11-2 Arrival 11-3 Peterborough 11-4  London 11-5 Blenheim 11-6 Cambridge 11-7 Stamford 11-8 London

So here's what happened:

My friend Don in DC had bought into a Hilton Resorts timeshare plan and he had all these "points" that were going to expire if he didn't use them to stay at a resort somewhere in the world by the end of 2018.  Trouble is, his wife was unable to travel -- it's a temporary thing -- and he needed somebody to help him out.

"Hey Bill, want to go somewhere for a week?"

"Sure, where?"

"I don't care; you pick"

So I got into his Hilton Resorts account and discovered the pickings were slim if we had to choose on short notice.  I found a suite in a Spanish desert and I found a single room we'd have to share in a Hard Rock Hotel in Malaga and I found a "studio" apartment in Malta ... and given those unappealing alternatives and worse, it's little wonder we finally settled on a two-bedroom fully equipped cottage way out in the English countryside near the city of Peterborough.

Did I say countryside?  Yep, I mean, we're talking out in the English countryside sticks where the only thing in walking distance is more walking distance.  But it looked nice: Old Sulehay Cottages, about 100 miles north of London.  So sure...England it shall be.  We'll just have to rent a car if we want to get around and...say, don't they drive on the wrong side of the road over there?  Oh...well, I've actually done it once before, so off we go, totally full of confidence. Kinda, mostly.

Here's a map showing where we drove over the course of the week:

This is just a driving map: we actually went to London too, twice even, but on the train from Peterborough. I did the driving; Don did the navigating using Google maps on my iPhone and we were a great team.  Listen to me: if you ever decide to drive in the English countryside, take Don with you.  See all those little white dots along the road?  They indicate "roundabouts," and you don't want to enter one unless you have Don with you to guide you into them, keep you on the correct side of the curve, and point to the way out.  He'll never even remark on your terrified expression. A great navigator he truly is.

Want to join us on the trip?  Click on the links above.  I promise not to make you drive through a roundabout.

And many thanks to Wikipedia for all the plagiarizing I've done throughout this website.  You've been a great help!

-- Bill Anderson --

billanderson601@yahoo.com