We had a great 5 day bus trip with the students. You may read about it below, only the order of the days is reversed.

Preston

The last day of our bus trip was spent in Preston. A member of the Church gave us a tour through Preston and told us about the early missionaries there. He taught us from a platform in a square where the missionaries taught. President Hinckley also taught from that spot. "with his knees shaking and knocking together." We went to the River Ribble where the first British convert was baptized. Of course we walked and walked. We ended up at the Preston Temple. The gardens there were to beautiful.

Ambleside Lake District

Thursday we went to Dove Cottage, in Grasmere, the small white home of William Wordsworth, a famous poet. He lived there with his sister and his wife. Mom and I walked down the road a long way to get a bowl of soup. Later we went to the beautiful Lake District, where we took a boat ride and had mango lemon tea and crummets at a grand old hotel. So good! The youth hostel where we stayed was a little bit gross, but I didn't care.

Edinburgh

That night we stayed in Edinburgh. It rained a lot there. It would rain, then be sunny, then rain, then be sunny. Weird! While we were there D-dad, mom, and I took a train to Lanark where some of mom's ancestors were from. We walked to the library and found some books about mom's ancestors.

Abbotsford, home of Sir Walter Scott

Tuesday we had a tour in the home of Sir Walter Scott, a famous English poet and author, and found out that one of mom's ancestors, a Lord Somerville, was a friend of Sir Walter Scott.

Durham Castle

That night we stayed in a real castle in Durham. Tuesday morning we at in the dining hall, it was kind of like being in a Harry Potter movie. So cool!

York

Monday afternoon we were in York. We went to the York Minster and walked along Shambles, the midevil part.

Fountains Abbey

Monday we got up at 6 a.m. and began a 5 day bus trip with the students. First we drove to Fountains Abbey, a very old monestary. We walked a lot, but it was very beautiful.

Kew Gardens

Kew Garden is huge. We rode a little train around it and then walked through a flower garden, an alpine garden, a dessert garden.

We had some great fish and chips after and got to ride a real train to the underground.

I love London!

Cambridge

Punting on the river. Ahh, what a life! Cambridge was fun, but I walked, looking at colleges, and all the way through town to the botanical garden, then back to town, till my legs ached.

Being at Stonehenge was amazing. We walked all around it. It was built 5,000 years ago. No one knows why, but we do know that the huge stones align with the stars and sun at Summer and Winter Solctice.

We loved being at Bath. It was used by the Romans. They threw carved curses on metal plates into the water when they were mad at someone. It was also used in the 18th century.

We went to Stourhead Garden. It is one of the most beautiful gardens in the world. I got really tired with all the walking and Mom and D-dad dragging me around. I liked it even though I had to walk up so many stairs after a tiring day of visiting Stonehenge, Bath, and Stourhead.