Had a fantastic time in Oxford and Scotland during the summer where we had cream tea, fresh country air, and excellent scottish whisky.
Christchurch College Dining Hall
Stratford-Upon-Avon
William Shakespeare's House
Blenheim Castle
Sir Winston Churchill grew up here at Blenheim Castle that the original owners built but never got to enjoy because of the expense.
Bath
Edinburgh
In Scotland, the weather was cool and at times rainy. One morning, we got up early to tour Edinburgh Castle and came across a procession where the Scottish Crown was being transported down to the New Scottish Parliament opening ceremony where the Queen was going to be. There were the Queen's guards with the Bear hats and we even got to see the Queen! (She is in the pink hat).
We arrive at the Columbia Icefield and as you can see from this photo from the Visitors Centre (Proper English spelling here since we are talking about Canada), the Athabasca Glacier is huge as it leads up to the icecap.
To get there, you board these Ice Explorers that take you on the glacier.
We are near the top of the glacier. Up the slope is the icefield.
The Icefield Cap
Here I am getting ready to climb to the top of the Colombia Icefield
At the end of the lake is a frozen waterfall where after months of freezing weather, the ice has squeezed all the oxygen out to give "blue ice". It is a big climb, as you can see from the photo, but I head up...
I went to a base ball game last Friday with my friend from work Steven at Midland's new baseball statium the Dow Diamond. The game was between the Midland based Great Lakes Loons and the Peoria Chiefs (Steve's home town).
This Lou E. Loon, the team mascot, coming up the stairs entertaining the crowd, and then me with a foot long hot dog! (A Loon is an acquatic bird that is found around the Great Lakes)
Loons are batting here.
The real reason Steve wanted to come to this game, actually, was to get an autograph of Hall of Famer 2005 Ryne Sandberg. He played for the Cub's when Steve was growing up and retired in 1997.
Over the Easter weekend, we decided to get out of town and went to Chicago. This time we decided to stay in the "burbs". On I went to Hotwire.com and found a hotel that had a decent price and waited to see what I got. Well it turned out to be Hyatt - The Lodge at McDonald's Corporte HQ...McDonald's??? Yes...McDonald's is headquarted in Chicago, IL which I had never realized before.
Well, the grounds turn out to be very nice and relaxing as you can see from the photos. The hotel was also very nice as can be expected from Hyatt.
