Europe Day 5 - Windsor and Wicked

On Tuesday we took the train to Windsor, and toured the Queen's castle. I enjoyed seeing the State apartments. I had been to Windsor when I was in college, but the day I went the Queen was there, so the State apartments were closed.

In the afternoon we walked by Buckingham Palace, then ate a late lunch/early dinner at the Original Hard Rock Cafe.

I had visited this Hard Rock back in 1987 during my college program, but this was the first time for Susan. This was the fourth HRC at which we have eaten. The others are Orlando, Honolulu, and Tokyo. 

That night we saw Wicked.

Europe Day 4 - Harry Potter tour

Monday we took the train to Watford Junction and caught a bus for the Warners Bros Studios and went on the Harry Potter tour.

The Warner Bros Studio is a former Rolls Royce plant that was converted into film soundstages and used for the Harry Potter movies.  The tour featured props, sets, and models used on the films, along with lots of information on how the movies were made.

Upon our return to London, we visited Westminster Abbey, then went up to Oxford Street to look at the shops and have dinner.

Europe Day 3 - London

Sunday we spent a full day exploring London. We started with a walk around St Paul's cathedral, followed by Leicester and Trafalgar Squares. 

We then headed to the Tower of London, where we saw the Crown Jewels and the armory in the White Tower. 

From there we walked to the Tower Bridge, where we learned about its construction and enjoyed the views from high up on its walkways. 

In the afternoon we took the Docklands Light Rail to Greenwich, where we toured the Royal Observatory and stood on the Prime Meridian.

Europe Day 2 - Dover and Canterbury

Our first full day in England was a Saturday, and we elected to take the train to Dover since the castle and war tunnels there are only open on Saturdays during the winter months.

We took the tube to King's Cross station and checked out the Harry Potter stuff there before boarding a train at St Pancras to Dover. We arrived about an hour later and took at taxi up to the castle.

First we explored the tunnels, then checked out the old castle. The tunnels were created by the British in the early 19th century to guard against a potential invasion by Napolean, and where expanded and used as a command center during WWII.

Once we finished there we caught a train to Canterbury and walked over to the ruins of St Augustine's Abbey. This abbey was founded by Augustine after he came to England in 597 to spread Christianity to the English. After we finished looking over the Abbey grounds we headed over to the Cathedral. 

We elected not to enter the cathedral as the line was long and felt the cost was too high. We looked around at some of the shops around the Cathedral, then caught the train back to London.

Europe Trip Day 1 - Arrival in London

For my 50th birthday, my wife gave me a trip to London, Paris, and Italy. As soon as the kids were done with finals, we boarded a plane to Atlanta, where we transferred to a plane to London. We arrived at Heathrow on Friday morning, and took the express train to Paddington, and then the subway from there to Charing Cross. It wasn't easy getting our luggage across London, as we had packed heavy because we couldn't find any place to wash clothes near any of our hotels.

Our hotel in London was the St Giles. It wasn't great, the rooms were small, the beds were hard, and wi-fi was extra (and too costly for us), but my wife had booked a bargain package, so we weren't expecting four stars.

After a nap to get over jet lag, we took the tube down to Westminster. We walked around a bit and had some dinner, then boarded a night cruise along the Thames.

It was a little disappointing - it was too cold to stay up top and look at the scenery, and we couldn't see much down below.

Grand Initiation

Last weekend was Oregon Rainbow's annual fall Statewide Initiation, when the Grand Officers perform an initiation. This year it was held in Salem.

One of the new members was initiated into Cherry Assembly. Above Jennifer poses with her and the other members of Cherry. 

Last night Bryan was installing officer for Mt Hood DeMolay in Portland.

Rainbow receptions and official visits

Last weekend was the reception for Oregon Rainbow's Grand Worthy Advisor. We traveled down to Salem and helped the State Service team prepare dinner for the attendees, and raise money for the GWA's service project. Above the State Miss Service introduces Jennifer and other members of the team.

 Jennifer with the other Grand Officers and V.I.P.'s.

This weekend she headed back to Eastern Oregon for an Official Visit.

After the OV she and some of the other officers went out to a farm of a Grandie from Eastern Oregon.

This afternoon she attended the Job's Daughters Miss Oregon Pageant with the Grand Worthy Advisor.