Stonehenge

At first we weren't sure if we'd go to Stonehenge. We really didn't want to take a tour bus and be herded along by a boring guide. Our gracious hosts recommended taking a local bus to Amesbury and hiking out to the monument. Having grown up in Amesbury, Steve assured us that the town itself wasn't interesting. We'd have to agree, but before starting out on our hike, we spent a couple of minutes wondering around a church yard.





We crossed over bright green pastures, passed by small wooded patches, and meandered through a flock of sheep along the way. Our light weight umbrellas can in handy on the unseasonably sunny and warm afternoon.





It didn't seem worth it to pay an admission fee to file along a paved walkway with a hoard of tourists, so we took pictures through the chain link fence and headed over to see barrows (neolithic burial mounds).



After seeing Stonehenge, we hiked over to Woodhenge. To read about the connection between the two sites, check out this fairly recent article:
http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2008/06/stonehenge/alexander-text/1

Shingles

When the itchy red spots of childhood chickenpox disappear and life returns to normal, the battle with the virus that causes chickenpox seems won. But for too many of us this triumph of immune system over virus is temporary. The virus has not been destroyed but remains dormant in our nerve cells, ready to strike again later in life. This second eruption of the chickenpox virus is the disease called shingles or herpes-zoster.

The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke
“Shingles: Hope Through Research”

A few days before our trip, Ian mentioned that he'd pulled a back muscle; he couldn't figure out how he'd injured his back while sitting at the computer and writing.

The next day he had a stomach ache; it seemed weird since we'd eaten the same things and I felt fine.

A day later he noticed an itchy, swollen bug bite. Then another popped up right next to it.

On our second day in Salisbury, I convinced a reluctant Ian to stop at Boots pharmacy and ask for advice. A pink tender area surrounded the itchy "bites." At first the pharmacist confirmed my diagnosis: a bad reaction to bug bites. But he wasn't quite sure, so he called over a colleague to give us a second opinion. Ian described his symptoms, shyly showing her his belly. "It's a childhood illness," she said. "I can't think of what it's called. Wait here." She talked with a third pharmacist for a minute or two and returned. "You haves shingles. You should go to the walk-in center."

What?

It took 10 minutes and 30 pounds to confirm the diagnosis.

Itching. Blisters. Severe nerve pain.



Ian's shingles stretched in a band from his belly button to his spine, which is the most common pattern. If you zoom in, you can see the individual fluid-filled blisters. He didn't want me to take this picture for some reason.



Was it cruel of me to sing "Shingle Belt Rock"?

Old Sarum Hike: Salisbury Day 2

On the morning of our first full day in Salisbury we hiked to Old Sarum.
The delicious full English breakfast gave us plenty of fuel. The handmade sausages, farm fresh eggs, and homemade jam and bread were particularly tasty.



We ignored our host's warning about the short cut preferred by locals, deciding to take a chance. The pastures weren't as muddy as he'd feared, and we didn't even see the "temperamental bull."





After passing through farm land we stopped at a village church.



Old Sarum sits above the Salisbury plain. It began as an iron age fort before becoming in turn the site of a Roman town, a Saxon stronghold, and a Norman castle and cathedral. Very little remained of the Norman's outer walls, but we found a "window."





I'm posing in front of a part of Henry I's stronghold.



The massive earthen works date back to the iron age, when the builders of the hill fort controlled local trade.

Spring Break in England

At the end of January I had major minor surgery. The day of the surgery nausea from the anesthesia kept me in bed for 5 or 6 hours. That night after a few bites of mild food, I revived a little and became restless. I hobbled to the computer, opened our email, and aimlessly clicked on a few messages. As I lazily skimmed a Travelzoo email, a too-good-to-be-true deal from San Francisco to London caught my eye. With good reason, Ian was slightly hesitant to buy tickets based on his drugged wife's "research." The next morning I convinced Ian that a week long trip to England would be perfect. It was a great time for a getaway since Ian planned to turn in a draft of his dissertation to his adviser right before Berkeley's spring break.

Our non-stop flight on British Airways took a little over ten hours. Local transportation proved to be a little tricky. We took a bus to a train station in Woking, a suburb of London. From there we boarded a train to our final destination: Salisbury.



A pleasant twenty minute walk wound from the train station, through the town, and to our bed and breakfast.





For our first two nights, we stayed at Cathedral View. Unfortunately, it was completely booked on Saturday, so we moved next door to the fancier and less comfortable Spire House.

Ian's Birthday Hike

Here are a few pictures we took during our recent hike in Morgan Territory. In the spring over 90 species of wildflowers cover the nearly 5,000 acres of rolling hills. It was 60 degrees and mostly cloudy, our ideal hiking weather.

holiday

Perhaps we're a little odd. Instead of heading south to escape wintry weather we opted to go north this Christmas. Anxious for the start of the Bay Area's rainy season, we longed to explore rain-drenched temperate rain forest. And since we'd been vaguely thinking of taking a leisurely drive up the coast since we moved to California in 2004, this seemed like as good a time as any.

We took advantage of a "storm watchers" special and booked two nights at a cozy bed and breakfast in Pacific City, Oregon.



An unseasonably warm and dry morning allowed us a stunning forested hike with ocean vistas.




On our second day we toured (actually we just ate the free samples) the Tillamook cheese factory and walked to a small waterfall.



On our way to Seattle, we stopped for a glimpse of the Portland temple.




We were "blown away" by spectacular views of the Columbia River Gorge.




The Krumpermans took us on a fantastic whirlwind tour of Seattle. Our day began with a stop at water works park and a visit to a local troll's lair.











Next we saw the highlights of the zoo, including two brown bears and a family of gorillas (Ian's favorite). After touring Pike's Place Market, (and sharing some very tasty doughnuts) we visited the aquarium.







A single night at a bed and breakfast in Chilliwack and a day exploring urban parks in Vancouver, satisfied our cravings for adventure and Cadbury chocolate.