From Stonehenge to Seattle

“We have been doing some exciting stuff, starting with a day trip to Stonehenge between Christmas and New Year. Stonehenge is pretty amazing, especially when we saw it blanketed in snow. We took a day trip out there, and as it turned out the company that we went with was pretty dodgy, the bus broke down 5 minutes before we arrived and continued to break down periodically throughout the day. Stonehenge is just in the middle of a big flat area which is surrounded by ancient burial grounds. The day we went the whole area was blanketed in snow and it was freezing! After about an hour we were ready to get back on the bus, but the AA (hopefully Automobile Association, not Alcoholics Anonymous) man that they had called had not yet arrived. We had a bit of a snow fight, but couldn’t bear the cold anymore so got back on the bus which had no heating anyway because they couldn’t turn it on. A few hours later we were on our way to the afternoon portion of our day trip which was to a town called Salisbury. Salisbury is a small historic town which unfortunately with only 2 hours to spare didn’t offer much to us. We could have checked out the cathedral there which has the tallest spire in England, but went to the local market instead. We got home thankfully, as the bus didn’t break down again. Jon went on the junket of a lifetime on 3 Jan to Microsoft’s head office in Seattle. He’s there for 3 weeks in a ritzy hotel with a hire car and whatever else he wants. I couldn’t let him have all the glory, so I decided to go over and join him this weekend. I’m flying over on Friday and staying until Monday night. Because of the time difference the flight over takes 9 hours but I arrive an hour after I get there and on the way back I get back 17 hours after I leave! I’m very excited! Anyway, happy new year and we’ll hear from you soon. BTW, we’re flying home for Jen and Marty’s wedding on the 26th March and we’ll be leaving on around the 3rd April. Hope to catch up with you all then.”