us and the food was fantastic.  Even chatted it up with Chris and Linda, US transplants living in London now.  Oh yeah, Sam had his first beer - a Heineken :)

From there we went back to Roma's to enjoy a street party celebrating the Queen's 90th birthday. The whole city was doing something, and meeting her neighbors was great.  We chatted it up with several of them, and can see why Roma's loves this part of London.  We also witnessed a chap passed out due to a seizure...good times ;)

After this Toby took us with him to Camden Town to watch the England match against Russia in the Euros.  Very big tournament, and this would be Sam's first experience in a bar/pub with sports fans. We arrived at a place called Lock 17, and made it just in time for the game.  We found seats and watched a scoreless first half, then England scored in the second - and the place went bonkers.  Toby spilled his pint everywhere and mass-hugging ensured.  It remained 1-nill until the very last minute of injury time when Russia equalized.  Very disappointing since England hasn't won an opening round in ages.

Even so, Sam and I milled around a bit more, then headed off for a late dinner in the neighborhood.  Settled on a Chipolte-type eatery.  Then we caught the train back to West Finchley, and came across the street party - still going at midnight!  By this time however there had been complaints about the noise, and the police arrived shortly after we did.  Then the representatives from the Council.  The party was only down to a dozen folks by then but they were still ticked that so much attention was placed on them.  Roma laughed thinking what we have done in a short 24-hours.

We finally made it back to the house, and I had a nice chat with Roma before retiring.

European Vacation 2016 - June 9th and 10th

Another great adventure with my son Sam begins again - this time overseas.  Going to hit several destinations by plane and train...our most extensive yet.  First however, we have to get there... 

Might as well blend in these two dates since that's what the time difference did anyhows.  LONG day of travel started with my sister and Jerry picking us up and driving us to O'Hare.  In typical me fashion I forgot something and had to drive back.  We finally got on the road and arrived at the airport - with five hours to kill.  Lovely.

The first flight took us to Stockholm on SAS, and then a connecting flight to London.  It was cheaper this way, but really taxing on the body - well at least mine (started the trip with a bit of a bad back). Our time in Stockholm was interesting.  Had to have security check for just us since we were the only ones from the flight going to London.  This grumpy Swede did the honors, and was quite through about it.  

Once past him we waited a bit more, then boarded the packed plane and waited some more, then flew out to only circle London waiting to land.  Get the theme?  Finally did, and caught a subway - or tube ride to my relative Roma's borough of West Finchley.  That took another hour plus.  When we finally arrived I tried to buy a sim card to contact her, to no avail.  Finally just used a cell phone from a shop owner nearby and then Roma's son Toby came by to whisk us away.

We finally arrived at Roma's at about 8pm London time, a good 20 plus hours after we left Crown Point.  Had a great dinner with her and meet with her friend Alison.  Afterwords settled in for the night with spotty sleep - at least the bed and view from the bedroom was nice :) 

Transitions...

Life sure can come at you fast, and certainly has for me.  As much as I was glowing just a few months ago about my new fiance, I write this post single once again, and if that wasn't enough - without my mother either.

First up Kenna broke it off with me in April after visiting Arizona.  She decided that it would be best for her to live there, and thus move from me, her friends and her church here in the region.  Yes, that's a lot to give up, and although she made the decision practically overnight with me, it did take her a week or so to settle down and have peace with it.  Things moved quickly and she got a job and moved out in mid-June.  

About a month later, my mother finally succumbed to her long struggle with kidney failure and died on May 26th.  Although very weak for many years, she had made it through a few close calls, and both Karen and I didn't expect her to leave us so suddenly.  She was admitted to the hospital to fix a port in her arm for dialysis, which didn't take, and thus made her weaker.  When they tried again, she didn't wake up out of sedation - her heart simply gave up.

The night before Karen and I were able to visit her for a while, and I knew the end was near.  She lying in bed, with an oxygen mask on.  She looked, for lack of a better word, pathetic.  In fact, she couldn't even breathe room air without her oxygen levels sinking.  I left with a heavy heart and cried, knowing the end was near.  The next morning, it was true.

In the midst of these traumatic events I traveled to Portland, OR for a conference, and escaped with my son to Winnipeg to watch the women's World Cup.  Both of these excursions were very helpful in getting me past the pain and shock for both events.  I'm thankful for their timing.

As for where I am now - that's in the Lord's hands.  Right at this moment I just don't have the bandwidth to date again, and quite frankly, I need to get alone to process all of this stuff and rebuild my life.  It does me no good jumping back into a relationship at a time where I am vulnerable and not at my best.  I do desire to marry - and I pray the Lord will provide me a good mate one day.  At least I have a better sense of who I need in my life, and to pull the trigger quicker on those who aren't going to work out.

The last month or so with Kenna since my mum died was difficult.  She wasn't very kind towards me, and this threw me off.  We did make peace however before she left, and now in hindsight, it's a good thing we never made it to the altar.  Ever since I slipped that ring on her finger things between us went downhill.  Eventually she yearned to be in Arizona, and was asking how I felt to move out there one day.  I didn't shut out the possibility, but certainly didn't think much of it either (move to the desert...um, no).  That in the end pushed her away, and far better to realize this now than when married.  In short, I was spared.

Of course there were other matters as well.  If it were just Arizona, I think she would have stayed with me if her love was strong enough.  It wasn't.  Now, I need to figure out want I must do to land a lady for the long-term.  First I need time to heal and enjoy being on my own - I never have had that opportunity.  I've bounced from one lady to another, and this takes its toll.

I have heard from far too many people that "when you least expect it, she will walk into your life." It's now time to trust in this...and in what the Lord has in store for me.