Hi everyone!

Big Al and I have safely returned from a fabulous vacation to England and we're ready for a 2-nighter at RD's County Line this Friday and Saturday in Mulvane. 

ENGLAND - I'm sure most of you a dying to know how the trip went (it could happen!), so here's a few highlights...

Day One (Sept 22) - Reported Lost Luggage to Continental Airlines; Complained to Thrifty for not having our Car reservation - picked up a mini-van instead for the same price (good deal!); drove to Croydon (South London) for a cup of tea, Hatfield (Herfordshire) for a lunch time Pint and then on to our first Hotel (Another Pub!) in St Albans (Hertfordshire).  After that, a fairly relaxing day.

Day Two (Sept 23) - up early, train (Al's first) into London.  Leicester Square, Marquee for a Jimi Hendrix Exhibition, Picadilly Circus, Hard Rock Cafe (The Original that first opened in 1972); Abbey Road (it had to be done - Al and I made the crossing about 6 times!); Covent Garden for drinks; Trafalgar Square; Whitehall; Westminster - Houses of Parliament and Big Ben (or the Big Clock as Al called it) - Back to St Albans for beers in the evening.

Day Three (Sept 24) - Drove to Harlow (Essex) for my Niece's Wedding.  Mostly a family gathering, but as usual, copious amounts of Alcohol was involved.  Stayed in Old Harlow overnight.

Day Four (Sept 25) - Back to St Albans - We had planned another day in London, to do the London Eye and a River Boat ride down the Thames, but hangovers and a bad rainy weather day put a halt to that.  Went to Bishops Stortford for the evening to see a band my brother recommended - Uncle Sam.  And very good they were too!  even an average age older than Rain!  they also had a Tommy Carlyle lookalike (I kid you not) playing guitar.

Day Five (Sept 26) - Windsor Castle (one of the Queen's residences - She invited Al and I in for tea after our tour, but we declined and went onto Legoland instead. (Yes, the whole place is full of stuff built out of Lego - You'll have to ask Al why we went there - I still don't know).

Day Six (Sept 27) - Al and I drove to Liverpool, while my good friend Richard took Valli & Daniel to her parents place in Cromer (Norfolk).  Roamed Matthew Street visited the famed Cavern Club, and other Beatles places; played 9 holes of Golf (another first for Big Al) at St Andrews on a massive video game where you actully use real clubs and real golf balls!!! - Dinner in a Jazz Club and then large quantities of alcohol at other Liverpool establishments, before going back to Widnes where our kind host, Mr Jimmy Duff shared more beers with us.

Day Seven (Sept 28) - The Beatles day! Breakfast at Fat Boys Cafe; The Beatles Story museum; Penny Lane; Strawberry Field(s); John Lennon's childhood home - Great stuff to say the least.  Widnes in the evening with even more beers!  (Al said, as we left the next morning, I don't think I can play with Jimmy anymore!)

Day Eight (Sept 29) - Drove to Overstrand (Norfolk) to meet up with Daniel, Valli and her parents.  Nice dinner in the evening in Cromer (yes it took all bloody day to get there!)

Day Nine (Sept 30) - After a walk around the village of Overstrand and the sea-front (North Sea) we took the train into Norwich.  Norwich Cathedral; Market; BBC Studios/Library.

Day Ten (Oct 1) - Drove to Hatfield (Hertfordshire) and then it was Lads Night Out with my old buddies from back home.  A great turn out, complete with a "lock-in" at the Horse & Groom.  The pubs shut at 11:00 pm in England, but if you know the right places, you can get a late one where they literally they lock the doors - we left around 3:45 am the next morning!

Day 11 (Oct 2) - After a late start (yes we were hungover!), we had to miss out on Stonehenge, but drove down to the West Country and visited Avebury where the whole village is surrounded with Stonehenge-like stones (around 4,000 yrs old!) - then went on to Lacock where the whole village there is owned by Britain's National trust - gorgeous place and the Abbey there is where they filmed Harry Potter!  Stayed in Chippenham overnight at a friends house - Thanks Malcolm and Kathy for a wonderful night!

Day 12 (Oct 3) - Visited the historic City of Bath and the Roman Baths there.  Roamed over stoned floors where Roman aristocracy once walked nearly 2,000 years ago.  Very humbling experience.  A quick visit to the ancient town of Castle Coomb, just outside Bath before heading to South Croydon for a night at my Nephews place - Al had his first Indian Curry for dinner.

And then it was up early for the flight home - all in all it took a full 24 hours from getting up to going to bed back home in Wichita.  A tiring, but brilliant vacation.  And one to remember for many years.  Thanks Big Al for your company, I had a great time, and I know by how many tmes you said "Wow" that you did too!  Looking forward to playing again at RD's this weekend - hope some of you can make it down to Mulvane, I'm sure one of us will have vacation photos there to bore you all even more!!