ARGH!
We ventured today into the county where my ancestors were born, lived and died. However, we weren't on a quest for family history. Sometime in the future we will try to find some of our Shingleton/Checketts sites.
Today, we drove to Berkshire Country, Reading to be exact where we have two elders serving. That is where my Great Great Grandparents were married. I want to look into that. What a beautiful drive. Look at the skies as we traveled!
The elders live in a beautiful little apartment on the ground floor of an apartment building set off from the road a little bit. We still thought it was beautiful, even though we did some serious bumbling in order to find it. We put the address on the GPS in the car and managed to get to Reading without any problems.
But then, we didn't have a specific enough address, and ended up on a dead-end road which was lined with parked cars on either side. There was barely enough room for us to drive it, but intrepid travelers that we are, we persevered and ended up in nowhere. With about the length of a football field (SK's words) between us and out. Yes, we backed up, with parked cars on both sides of us, close enough to reach out the window and write in the dirt on their surfaces. Was it tense? Yes. Were we stressed? Yes.
But we made it. We called the elders and they gave us the proper directions and we pulled up to their flat in 5 minutes. It was - as they say here - spit spot. Clean as can be, and each of them also looked fresh and handsome!
After we finished there, (no instructing for them....they know how to keep a clean house - great for future wives and families!), we headed to Woodley. It wasn't far, but it was just as stressful. It was in a busy downtown area, with high rise buildings and what seemed like random roads going in every direction. We cruised past the tall building when the GPS primly pointed out in her fine British accent, "You have reached your destination." There was nowhere to turn in, nowhere to park and nowhere to stop. SK heaved a sigh of frustration, found a small side road to turn into, and we called the elders, who kindly hoofed it over to us, crawled into the back seat and gave us directions.
By then, SK was thoroughly frustrated, and not a little embarrassed. The young Italian voice (from Milan) came from the back seat, "You're doing fine Elder Madsen, just take a left at the corner." His companion from Switzerland was silent.
SK pulled up to the road and in a shocked voice, said, "What is that bus doing on that side of the road?" The same kindly voice came from the back seat, "That's because we're in England and they drive on the left side of the road." From that point on, he patiently pointed out several times that SK should take the next turn and stay to the left. SK took it well. This is the first time he actually lapsed into his American driving.
We inspected their apartment, which was in pretty good shape, but was missing 6 light bulbs, which translates to about $40. We will get new bulbs and give them to the elders at the all-mission conference with Elder Cook next Wednesday. I forgot to get a photo!
We drove them to the Reading Stake Center (it is actually our stake center too) for their district meeting, and then, adding one more layer of stress, went in search of the ancient ruins we had read about on Wikipedia. They turned out to be right downtown, and as if traffic isn't bad enough, we couldn't find anyplace to park, and heartily agreed that we will try it again in 6 weeks, when we do this again.
With that, we traveled back to Oxford and the comfort of our little flat, where, wonder of wonders, we had a package from Amazon.co.uk waiting! I ordered little leaf lights to decorate with for the next 6 weeks....Halloween, Fall, Thanksgiving - yes, there are enough Americans here that even the Brits like to celebrate with a feast. I also got little throw pillow covers to celebrate Halloween. Thanks Lia, for that brilliant idea. They are so simple to store.
We spent an hour trying to watch "Inspector Morse" on the television with Amazon,co.uk prime. It was filmed in Oxford. We have internet and somehow we managed to watch reruns of general conference, but this television is very religious and won't countenance anything besides LDS.org.
I think SK and I have both had our fill of frustrations for the day. It's time to sit down and read a book!
Today, we drove to Berkshire Country, Reading to be exact where we have two elders serving. That is where my Great Great Grandparents were married. I want to look into that. What a beautiful drive. Look at the skies as we traveled!
The elders live in a beautiful little apartment on the ground floor of an apartment building set off from the road a little bit. We still thought it was beautiful, even though we did some serious bumbling in order to find it. We put the address on the GPS in the car and managed to get to Reading without any problems.
But then, we didn't have a specific enough address, and ended up on a dead-end road which was lined with parked cars on either side. There was barely enough room for us to drive it, but intrepid travelers that we are, we persevered and ended up in nowhere. With about the length of a football field (SK's words) between us and out. Yes, we backed up, with parked cars on both sides of us, close enough to reach out the window and write in the dirt on their surfaces. Was it tense? Yes. Were we stressed? Yes.
But we made it. We called the elders and they gave us the proper directions and we pulled up to their flat in 5 minutes. It was - as they say here - spit spot. Clean as can be, and each of them also looked fresh and handsome!
After we finished there, (no instructing for them....they know how to keep a clean house - great for future wives and families!), we headed to Woodley. It wasn't far, but it was just as stressful. It was in a busy downtown area, with high rise buildings and what seemed like random roads going in every direction. We cruised past the tall building when the GPS primly pointed out in her fine British accent, "You have reached your destination." There was nowhere to turn in, nowhere to park and nowhere to stop. SK heaved a sigh of frustration, found a small side road to turn into, and we called the elders, who kindly hoofed it over to us, crawled into the back seat and gave us directions.
By then, SK was thoroughly frustrated, and not a little embarrassed. The young Italian voice (from Milan) came from the back seat, "You're doing fine Elder Madsen, just take a left at the corner." His companion from Switzerland was silent.
SK pulled up to the road and in a shocked voice, said, "What is that bus doing on that side of the road?" The same kindly voice came from the back seat, "That's because we're in England and they drive on the left side of the road." From that point on, he patiently pointed out several times that SK should take the next turn and stay to the left. SK took it well. This is the first time he actually lapsed into his American driving.
We inspected their apartment, which was in pretty good shape, but was missing 6 light bulbs, which translates to about $40. We will get new bulbs and give them to the elders at the all-mission conference with Elder Cook next Wednesday. I forgot to get a photo!
We drove them to the Reading Stake Center (it is actually our stake center too) for their district meeting, and then, adding one more layer of stress, went in search of the ancient ruins we had read about on Wikipedia. They turned out to be right downtown, and as if traffic isn't bad enough, we couldn't find anyplace to park, and heartily agreed that we will try it again in 6 weeks, when we do this again.
With that, we traveled back to Oxford and the comfort of our little flat, where, wonder of wonders, we had a package from Amazon.co.uk waiting! I ordered little leaf lights to decorate with for the next 6 weeks....Halloween, Fall, Thanksgiving - yes, there are enough Americans here that even the Brits like to celebrate with a feast. I also got little throw pillow covers to celebrate Halloween. Thanks Lia, for that brilliant idea. They are so simple to store.
We spent an hour trying to watch "Inspector Morse" on the television with Amazon,co.uk prime. It was filmed in Oxford. We have internet and somehow we managed to watch reruns of general conference, but this television is very religious and won't countenance anything besides LDS.org.
I think SK and I have both had our fill of frustrations for the day. It's time to sit down and read a book!
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