Last 24 Hours in England

Wednesday 27 June 2012  - Down to the last 24 hours - Happy Retirement Day Mary - Lucky Duck! - Happy 5 - 0 Adam.

Day 75 and 84 to go

With no real plans for today Paul and I were happy to sleep in again. It may be the last one we have over the next month. By 9 it was time to surface. Paul cooked up our breakfast again, yum and we watched the TV and checked our emails. I tracked our parcels on the net they are now in Germany and should make it home by Friday. Not bad really.

We then decided we would head out to Milton Keynes where there is a large shopping complex. It took just under an hour to get there. We found parking easily and then went for a wander. We were able to find a moneychanger and stock up on Euros ready for tomorrow when we head to Amsterdam. We picked up some things to read. I bought the new Jane Green book and “50 Shades of Grey” that everyone seems to be talking about at the moment. They should keep me busy for the next few months.

We continued our aimless wander and then found Waitrose where we bought groceries for dinner tonight and a couple of pre-made meals for lunch. We then made our way back to the car.

On our way to the shop we had seen a giant pagoda so we found our way back to that and parked at the Willen Peace Park. The park is a giant open space with lakes and a Japanese garden and temple along with a Buddhist pagoda. We took our lunch to the Japanese garden and ate there. It was very peaceful. We then wandered around the edge of the lake and up and around the Pagoda before returning to the car.  

Paul wanted to drive through some of the smaller towns so we made our way through Olney and Wollaston before heading back around Bedford through Shefford and back to Hitchin.

We unpacked our groceries and then Paul started preparing dinner while I worked on the Internet bits while watching Wimbledon.
Checked on the status of our parcels and they are already in China. Not bad going. 
At 6 I started cooking up the enchilada mix for dinner while watching the news. Chell rang to check on how we were going and to say bye again.  At 7pm Dario and Charlotte joined us. We put on the Euro Soccer semi between Portugal and Spain and I served up the enchiladas with salad. We cheered on the soccer except Charlotte who is over soccer. Was quite funny.
At half time i did up the chocolate pudding with berry compote and clotted cream. Very indulgent. Boy will we have an effort ahead of us when we return home to loose the excess weight we are both carrying. 
We watched the second half hoping for a score but none were forth coming despite Ronaldo's continual efforts on goal. At the end of regular time we said goodbye to Charlotte and Dario, with Charlotte vowing to come to New York to help me shop. 
We returned to the soccer again hoping for a score from one of the teams but yet again extra time disappeared with no score and it ended in heart breaking penalties. With Spain going through after Portugal missed 2. Bummer. 
I had a look through our snap shot of photos from the trip so far. Gee we have done a lot and seen so many amazing things and had such an amazing time. Now we are ready to get on the road again after having a great 3 weeks here with the family. Ready for the next adventure.

View Larger Map