YAY!!! We got to "skype" with our kidos today!!! It was just after school for them but 8:00 PM for us. Now, it 6:15 PM for them and 11:15 PM us!!! Jeff is sleeping and I'm loading this pics!!!
Feeling a little gross this morning on the train from London to Oxford....got better as soon as we got off. Guess I needed the snooze! THANKS Jeff for taking my pic! I will get you back ;)
I think Jeff said the townhouse on the far left end was theirs. How neat to see it!
That was just WEIRD!
Traci, I took this pic for you cause I thought it was a yorkie...he looks too big don't you think?
Wrong side of the road....I mean right side....I mean left side!!! LOL!I must brag and say that Jeff did a wonderful job driving the rental today.
This was the BX where Jeff's family bought all their "Wal-Mart" needs.We took countless pics like this one but only Jeff and his Mom "get it"
I must say it was sad seeing all the old empty buildings.
I LOVED OXFORD!!!! It is so beautiful and the people were so much nicer than London! These pics will not do it justice.
Katie Lin, This pic is for you! I saw these legos and had to snap it!
Jeff's high school graduation was held in this building.
Guess who this pic is for???
Ace of Cakes has nothing on these folks!
Cute and Fun Shopping!
Jeff and Karen (see journal below)
Neat street in Oxford
We climbed a bell tower for these great pics!
March 9, 2009 (p.m.)
Where do I begin? Today was incredible! Although not what I would call life-changing, it was very special for me to visit many of the places I spent so much time at during my impressionable junior and senior years at Croughton American High School.
Our train ride to Oxford was relatively uneventful, but renting a car with the steering wheel on the opposite side of the vehicle, the gear shifter in my left hand, and the driving on the “wrong” side of the rode all day was quite exhilarating, although I’m not sure that’s the word Sonya would use. Since I left England in 1985 they have built many new interstate-type highways which allow motorists to travel places much quicker; however, in my opinion it takes away from much of the charm of the English countryside, so I spent a lot of time on the back roads and country lanes of the small villages of Oxfordshire (thanks to the help of my handy-dandy Garmin GPS).
The biggest thing Sonya had to get used to was the numerous round-abouts on British roadways. They certainly don’t believe in the traditional exits/overpasses that we’re so used to and know for a fact are much more efficient and safer. They’ll sometimes have three or four round-abouts within a mile, all with two or three exits each. Talk about confusion and mayhem (at least in Sonya’s mind)... To me, it was great fun!
As we approached RAF Croughton, the USAF base where I lived from 1983-1985, I got frustrated with the little voice from my GPS trying to keep me on the busy four-lane highway, so I turned her off and veered off on a little countryside rode that I remembered ran along the backside of the base. My, how things had changed! The old concrete barriers that we used to jump over to visit the local village had been replaced with high chain linked fences laced with barbed wire at the top. There would be no sneaking on/off base this time, especially since I didn’t want to spend any time in prison while in
England.
I drove around to the front of the base, parked my car, walked up to the guard (a young American G.I.) and explained my sob story to him, hoping he would allow me to visit for a while and drive Sonya around the base so she could see where I lived, where I went to school, where I played basketball, etc. He was very sympathetic and I could tell he wanted to help me out. He even asked me if I knew anyone who lived on the base at the time that could vouch for me, but of course I don’t. That was a long time ago. He explained that he couldn’t allow me on base. I was disappointed of course, but proud of another American soldier doing his job well.
After taking several pictures from the outside-looking-in, I took Sonya on a short tour of three villages where the Hodge family spent a lot of time years ago: Brackley, Banbury and Croughton. It’s funny, I didn’t remember a lot of the details of any of those places, but I would recognize a lot of things as I saw them. In other words, I had several of those “I think I dreamed this” moments, but in fact I actually lived them during a time that just seems like a dream now.
The highlight of the day for me was eating lunch at the Blackbird Inn and Pub in the village of Croughton. I invested many, many hours of time and much money at the Blackbird as a teenager. Don’t worry! It’s not as bad as it sounds. There’s something very special about hanging out with the locals at the neighborhood pub and celebrating life, although if I knew then the things I know now, I’d have spent more time investing in their lives instead of just celebrating together.
While at the Blackbird we got to know one of the new owners. Vera and her husband purchased the establishment in 1987, two years after I left the country. She remembered the previous owners, John and Doreen Vickers, very well. Man, I miss that couple. Although I thought it a bit strange when at my 18th birthday celebration at the pub, Doreen (probably 50’ish at the time) pinch my bum and said, “I love your leathers” (referring to my newly purchased tight black leather pants). Man, how I’m glad some things have changed!
We enjoyed a hamburger steak (Jeff) and fried haddock (Sonya), took a few pictures of the place, spent some time reminiscing with an elderly bloke who was enjoying a lunch-time pint, talked to a USAF sergeant and his wife who have been stationed at RAF Croughton for the past two-and-a-half years, and then hit the road to Upper Heyford.
Our visit to RAF Upper Heyford was eerie to say the least. Once the home of a USAF Strategic Tactical Fighter Wing for F-111 fighter jets which was supported by thousands of soldiers, it had been abandoned by the U.S. military years ago (early 90’s?) and left as a ghost town. Many of the houses are now rented by the locals and the small convenience store I used to visit was still open, but most of the buildings were empty, boarded up and behind fences. The flight line, including the entire runway, is now home to thousands of salvaged cars. I’m not sure why. I guess that had to do something with all that space, right?
We left Upper Heyford, eager to return the rental car and take a much more leisurely-paced pedestrian tour of Oxford. We were not disappointed. It was good to see Oxford Town Hall which hosted my HS graduation and the Randolph Hotel which (I think) was where I attended my junior and senior proms, but the thing I appreciate the most about this city that I didn’t care about as much as I should have as a you man is the impact that all the scholars of the many colleges of Oxford University have made throughout history. This place was established in 1249! That’s a long time ago and a lot of alumni! Both Auburn and Alabama have a lot of catching up to do!
Sonya absolutely loved Oxford. I could tell that it was her favorite place to visit on our trip so far. The old buildings are amazing! Churches, colleges, dormitories and monuments are everywhere, many of which have been standing since the university was first established. There were also many amazing shops and a covered market like you’ll never see anywhere else. We tried to capture how special this place is in photographs, but there’s nothing like walking the hallowed grounds of the most famous university in the world. I highly recommend it.
We made it back to the train station just as it began to rain – a daily occurrence in this part of England – and headed back to London, a little less than an hour away. We decided to order dinner in the room tonight and relax a bit before our final full day in London tomorrow.
And now my favorite part of the daily journal, misc. notes about today:
· Smoking is now against the law in Great Britain, at least inside public buildings (i.e. restaurants, shops, train stations, etc.); however, it seems that most brits smoke. Or maybe it’s because all the smokers have been moved outside to the public sidewalks and streets.
· There aren’t many trash cans in public areas, but you don’t see a lot of litter either. I’m not sure if the Brits are stuffing all the trash in their pockets and taking it home with them or if the government officials are just trying to keep a lot of “trash pickers” employed.
· We visited a small coffee and tea shop today called, Whittard’s, on high street in Oxford. Jessie Tuggle, the daughter-in-law of Tim Tuggle, one of my co-workers, used to work their while Tim’s son, Brad, attended Trinity College as part of his Rhode’s Scholarship. We met a very nice lady named, Karen, who used to work with Jessie. Small world, huh?
· Oh yeah, Sonya asked Karen if she knew where should could find a Louie bag (as in LV purse), but Karen thought Sonya said “Loo” and proceeded to tell her where the closest toilet was. Now, that’s funny, I don’t care who you are!
It’s driving Sonya crazy that I’m typing so much. She’s is ready to post pictures. I know it’s hard to believe that she journaled our day photographically, but it’s her turn down… Until tomorrow…
Where do I begin? Today was incredible! Although not what I would call life-changing, it was very special for me to visit many of the places I spent so much time at during my impressionable junior and senior years at Croughton American High School.
Our train ride to Oxford was relatively uneventful, but renting a car with the steering wheel on the opposite side of the vehicle, the gear shifter in my left hand, and the driving on the “wrong” side of the rode all day was quite exhilarating, although I’m not sure that’s the word Sonya would use. Since I left England in 1985 they have built many new interstate-type highways which allow motorists to travel places much quicker; however, in my opinion it takes away from much of the charm of the English countryside, so I spent a lot of time on the back roads and country lanes of the small villages of Oxfordshire (thanks to the help of my handy-dandy Garmin GPS).
The biggest thing Sonya had to get used to was the numerous round-abouts on British roadways. They certainly don’t believe in the traditional exits/overpasses that we’re so used to and know for a fact are much more efficient and safer. They’ll sometimes have three or four round-abouts within a mile, all with two or three exits each. Talk about confusion and mayhem (at least in Sonya’s mind)... To me, it was great fun!
As we approached RAF Croughton, the USAF base where I lived from 1983-1985, I got frustrated with the little voice from my GPS trying to keep me on the busy four-lane highway, so I turned her off and veered off on a little countryside rode that I remembered ran along the backside of the base. My, how things had changed! The old concrete barriers that we used to jump over to visit the local village had been replaced with high chain linked fences laced with barbed wire at the top. There would be no sneaking on/off base this time, especially since I didn’t want to spend any time in prison while in
England.
I drove around to the front of the base, parked my car, walked up to the guard (a young American G.I.) and explained my sob story to him, hoping he would allow me to visit for a while and drive Sonya around the base so she could see where I lived, where I went to school, where I played basketball, etc. He was very sympathetic and I could tell he wanted to help me out. He even asked me if I knew anyone who lived on the base at the time that could vouch for me, but of course I don’t. That was a long time ago. He explained that he couldn’t allow me on base. I was disappointed of course, but proud of another American soldier doing his job well.
After taking several pictures from the outside-looking-in, I took Sonya on a short tour of three villages where the Hodge family spent a lot of time years ago: Brackley, Banbury and Croughton. It’s funny, I didn’t remember a lot of the details of any of those places, but I would recognize a lot of things as I saw them. In other words, I had several of those “I think I dreamed this” moments, but in fact I actually lived them during a time that just seems like a dream now.
The highlight of the day for me was eating lunch at the Blackbird Inn and Pub in the village of Croughton. I invested many, many hours of time and much money at the Blackbird as a teenager. Don’t worry! It’s not as bad as it sounds. There’s something very special about hanging out with the locals at the neighborhood pub and celebrating life, although if I knew then the things I know now, I’d have spent more time investing in their lives instead of just celebrating together.
While at the Blackbird we got to know one of the new owners. Vera and her husband purchased the establishment in 1987, two years after I left the country. She remembered the previous owners, John and Doreen Vickers, very well. Man, I miss that couple. Although I thought it a bit strange when at my 18th birthday celebration at the pub, Doreen (probably 50’ish at the time) pinch my bum and said, “I love your leathers” (referring to my newly purchased tight black leather pants). Man, how I’m glad some things have changed!
We enjoyed a hamburger steak (Jeff) and fried haddock (Sonya), took a few pictures of the place, spent some time reminiscing with an elderly bloke who was enjoying a lunch-time pint, talked to a USAF sergeant and his wife who have been stationed at RAF Croughton for the past two-and-a-half years, and then hit the road to Upper Heyford.
Our visit to RAF Upper Heyford was eerie to say the least. Once the home of a USAF Strategic Tactical Fighter Wing for F-111 fighter jets which was supported by thousands of soldiers, it had been abandoned by the U.S. military years ago (early 90’s?) and left as a ghost town. Many of the houses are now rented by the locals and the small convenience store I used to visit was still open, but most of the buildings were empty, boarded up and behind fences. The flight line, including the entire runway, is now home to thousands of salvaged cars. I’m not sure why. I guess that had to do something with all that space, right?
We left Upper Heyford, eager to return the rental car and take a much more leisurely-paced pedestrian tour of Oxford. We were not disappointed. It was good to see Oxford Town Hall which hosted my HS graduation and the Randolph Hotel which (I think) was where I attended my junior and senior proms, but the thing I appreciate the most about this city that I didn’t care about as much as I should have as a you man is the impact that all the scholars of the many colleges of Oxford University have made throughout history. This place was established in 1249! That’s a long time ago and a lot of alumni! Both Auburn and Alabama have a lot of catching up to do!
Sonya absolutely loved Oxford. I could tell that it was her favorite place to visit on our trip so far. The old buildings are amazing! Churches, colleges, dormitories and monuments are everywhere, many of which have been standing since the university was first established. There were also many amazing shops and a covered market like you’ll never see anywhere else. We tried to capture how special this place is in photographs, but there’s nothing like walking the hallowed grounds of the most famous university in the world. I highly recommend it.
We made it back to the train station just as it began to rain – a daily occurrence in this part of England – and headed back to London, a little less than an hour away. We decided to order dinner in the room tonight and relax a bit before our final full day in London tomorrow.
And now my favorite part of the daily journal, misc. notes about today:
· Smoking is now against the law in Great Britain, at least inside public buildings (i.e. restaurants, shops, train stations, etc.); however, it seems that most brits smoke. Or maybe it’s because all the smokers have been moved outside to the public sidewalks and streets.
· There aren’t many trash cans in public areas, but you don’t see a lot of litter either. I’m not sure if the Brits are stuffing all the trash in their pockets and taking it home with them or if the government officials are just trying to keep a lot of “trash pickers” employed.
· We visited a small coffee and tea shop today called, Whittard’s, on high street in Oxford. Jessie Tuggle, the daughter-in-law of Tim Tuggle, one of my co-workers, used to work their while Tim’s son, Brad, attended Trinity College as part of his Rhode’s Scholarship. We met a very nice lady named, Karen, who used to work with Jessie. Small world, huh?
· Oh yeah, Sonya asked Karen if she knew where should could find a Louie bag (as in LV purse), but Karen thought Sonya said “Loo” and proceeded to tell her where the closest toilet was. Now, that’s funny, I don’t care who you are!
It’s driving Sonya crazy that I’m typing so much. She’s is ready to post pictures. I know it’s hard to believe that she journaled our day photographically, but it’s her turn down… Until tomorrow…
No comments:
Post a Comment