(Widower 24) From Bury St Edmunds to Buyeux.

Back to the train station in Cambridge. Turn in the car and catch train into London. We had to change train stations to get to Portsmouth. That Nancy is a genius. We took a taxi between train stations. We spent the night in Portsmouth and caught a boat to France. This was our hotel in Bayeux. Good food.

The Reine Mathilda. Here is the view out of the window in our room. See the beautiful Bayeux Cathedral. 

I thought this was the most beautiful cathedral. See this blog. Bayeux Cathedral.

Nancy had fallen and broke a rib. She took the day off. What a Spartan! I was signed up for a double tour. In the morning Mount St Michael and then the D-Day beaches in the afternoon. I took some extra steps at the abbey when I got lost from my tour. My steps for the day were 17000. That is over seven miles. Here is a selfie in front of Mount St Michaels.

In the afternoon I saw the D-Day Beaches and the American Cemetery. See the blogs.

D-Day beaches.

The American Cemetery.

We visited a Museum on the Normandy Battle. See Normandy Battle Museum. We also walked through a farmers market that was on a nearby street. See Bayeux Farmers Market.

(Widower 23) Rattlesden.

Here is an aerial view of Rattlesden, Suffolk, England. This is where Thomas Munson, my 8th great grandfather, was born. He was baptized in 1612. He appears in America, New England in 1637 as a soldier in the Pilgrim troops fighting in the Pequot Indian War.

The church can be seen just to the right of the center of the picture. There is a path from the church front door down to a street. Nancy and I parked on that street and visited the church. We then had lunch at the pub. See photos in this blog.  Lunch in Rattlesden.

The father and grandfather of Thomas Munson were born in Rattlesden and are buried in the churchyard. Nothing could be read from the gravestones. This blog has a map and a note about the earlier Munsons. See Earlier Munsons. I have not gone back in time any further, but should. It will give me something to do in my old age.

(Widower 22) Cambridge and Bury St Edmunds.

Nancy and I rode the train to Cambridge from London. Nancy rented a car and drove us to downtown Cambridge, we had lunch, and looked around. A Day in Cambridge. There were many impressive college buildings. We took a boat ride on the River Cam.

We drove to Bury St Edmunds for a two night stay in a nice bed and breakfast. Bury St Edmunds is important in the birth of parliamentary government. The Nobles of England met here the year before they made the King sign the Magna Carta. You remember the old Magna Carta? The Nobles met in a large Abbey which is now in ruins. We had a nice visit to Bury and I took a lot of pictures. They are in these blogs.

Ounce House Hotel.

Bury St Edmunds

Magna Carta Country

These picture may be of interest to you.They bring back many fond memories to me.

Tomorrow Rattlesden!

(Widower 21) Oh Boy! An escorted trip to England and France, Escort Nancy Ann Wright.

Nancy and I had almost a year to plan for and anticipate our trip to Europe. While studying the Munson genealogy I discovered that my 8th great grandfather, Thomas had been baptized in Rattlesden, England in 1612. Also that the baptismal font used for his baptism was still in use! I said that I was going to go get a picture of that font. My daughter Nancy immediately said that she was going with me. She is such an experienced traveler that it turned out that she took me there. She understood the train schedules, etc. She planned a three week sightseeing trip. I will always remember that trip and I am so grateful to Nancy for her loving care and hard work.

I took three trips in 2012. (1) Europe, (2) Grand Final Tour of the West Coast, and (3) Rhonda and Mike wedding in Panama City. It was a big year for trips.

Nancy and I met at the Dallas Airport and snuggled into First Class. Boy was it POSH!

At the London Airport we caught a bus to Bath. Everything I saw was interesting and delightful, The next two pictures are of the Roman Baths. Our nice room was almost across the street from here.

Nancy is ready for a pasty,

Below are shots of tourists at Stonehenge.

Nancy and I caught a train from Bath to London. It was full of Irish soccer fans. From our new room in London we walked across Hyde Park to Harrods. The man below was in the park feeding birds and squirrels out of his hand.

This is a picture of the groceries in Harrods,

We caught a boat down the Thames River to Greenwich.  Very interesting boat ride.

If you look real close you can see that they placed the Base Meridian just a little off. No one has noticed in all these years. I have an eye for such things.

Tomorrow a little more London and then Cambridge.

Mary Alice Harlan. 90th Birthday Party.

I met Mary Alice at the VFW, The Senior Center, and Lady Techster Basketball games. Mary Alice a few years ago was a Lady Techster. Here are a few pictures of her Birthday Party. The party was held Saturday afternoon, July 26, 2014, at the Trinity Baptist Church in Ruston, LA. Happy Birthday Mary Alice.

Chicken Report.

John watching his chickens climb into the coop he built.

John has six chickens. Three Light Brahmas and three Black Australorps.

Light Brahma. Can reach 10 pounds. "The Gentle Giant"  (Stock picture)

The chickens are less than half grown. Brown eggs in a couple of months! In the meantime John and I are enjoying watching them grow. We have given up O'Reilly to watch them climb and fly into the coop every night. It was around 8 pm but they caused great excitement when they got in at 7:25 pm the other night.

(Widower 20) Stop for four days of Bluegrass at Bill Monroe's boyhood home.

On the way to the music festival on Jerusalem Ridge I stopped for a photo of Bill Monroe's grave in Rosine, Kentucky.

This is a blog of the festival pictures. First Day. Second Day.

That is probably enough pictures of bluegrass bands. I really enjoyed the festival. I headed home to Ruston after quite a trip. Genealogist Convention in Springfield, Illinois, take my son Chris's ashes to Arlington National Cemetery,  visit New Haven, Connecticut, Morristown, New Jersey, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Shanksville, Pennsylvania, Georgetown, Kentucky, and Rosine, Kentucky. I did see a lot of cemeteries and headstones. I drove back and forth over a part of Kentucky that held my ancestors for over a hundred years. I really feel a part of their history after seeing where they lived for so long.

      

Are you ready for the trips of 2012? Year 2012 is my last big trip year. (England and France, Tour of the West Coast, and a wedding in Panama City.) TheYear 2013 was devoted to brain surgery. Year 2014 was just three almost overnight trips. But Year 2015 has a trip to the Northwest. scheduled. That will be three years since the last long trip. I probably will not drive all the way.