We Are Here

It has been a long 48 hours.  Although I booked my flight through Delta, it was a Virgin Atlantic flight.  Virgin is a Delta partner and we didn't think it would be an issue.  I was dropped off at the International Terminal and proceeded to the Priority Check In with Delta only to be told that I would need to check in at the Virgin Atlantic Counter and they would arrive for another 45 minutes.  Finally I was able to check in and get through security to meet Kay who had flown from Greenville and was already waiting for me.  We booked economy comfort seats but anything other than first class, you still don't have enough room to stretch out enough to get comfortable.  I must say that they have the nicest planes I have ever been on.  Their food was good and the service excellent.  Kay managed to sleep for a couple hours and me not at all.  We land to very cloudy skies and it's windy and cold.  We head to Customs in a fog and the room is packed as there were at least 4 flights that landed about the same time.  The room is packed and hot.  It took us an hour to get to the front of the line.  We get to the car rental desk and then have to get the bus with all of our luggage.  This is when you wish you had brought a lot less!

Kay again has done a bang up job of driving out of Heathrow and we got onto the M pretty quick.  I was really sinking fast from no sleep in 26 hours now but was keeping alert trying to watch for our exits from the instructions she printed.  We passed Stonehenge on the way. We are heading to Stourhead which is the place where many of the memorable scenes from Pride and Prejudice were filmed.  it is very cold and windy.  Both of us were having difficulty with walking due to being cramped up all night in that plane.  Everyone at these National Trust Properties is always so nice.  The man told us there was a shuttle back up from the gardens if we had any difficulty.  We were very lucky as although it threatened rain the entire time, it never did rain.  We really enjoyed the grounds and gardens but we were hungry and cold by the time we finished.  We stopped at the café on the grounds and got lunch and then went to the Farm Shop where they sell pastries, jams, meat and cheeses.  We bought a few things then headed on to do major shopping at the Tesco in Honiton before going to the property we had rented.  We actually got to the property with the instruction from the property owners.  They told us "GPS is notoriously unreliable in the area" and we got there in about 15 minutes from the grocery store.

We are in awe of this place.  The grounds are breathtaking, the view is amazing and the place itself is unbelievable.  Kay wants to live here permanently.  The sheep are right outside our enclosed back yard so we can see them and hear them from the house.  Our hosts, Julia and Charlie, are very nice and helpful.  They live in the house across from us where they also own and run a bed and breakfast.  They explained everything in the house, left us freshly baked bread and jam for the morning.  We got the groceries unpacked and put away, put one of the ready made dinners we bought in the oven and got showered.  We opened some wine and soon after I left Kay watching TV and went to bed. 

I felt like a new person this morning!  The sun is shining and it is absolutely beautiful today.  Kay and I were so excited..running around taking pictures and watching the lambs.  We got dressed and went for a walk.  When we got back it was almost lunch time.  Julia told us of a place in the village of Whimple to go for lunch so we set out on our adventure for today.  After our first fun ride on the road to Whimple (one lane for two cars...we had to back up to the turnout at least 3 times) but we laughed and had fun as usual.  We have a Ford Fiesta and if the car was any bigger, we would not have been able to maneuver with the hedgerows and another car!  We got to the Thirsty Farmer and really enjoyed both the food and the atmosphere.  We decide we will come back to this place again.  By the time we left it was a bit after three and we thought we would go exploring to get our bearings on where we are.  The GPS (we call him King George) was definitely unreliable and we were so hopelessly lost on these tiny one lane roads that we had no idea where we were.  But again, as luck would have it, somehow we wound up on a road we had walked this morning and knew how to get back home.  Of course we laughed a bunch about it and I took several videos of our driving but videos don't post well here.

We left them looking out at the sheep
 

Planter outside my bedroom

Our Ford Fiesta and our Home

Road into the rental

UK Road Kill

When we got back we fixed some dinner and had some wine while working on photos and the blog.  We are both "knackered"  (that is for you Carol) so we will watch some TV and make it an early night.  Tonight we lose yet another hour as the UK goes to Daylight Savings Time.  We had the most beautiful sunset tonight.  Apparently it has been raining here for weeks (everything is muddy and there is standing puddles everywhere).

Tomorrow we have reservations for brunch at a restaurant about 40 minutes from here.  It is Mother's Day here tomorrow.  We think if the weather is good again that we will go and explore the Jurassic Coast.

Fly over day and our first full day here is in the books...well done us!