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UNITED
KINGDOM TRAVELS, JULY AND AUGUST 2002
A DAY OUT WITH THOMAS Our weather in the UK continues to be very good. The few days of rain we had were days we didn’t plan to ride anyway, and everyone keeps telling us, “This is so unusual. You are so lucky!” But, they just don’t know Don. He brings the sunny weather with him wherever he goes. It happened in Scotland, it happened in New Hampshire, and now in the UK. 
Today we headed north to Llangollen, Thomas the Tank Engine’s hometown,
for a Day Out With Thomas. We were concerned about fighting the crowds,
so rather than going to the starting point, we went to the next station
down the line. We waited and waited, and finally, here came the train.
What a disappointment. It was pulled by D199, the big diesel engine
character. On the back was a phony metal plate with a sketch of Thomas.
Oh! No! Did we drive all the way up here just for this?We went back down to Llangollen to see if there were any 
other characters at the main station, and there was Thomas, smiling and
blue, just as he should be. Grandma was so happy! And, the crowds
were not bad either. So we went down to the platform and got our pictures
taken with Thomas, and Don did some mini-videos with his digital camera.
We hope to email them to the grandchildren and Danny and Shalana Erlich and
Chris and Eric Thiem. 
After our visit with Thomas, we went into the very busy tourist town so
I could get stamps for the Thomas postcards I bought to send to the kids.
Later we stopped by the canal, which had boats drawn by workhorses, just
as they were in the pre-railroad days. Then we had lunch at a restaurant
overlooking the river.On our way home we stopped at an old castle ruin, Dinas Bran, 
and hiked way up a mountain to see the old fortress. The newest structures
were in use to defend the Dee Valley around 1200 AD. The older structures
were being used in the Iron Age. We tried to imagine being the workers
who hauled all of that stone up the steep mountainside. Then we tried
to imagine being the servants who had to carry water and supplies up the mountain.
We decided if we were going to live in the year1200, we would need to be
royalty! |
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