UK Update for 4/11/2006 So it took a couple of months to post my final update – so sue me! Our last 2 weeks in England were fun and busy. Wednesday 4/5 we went to view an apartment possibility for future visits. It is located at a stud farm and was in a peaceful setting but was rather small and located off a very busy road which wasn't too inviting for bike riding. Thursday 4/6 Robin started working 1st shift. We went for a ride in the afternoon and had dinner at a famous rib place called Blubeckers. Robin liked the fast service (more “american”) but had “rib nightmares” that night. Friday 4/7 I had a good training run and stopped in at a local antique shop looking for some gifts to bring home with us. Saturday 4/8 Robin had to work so I got lots of input done for the aquarium – a weekend workday for both of us. When Robin got home in the afternoon we went for nice ride in the country where we passed a field full of sheep giving birth. The rancher was zooming around the field on an ATV marking the lambs as they emerged – so cute! Saturday-Sunday 4/8-9 We drove to Dover to meet up with our tour group for Paris-Roubaix. The ferry was to sail at about 2am and we were picturing a setup like our local ferries. We thought we'd transfer to the tour bus in Dover (which we did) and be able to snooze all we liked across the channel and across land in France to the race start in Compiegne. No – we had to disembark from the bus and go up the passenger decks on the ENORMOUS ferry which was packed with French teenagers apparently returning home from a day in England. It was loud and crowded! Once we reached Calais we got back on the bus and drove off towards Compiegne – with absolutely NO passport control! We snoozed off and on until we reached our breakfast stop then the day of racing began. We started off at the start town of Compiegne – outside of Paris – and got to see all of the team buses, support vehicles, publicity vehicles, and officials arriving at the start. Before the race actually began we boarded the tour bus and were off on the chase. We made 4 different stops along the route to catch the action at some of the most famous pave sections. It was a full day of running from the bus to the race route and back again to zoom off to the next section. There were actually 3 races running simultaneously – the actual professional bike racers, the support vehicles following them, and race spectators like ourselves trying to get viewings at multiple spots – it was fun and crazy! There was a huge party atmosphere at every stop with fans and families lining the route to cheer on and watch the racers. At the Forest of Arenberg we walked down the road looking for a good viewing spot when Robin and I were both grabbed by a group of festive Frenchies who gave us both a good double cheek kiss and stole Robin's cap for a while. It was all in good fun and they even cheered us for being American. At our second-to-last stop the crowd was pushing up against the side of the narrow, cobbled, center-crowned road. As the leading cars and publicity caravan went through they were forced to straddle the crown in the road and many of them scraped bottom which caused the crowd to cheer! It was amazing to watch the riders go by SO fast and just getting pummelled by the cobblestones and the crowd right up on top of them. What a sport! We finished up at the Velodrome in Roubaix where we watched the finale on the big screen and saw a little bit of the live action over the heads of other spectators. It was an exciting but disappointing race as our man, George Hincapie, crashed out. 2 Discovery channel guys finished at the top but were later disqualified for crossing a railroad crossing after the traffic arms had come down for a passing train. We made it back to the ferry and ended up driving home to Aldershot in a huge snowstorm! We were really lucky to have great weather for watching the race. It was a good way to see it for our first time but was a little hectic with all the driving, ferries, buses, running around the race, and lack of sleep. Monday 4/10 Robin had to get up early after 2 long nights and back to work for a VERY LONG day. Tuesday 4/11 was rainy and I talked to my sister Mary to find out there would be a huge spider under a glass waiting for us in our kitchen sink when we got home! She is SO brave! I was just hoping not to arrive home and find the glass flung across the room with no sign of the spider! The rest of the week was spent working and trying to get packed and organized for the trip home. After a 3-1/2 hour delay before takeoff we had an uneventful flight home and were oh-so-happy to walk in our door at the end of the day. Robin did manage to break his video screen and so scammed on an upgrade to Business Class while I was stuck in Economy but I had very charming seat-mates and the flight when relatively quickly. Now for Amy's Soapbox Section: The topics for this round are 1) Walmart and 2) Global Warming 1)Please DO NOT SPEND YOUR MONEY AT WALMART! This is a BAD company. If you didn't read the article in the Seattle P-I on April 6 here is a link: http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/265621_portsecurity06.html?source=mypi 2)The March 26 issue of Time Magazine had a very eye-opening look at Global Warming. I have a copy of it for anyone that would like to borrow it. For all of you with kids – these are issues that will impact the future of our world and society – make conscious decisions about the legacy you want to leave! Okay, back off the soapbox. Now we're back home it is amazing how busy the days are. I'm continuing with my Ironman training and trying to make time for family and friends along with getting some house projects done. Robin is back in England again for a few weeks while I am minding the castle. Thanks for reading all these weeks. It has been fun chronicling our adventures. Let us know when you might want to come visit us during one of our UK assignments. Ciao for now!