I Will Be Leaving The Country

York Minster

It's probably way too early to post on my trip to England, which will not happen until the latter part of March, but I'm quite excited about it, and I can't wait any longer to tell about it. I have not left the US for 10 years, but for a few brief forays into eastern Canada from a cruise ship. I hadn't traveled abroad for a couple of years before Bush was elected, and then after he was elected, I was ashamed to visit another country.

In the years before Bush, I'd travel across the sea every two or three years. During Bush's reign, I considered going abroad, but I could not quite bring myself to do it, especially once we invaded Iraq. The thought of having to explain everywhere I went that I didn't like Bush either, was too much, and then, very quickly, 10 years passed. Well, Bush will be gone in just 9 days, and I'm ready to travel.

A couple of months ago, Grandpère said that he would like to go to England again, but that he wanted to go to a different area of England than we'd been before, perhaps the Yorkshire area. We talked about when he wanted to go. Great chunks of the year are blocked out for no travel for him. There's the spring planting of the vegetable garden, then the period when the produce comes in, which takes us from April to June or early July. In September, the saltwater fishing season begins and lasts until December. Hunting season starts sometime in the fall and ends in the latter part of January. That leaves late July, August, late January, February, and March. I said that I didn't want to go to England in January or February, so he suggested March. Fine.

I went online to look for flights several times. In the meantime, GP began to get cold feet about the trip. He's going, he's not going, etc., etc., etc. It was his idea! The travel bug had bitten me, so I decided that I'd go whether he went or not. I found a good deal on a flight on Continental Airlines from Newark directly to Manchester, UK, not through Heathrow or Gatwick, which I wanted to avoid if I could. I asked GP if he was ready to fly away, and he said that he couldn't make the committment yet. I said, "OK, I'm buying my ticket." He said, "I still might want to go." I said, "That's fine, but we may not be on the same flight." As of today, he is not going.

Throughout all of this time of decision, Doorman-Priest was my counselor and my guide (I almost typed my God - he was that good!). He guided me to Manchester as the most suitable airport and suggested Leeds as a base. Need I say that I won't be driving? I'll depend on other sources of ground transportation, like my feet, trains, and coach tours. He found a family style hotel not far from the town center and within walking distance of his home, where I'll stay. DP and his lovely wife even went to visit the hotel to check it out, picked up a brochure, and mailed it to me.

DP and his wife have made my trip a family project. Isn't that kind? In addition, I am invited to this concert of the Leeds Philharmonic Society, to which DP lends his wonderful voice, plus a post-concert engagement in one of the newly smoke-free pubs.

At first, I was going to divide my hotel stays between Leeds and York, but I don't like packing up and moving from one hotel to another, so I will probably stay the entire time in Leeds. York is only a half hour away from Leeds by train. I emailed DP to tell him I was ready to make my hotel reservations, and I received this reply:

And we're ready for your arrival. Bunting is being put up all over the North of England as I write...


Yorkshire Moors