CHAPTER 13: LONDON, ENGLAND
Thursday, October 7

There was a big train wreck in London on Tuesday morning that killed a bunch of people. We don't use that train station, so we weren't directly affected. However, there have been several train wrecks on that particular stretch of track over the past few years and the government has been really slow to identify and fix the problems. A big wreck in the same place two years ago killed six or seven people and they are just now (two years later) getting the inquiry started. We haven't had much problem with the trains, but we (like everybody else here) are certainly getting a bit nervous about using them now.

Fall is definitely here. September was the warmest September in fifty years, but the weather patterns are now reverting back to their norm. Highs are in the low 50's, lows in the 30's, and we're seeing quite a bit of rain.

Tuesday, however, was a beautiful day, clear but chilly. We decided to take a road trip out to Stonehenge and test out the Range Rover. Stonehenge was something else. It's cordoned off these days so the general hoi polloi (us) can't just walk up to it. Previous tourists had a bad habit of chipping off souvenirs and leaving graffiti. The British Heritage, which runs the site, provides a little recorder that gives you a guided tour and explains the history and significance of it. Very well done. It is strange to stand in a place that has been a magnet for humanity for over 5,000 years. You can see dozens of ancient burial mounds on the hills around Stonehenge (there are over 300 in the area) and traces of ancient roads, one of which is clearly a processional way leading directly to the stones. Modern life has encroached upon the site: there are two major highways running by it, one of them not fifteen feet from one of the stones. The government is working on plans to either move the road or bury it in a tunnel in order to return the site as much as possible to original. That would be a very good thing. All in all, Stonehenge is an eerie and impressive site.

While researching my family history last year, I discovered that some of my ancestors came from a village about twenty miles from Stonehenge, so we went there to see what it looks like. East Knoyle turned out to be a beautiful place. It is made up largely of small, old, gray stone houses, many of which looked old enough to have been there when my ancestors left. Many of them apparently had been bought for use as country houses by some wealthy Londoners, since they were fixed up well and some rather expensive cars were parked in the vicinity. We found the farm where my ancestors lived 350 years ago and met the current owners. They were a very charming elderly couple who had lived there 40 years. We spent about an hour visiting with them and talking about all sorts of things. A most enjoyable day.

Getting the Rover in shape is my current job. It's about as big, heavy, solid, and aerodynamic as a bank vault. It ran pretty well during our road trip but there is room for improvement. It sounds like a 15-year-old Camaro with a sticking lifter: thuda thuda thuda (tick) thuda thuda thuda (tick) thuda thuda .... V8's sound like V8's, I don't care what country makes them. It sucks gas, too, no surprise. I'm busily putting in new plugs, wires, filters, oil, wiper blades, coat of wax (all cars run better when they're freshly waxed, don't they?), and so on. I've got to take it to the dealer on Monday for a few things that I just don't want to touch. The dealer charges $98 an hour (ow ow ow ow !!!) so I'm not going have them do anything I can do ... or at least anything I think I can do (which is usually something quite different).

While I was working on the Rover, Janis took her first solo trip into London. She was a bit nervous about negotiating the maze of subways and trains into and out of the city, but she managed, and came trotting home with several bags of treasures from a variety of different stores. She feels like she can do anything now.

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