London (Part 1 of UK/Ireland Trip)

Travel to the UK was quite something. Before boarding our plane to London we were treated to a luxurious dinner in the Departure Lounge of British Airways. We spent the flight in the upper level of the plane and each person had their own cubicle with a bed that fully reclined. When we arrived at the airport in the early morning, we were taken to the Arrival Lounge and treated to a great breakfast. Never will I ever again fly in those crowded planes where they make you sit ramrod straight in a tiny seat for 8 or 10 hours! 

The first day was a bit rainy so we went to the Charles Dickens Museum and then on to St. Paul's Cathedral.

See the top of the Dome? We climbed the 500 plus stairs to get up there.

This is the view from the top of St. Paul's Cathedral.

 After we finished up at St. Paul's we took the underground to the Tower of London.

Tower Bridge

The second day in London we did a 3 1/2 hour bike tour with a group. Had to get used to riding on the left side of the road really quick. Only one person fell off her bike and it was not me. These are some of the sights we saw on our bike tour:

Flags in front of Parliament

Buckingham Palace
The Queen was in residence getting ready for her big birthday celebration this weekend.

Our biking group

A Little History Lesson

St. Martin-in-the-Fields

The Black Friar

Cleopatra's Needle

Taking a break

So you thought you knew what Big Ben looked like! Well this
is what it looks like now. Poor Ben is undergoing a facelift at
the cost of about 4 billion dollars. We could build a wall some-
where for that kind of money.

The only visible clock peeking out from scaffolding.

The Eye of London

We only took this pic because we knew y'all would be looking for it!

The sun finally came out and we went through Westminster Abbey. No pics allowed inside so in a nutshell there are graves for almost every single famous Brit you can think of. I stood on the grave of Charles Darwin but out of respect for the Abbey I did not spit on it. Many of the graves had images of the deceased carved out and laid over their graves. If any of you decide to make a carving of me when I am dead, then at least have the decency to make it look like I did when I was about 30. 

Westminster Abbey

Fornham Guest House 

That was pretty much it for the London part of our trip. Have to say I was glad to get out of London. I am not a city girl and the crush of people and the fast pace are not my cup of tea. The best part of this trip is yet to come! Tomorrow we are off to Stonehenge and Bath...THAT is what I came for.

Hillsdale State Park Flood Pictures

We took a bike ride to Hillsdale State Park to view the flooding. No roads were open for cars. This is a picture of the shelter that is near the marina. You can't even get to it.

The parking lot of the Jayhawk Marina

The water completely covers the boat docks

The road to the campgrounds

Sunflower Campground

The campground is as silent as a deserted mining town.

Power stations submerged in water

Scott Creek Campground

Campsites are under water

Looks like somebody is hoping to return.

The road to the beach

Geese have literally taken over the beach

Water at the beach comes right up to the parking lot.

More geese

Geese swimming in the meadow!

This goose did not move his family but boy did he give us what for! Thought he was going to nip me!

The road going to the last two campgrounds was flooded.

Here is the campground with the playground.

The geese have made this their home.

Can't avoid riding through all the goose poop.

This is the drive going into the primitive campground.

Heading back to the marina

Parking lot of the picnic shelter near marina

So there was this couple sitting in the middle of the parking lot and fishing. They were catching some good sized fish too!

The whole parking lot was under water and the fish were swimming in the parking lot.

So that was an interesting bike ride. Geese swimming in meadows and camping in campgrounds, and fish swimming in parking lots. Maybe next time we will kayak in the parking lot!