Vacation Blog Day 5

I'm home!! I will try to gradually catch up.

Wednesday, August 04, 2010
There was slight deliberation about today’s activities, but Bob took charge with great insight and we headed south. Having called my friend the day before when we were in cell phone range to get directions, we found RAF Menwith Hill and filled up with gas there. (Yes, it was worth the drive to get gas at 78 cents per litre as opposed to 1.16GBP per litre – about $1.60.) As it just happened to be lunch time when we finished filling the tank, we went on over to Burger King to fill our bellies. It was with a slight twinge of jealousy that we noticed their gas pumps are electric, and their Burger King has air conditioning (ours doesn’t even have heat!). I guess when your base is so small it doesn’t even show up on the maps you have to find something to spend your money on.

Once we finally got the children to stop eating, we headed over toward York. Having tried to drive into town once before, we thought this time we’d take the park and ride. Good choice. Mom and Dad, I apologize for trying to go cheap and brave; if we’d done P&R we would have had more time in town and wouldn’t have had to run out so quickly. We got off the bus at the first stop – the National Railway Museum. We arrived about 1pm, and before we were done looking around there was an announcement about it closing in 15 minutes – 6pm! It is a massive couple of buildings, with bunches of trains (guessing near a hundred), and a few other surprising pieces, such as the 1934 Chrysler Airflow. We let the children each pick out something from the gift shop (which was also quite nice and roomy, with a good selection). I highly recommend the NRM to anybody in the York area. It was free admission, but would well be worth the suggested donation of 3 GBP each.

We weren’t completely exhausted, so walked on to the downtown area. I wanted to go down the Shambles, and told Bob anything after that didn’t matter. It was a nice street, and I’m glad we went. At the top of the street I saw an information plaque on the side of a building, and it said that John and Charles Wesley used to hold meetings in that building – the beginning of the Methodist Church. We were beginning to be concerned about making the bus back to our bus, so hoofed it on over to the bus stop (clearly marked on both the map they provided and on the bus stop sign on the street), pausing just long enough to get some McDonald’s to go. My sweat is beginning to smell like McDonald’s French fries.

Back at the parking lot, we visited a playground for our dinner and a romp. They had a giant climbing rock that was a great favorite of all the children. I also used the cell phone signal to call our next cottage and make arrangements to get the key, as recommended by the booking agency. This was really unnecessary, as they simply said they live on site and will be there when we need them. He was friendly and offered to meet us in town or whatever was needed to help us find the place.