London

For ten days, Dad and I went to go visit Dave and Nathali in the UK. It was such a fun trip. We saw a lot of amazing place: stonehenge, salisbury, bath, leeds castle, dover, canterbury, cambridge, edinburgh, the highlands, and sussex. It was so much fun to hang out with Dave and Nathali too. They are amazing hosts and we had a great time. There is so much to tell, but let me focus on the highlights.

The Scottish Highlands were stunningly beautiful. Dad and I took a day tour up through the Highlands. We drove up the west side to Loch Ness, rounded Loch Ness on the north side and then drove down the east side of the highlands. I have to say that I prefer the west side of the highlands. In some areas it was so green and lush, which makes sense since there is water and lochs everywhere. Up near Loch Ness it was still very green, but had a much more "up in the mountains" sort of feel. This was kind of crazy because it isn't that far above sea level.

For the first half of the day is was misty and cloudy. The mist just sort of laid on the top of the mountains. It was so beautiful! Then, as we got up to Loch Ness, the sky cleared up compeletly. We went out on a boat to "look for Nessy". Sadly, we didn't see her, but we were able to get a good look around the southern part of the lake. The water was a very vivid blue.
When we kept driving there was a old ruined castle that is on a little peninsula on the lake. What an amazing place that must have been to live! There is a trail that goes almost all the way to Loch Ness that you can walk from Glasgow. I can't wait to do it! It takes 4-5 days of walking, but the scenery would be amazing!

Another highlight of the trip was going down to Sussex for a few days. This part of the trip was great first of all because Dave was able to take off work for a couple days, so all four of us (Dad, myself, Dave, and Nathali) were able to spend some good time together. Dave had done some great research into our family history and found a place called Frylands that our family used to live in. We found out that our ancestors definitely lived there by the beginning of the 1600's although we don't know how much earlier. They kept the house until the mid 18th century. It was a beautiful house and the countryside around it isn't very developed, so we got a really good idea of what the land must have looked like when our ancestors were living there. The couple that owns the house were so nice. We had tea with them and talked about the history of the house. They also brought us outside to see the chimney. On the chimney was a little plaque that had the year 1693 on it with a big "V" in the middle! Yep, our ancestors built that chimney! Dave made up a little song about Frylands on our way home. While you will have to get Dave to sing it for you, I can at least share the words: Frylands, Frylands, they're not yours, they're my lands. Frylands, Frylands, mine!

But the one of very best parts of the trip was hanging out with Dad for ten days. He is such a fun guy! I think I wore him out dragging him from tour to tour, but he was a very good sport. Thanks for a wonderful trip Dad. I love you lots!