2009 can best be described as a year of transition for us. In preparation for retirement, Chuck started spending less time in the DC area. In the spring we sold our condominium in Reston so that we no longer have a residence in the area. So, if you had thought about visiting us in DC, it is now too late to have a place to stay.
Part of that adventure was driving a large Ryder truck
from Virginia to Colorado. We had to pick up a storage unit full of things from Caroline's mother, so we drove to Ohio, loaded that into the truck, spend some time with her sister and picked up more stuff, drove to Kansas and spent some time with Chuck's dad, and then finally on to Colorado Springs. The truck was such that Caroline's feet didn't hit the floor so it was very hard for her to drive it. That meant more driving for Chuck than he likes to do. But, we survived.
In April, Caroline went to China with 2 other women from our church joining about a dozen women from Covenant churches all over the United States. It was a marvelous experience for her.
The women sang during a Sunday morning church service. The group spent a few days helping in a school, and spent the rest of the time seeing the sights of China. They saw the Great Wall, the Forbidden City, the Terra Cotta Soldiers, Beijing, and other well know sites.
In August, we spent nearly three weeks in Europe. The first 10 days was in England and Scotland. Some of the highlights in London, were seeing Billy Elliot on stage, the Notting Hill market (the bookstore is gone, replaced by a
shoe store much to Caroline's disappointment), Hyde Park, Kensington Palace, and just soaking in the culture.
After London we went to the Lake country. It is a beautiful part of England that we really enjoyed.
We saw Beatrix Potter's house and read about her story. If you have seen the movie Miss Potter you have seen the country side. We hiked some of the
paths that are everywhere and got up close to the sheep. We went to William Wordsworth's house and walked around Grasmere, his village.
From the Lake District, we went to Edinburgh, Scotland. It is a gorgeous city with wonderful people.
The castle is the dominant feature the city.
From Edinburgh we went to York, England which is also a very nice town.
The York Minster is one of the most beautiful churches we have seen.We climbed the circular steps to the tower which was enough to make you dizzy.
The final week was spent in Sweden with family. We spent a few days in Stockholm and the
n in
Norrköping.
One reason we went was to help celebrate the
50th wedding anniversary of Lars and my cousin Inga.
Continued in part 2.
