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England: York

Thursday, June 18th, 2009

The day began with some sweet hanging out of the laundry and hoping it was dry by the end of the day. I REALLY enjoy line drying our laundry and will be a happy girl when we get our own clothesline (after the yard project is complete).
Here is what our stuff looked like in England:

Out to dry

Maddy made delicious porridge for breakfast. Good job Maddy!

Then we went back to our favorite train stop at Woodlesford and caught the train to York! This was maybe my favorite day of the whole trip! Grandpa decided he’d rather stay back and finish a book he’d started the day before so it was a bit sad that he ditched us, but otherwise it was most enjoyable.

We arrived to York and walked along the old city walls. Jonathan was able to use the gorillapod to set up a sweet shot of all of us:

We went to York minster and decided we’d like to climb to the top! It’s not everyday you’re able to climb to the top of a cathedral! Regrettably, the line was long so we bought our tickets and then headed out to explore a bit more. We visited shops and looked around, the men went to a shop that really only sold meat and then we all took tea at Betty’s tea shop.

After we were filled to the gills with tea and food, we went to the Jorvich Viking Centre and learned of the Viking history of York! It was very interesting and a little creepy and maybe smelled a bit dodgy, but it was great! After the Vikings, we climbed the tower (which was really two towers) to the top of Yorkminster.

Mom and Dad-almost half way!

The view from the top was beautiful

After getting over the fact that we climbed hundreds of stairs while confined within a spiral staircase made of stone, we headed to one of the squares for the Historic Pub Tour of York (can you tell who picked which activities for the day? Mom and Kelly and Rachel=tea, Mom and Dad=climb the tower, Dad Dad Dad=pub tour). Oddly enough, the pub tour was very enjoyable, though I did ask for a coca-cola classic rather than ale. Because who wants ale when you can have a delicious coke? Not me.
It was just our family on the tour, which made it very nice and a little bit hilarious.

First stop on the pub tour-The Lion and the Lamb

The Lion and The Lamb was our first stop and the pub in closest proximity to Yorkminster. The church ran the pubs at one time, which must have made its location convenient!

It was very nice to sit and rest after all that walking:

And Dad and Jonathan enjoyed some bonding time:

Thankfully, the glasses of ale were small so everyone had their sample without incident (Big E and I skipped out on this one)

More pub tour photos:

After our historic pub tour it was time for dinner and since Grandpa wasn’t with us, we had Italian! It was delicious.
We were able to catch a glimpse of the sunset as we headed back to the train station for our train to Leeds.

Sunset in York

J&K with York sunset

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England: Leeds and Kirkstall Abbey followed by dinner with Rachel’s friends

Wednesday, June 17th, 2009

We awoke to a beautiful day in Oulton (the village outside of Leeds in which we stayed) and I enjoyed trying to keep up with Bara on a short run in the morning. Then Rachel, Jonathan and I went to the nearby Cottage Bakery to pick up some delicious bread for breakfast:

Inside the Cottage Bakery, photo by Jonathan

One of the funniest things about the bakery is that everything had a label, just not what you could expect, and the labels were not readable from the distance at which we were standing. We just asked for a loaf of bread, yeah that one with the hatch marks on the top and some delicious ham to make this for breakfast:

Photo by Jonathan

Then we decided to head into town. One of the difficulties in traveling and staying in a place where one has only been taken by car is that the public transport is maybe not like a big city. In fact, it is more like Seattle in its frequency. So we waited for the bus we thought would take us into town, but the bus never did seem to show up. Dad bravely ran up to another bus and asked the driver which route we needed and where it stopped so we moved across the street and around the corner. After awhile of waiting, Rachel was able to send a text message and receive info from the transit authority that the next bus would not be for another thirty minutes. At this point, Grandpa decided he’d rather hang out in the garden for the day and the rest of us hoofed it to the train station.

Photo by Jonathan

The train station was called Woodlesford! It was really fun to say! We were on our way to Leeds for some fun in town! Once we arrived in Leeds, we headed to get some lunch (and a new mobile for Rachel as hers was busted). After lunch, we took the number 33a bus out to Kirkstall Abbey and toured the grounds a bit. It was kind of rainy and chilly by this point, so we didn’t stay long. We arrived back to Bara’s and had an adventure at the grocery store followed by dinner with Rachel’s Uni friends so we could all meet them and hang out. It was a delight! In addition to the beautiful house, there is a newer barn in the garden and we were able to dine outside for the evening:

Fiona, Tim, Rachel, Maddie and Terry just before we dive into dinner

Grandpa, Erik, Bara and Dad before dinner (Jim joined us later)

The food was delicious and the company very enjoyable. It was good to meet Rachel’s friends and know that she’s in good company while she’s away from us!

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England: Chester to Leeds

Monday, June 15th, 2009

We arose Tuesday morning to fairly sunny skies and had a rather unfortunate breakfast at Wetherspoon’s (hey, it was the closest restaurant to our hotel). Following breakfast, we packed up and checked out of the hotel. We met Rachel at Euston Station and checked out the offerings at the shops in and around the station before boarding our train to Leeds.

One of my favorite things about newsstands in the U.K. is the offering of a free item with your magazine. Mom picked nail polish!

I got a really cute Cath Kidston bag which now houses my pens and pencils and assorted relevant Bible study materials.

Here are the McPhersons on the train from London to Chester:

We had a transfer in Chester and enough time that we were able to get out (meet Tim!), stretch our legs and walk around a bit. Chester is a beautiful little city, surrounded by Roman walls. The Eastgate Clock in Chester is the second most photographed clock in the world (after Big Ben, which is really the bell, not the clock but I can’t remember the name of the clock in the tower in which Big Ben is housed). I digress, here are Mom, Dad, Grandpa and Erik with the Eastgate Clock in all it’s Chester beauty:

We walked around a bit and took in the sights of Chester. Saw the cathedral, had tea at Hattie’s tea shop, walked along the walls and visited Chester’s oldest pub (or one of them).

tea at Hattie's

outside the Chester cathedral

Ready for pints at Chester's oldest pub

Cheers!

We then boarded the train to Leeds and met Jim and Bara who were kind enough to drive us to Bara’s house where we stayed for the next four nights.

Posted in England, family, fun, marriage, travel | 5 Responses »

England: London Part One

Friday, June 12th, 2009

Okay, here’s the follow up to Eskepherson Family Funtimes 2009 England!

Monday morning we awoke and took the tube to Bethnal Green to meet Rachel, who was staying with some friends in that area. The cafe her friends recommended for breakfast was closed for the bank holiday, but we did see a sign that said “Cafe Open” so we went to Cafe Open, which was really called something else and run by a delightful Turkish couple. We had delicious coffee (not Nescafe!) and our first taste of traditional English breakfast.

Mom and Dad and Grandpa with their breakfast plates (please notice the beans, black pudding, fried tomatoes and the bubble and squeak-mashed potatoes, peas, carrot and cabbage all mixed together then fried up):

Jonathan won the prize for most beans consumed at breakfast (please also note Erik and Rachel in the background enjoying their breakfast):

Then we headed to Piccadilly Circus to buy our tickets for the hop on hop off bus tour. We were also able to purchase our tickets for the Tower of London from the guide, which saved us one line!

We took the original tour route, which gave us a pretty good idea of our bearings in the city and we were able to see Hyde Park, St. James Park, Piccadilly Circus, Trafalgar Square, Victoria, the London Eye, Houses of Parliament, Marble Arch, Shakespeare’s Globe, the back of Buckingham Palace and hear quite a bit of history. Since it’s hard to take photos from a moving bus, we don’t have much from this. But here are photos of us on the bus!

We hopped off the bus tour at the Tower of London and toured around there a bit. Here are some photos:

(Just as we’re going into the Tower of London. This is one of my favorites from the trip)

Mom and me with Tower Bridge behind us. Mom caught on with British smiling!

Jonathan and a Yeoman right after we saw the crown jewels.

After the Tower of London, we got onto a boat to Greenwich (it was included in our bus tour) and went to the Prime Meridian Line. Erik and Grandpa stayed closer to the pier where they didn’t have to hike up a steep hill and bought some figs and probably picked up girls.

Mom, Dad and Rachel at the Royal Observatory at the Prime Meridian Line.

Then we hopped the boat back toward Westminster Pier.

Mom had tea on The Thames.

Then everyone took naps. I’d forgotten we saw so much stuff our first day. No wonder we all wanted to nap!

Grandpa yawning, Mom and Rachel resting. Hilarious.

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Jolly Old England

Tuesday, June 9th, 2009

About fourteen months ago, Rachel decided for sure that she would be leaving us for a good chunk of time and heading across the Atlantic to persue her graduate studies in English. And since she’s my sister and I miss her and because I like to travel, we planned a little Eskepherson family fun trip to England! YAY! It was a great way to hang with the fam and celebrate my final days in my twenties.

Just to familiarize you with the people you’ll see here:
Jonathan, world’s best husband, married into the family and still likes us.
Kelly, narrator; oldest and shortest child of Ron and Linda Eskesen.
Dad, um, he’s my dad.
Mom, you can guess that one.
Rachel, younger but taller sister (she’s the blonde one).
Erik, younger and also taller brother.
Grandpa, 88 year old traveling man. Father to seven, grandfather to way more and great-grandfather too. He’s up for more adventures and I think we might need to make that happen.

We departed Seatac Saturday May 23rd and arrived to London Heathrow May 24th where Rachel was waiting for us. This is probably going to be several posts of info because I want to write everything up while it’s still in my mind and really, this blog is as much of a journaling exercise as an effort to entertain the tens of readers we have every week.

Here is a photo of me and Mom waiting at the gate before our flight:

and me and Jonathan on the plane before take off:

Dad and Erik discover the “goody bag” on the airplane:

Once we arrived in London, we changed into our matchy t-shirts so everyone would know we were together and we’re Americans. It worked like a charm! Also, the shirts were very nice to change into after a nine hour flight.

We made it to our hotel and found some dinner then basically went straight to bed. Travel can be hard work! Whew. And since I like suspense, I’ll end this post now. You’ll just have to wait to see what we did with our time in Jolly old England.

Posted in family, travel | 4 Responses »

Reunited

Thursday, May 21st, 2009

Remember this gem from last summer?

Eskephersons livin' it up

Well, more good times are soon to be had with this crew. Needless to say, one of us who happens to lean more to the type A side of the spectrum has been busy planning, packing and communicating. No specifics until we can show you photos later, but rest assured I’m ending my 20′s with a bang my friends. More later!

Posted in family, fun, marriage, photo, travel | 1 Response »

Happy Birthday Erik!

Sunday, January 18th, 2009

Little Erik, the youngest of the Ron and Linda Eskesen children, is 22 today! Woohoo!

Erik, we are oh so happy to celebrate your birthday with you and very proud of the man you are and the friend you’ve been to us at all times!

Here are some of my favorite photos of Erik this past year:

DSC_2397 by J. McPherson.
At the Eskesen family reunion in Sequim

DSC_0811 by J. McPherson.
At Papa’s birthday party

U23D as a belated celebration of your birthday last year.

Honoring Jonathan with his own crab measure after his first crabbing lesson!

We love you Bro bro! Can’t wait for the go karts and root beer tonight!

~Jon and Kel

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The Eskesen girls

Sunday, January 4th, 2009

Yesterday the ladies of the Roy and Eileen Eskesen family gathered, well those of us who live in the area, for brunch at The Secret Garden Tea Room in Sumner. It was great fun! I had the Morning Glory brunch tea, which started with scones, then was served the chef’s breakfast (salmon egg bake) and followed with a tower of treats-baby cinnamon rolls, fruit, almond pastry and cranberry bran muffin. My tea selection was Afternoon Garden Party. It was all delightful and oh so wonderful to hang out with my aunts and cousins and just spend time with the girls for a little while.

Here’s a photo of all of us (left to right-Kelly, Staci, aunt Judy, mom, Rachel, Aunt Janice, Megan and in the front Aunt Linda and Brandi):

and this one is a bit blurry, but it’s the best I had of mom, Rache and myself:

Kel, Mom, Rache by you.

Posted in Uncategorized, family, fun | 1 Response »

Home from South Africa.

Wednesday, December 17th, 2008

We said goodbye to our friends at iThemba Lethu on Monday and boarded the jumbo jet that would take us home.

It was a long series of flights and more than 30 nearly sleepless hours of travel. Along the way, we were regaled by a chorus of crying children in the row behind us, and the airline managed to lose ALL THREE pieces of our luggage, IN DIFFERENT PLACES. Now any old airline can lose luggage, but let’s take a moment to recognize South African Air and United for their unique ability to carefully distribute a single group of bags, checked in together, to locations around the world. Bravo!

(As an aside, if you’ve never flown internationally, it’s actually quite nice. You get actual food–meals, not three smashed pretzels and a watered-down ginger ale that ensures an awkward visit to the lavatory–and your own personal entertainment device that allows you to watch any of dozens of movies, or the entire first season of Prison Break, for no extra charge.)

It’s wonderful to be home.

Our house, which sometimes feels small, felt palatial. We have so much.

Our bed is so comfortable. Kelly put flannel sheets on it right before we left, and I have never been so thankful for a horizontal place to sleep.

We are incredibly grateful for our friends and family here. We missed them. And they made us cookies.

And it’s Christmas season, for real. There’s just a smidge of snow on the ground, and the forecast promises more. We went out last night to fight the jetlag and hunt for a Christmas tree, and we had success on both fronts. The McPherson clan flies in on Sunday to join us for a week of Christmas festivities.

Thank you, again, for all of your prayers and support on our trip. We’re really looking forward to celebrating the holidays and sharing stories with everyone. Merry Christmas!

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Happy Birthday Dad!

Wednesday, November 5th, 2008

Today is my dad’s birthday. Happy Birthday! I hope you get to do something fun, like consume a pile of steak! I’m sure glad you’re my father and not some lame-o loser.

And for those of you who haven’t spent much time with my Dad, here are some photos for your enjoyment (and mine):

Dad and I are cacti! by you.