Friday 2009-06-12
Our first walking day in England was quite successful, I might say. I am pretty sure that we walked over 20 miles today because it took us forever to find a place to camp out. We first stopped at a pub to eat some dinner at a place called the Black Dog. We met a few people that were entertaining while we ate our meal. I didn’t catch their names though, but they were pretty funny.
While we were walking through the beautiful hillsides of England, we saw a house with a big flat field in the back. When we went up to the house, we noticed it was a bed and breakfast. But that didn’t stop us. We met the owner of the house, Sally, and kindly asked if we could camp in her field. But she said that we could stay in her garden, which was even better than the field! We got to meet her son, Michael, and her dog, Holly (who was a very energetic dog, haha). She let us use her toilet and gave us tea! We seem to be taken care of by bed and breakfasts! I was amazed! Sally is a very nice lady. And it’s ironic because her daughter is gone just for a day doing a hike for a charity. How funny…
So today was overall a good day. I couldn’t be more pleased with how well Stacey did and we are now on our way to Birmingham!
Saturday 2009-06-13
I got ten hours of sleep last night in Sally’s garden…yes…She fed us a HUGE breakfast that was wonderful. We had fruit, cereal, bacon, sausage, egg, tomato, and mushrooms. Wow…She was so caring and encouraging. Thank you Sally!!!
We walked under some skydivers today. It was pretty cool.
So it was 8:30 P.M. when we decided to stop for dinner. An hour before we stopped I asked a random farmer where a place to eat was. He said that about two miles up on the right is a pub called “The Castle Inn.” So we gave it a shot. Once we got there we sat down and ate dinner in the corner of the restaurant. A few people came up and talked to us while we were eating while a few gave some funny looks from a distance. The wait staff was incredibly nice though. But one of the men that spoke with us asked where we were going to sleep. We said that we were going to try and convince the military men at the base at Ternhill a few miles up to let us stay with him. He said there is no chance we could do that. So he gave the suggestion that we just set up our tent on the front lawn of the pub. I originally didn’t want to because I thought I would never be able to get to sleep since there were people hanging out on the lawn. But I for some reason kept my mouth shut. The waitress came back to us and told us that the owner of the pub said it was okay for us to camp out on the front lawn. But then a few minutes later as we were getting ready to pay, the waitress came back and said, “I have another option for you. Our bed and breakfast was all full tonight but one couple didn’t show up. So you can either stay on the lawn or you can stay in our room for the night. And it’s on the house.” Our mouths dropped!!! We were in awe! I didn’t even try to ask for a place this time. They just gave it to us! God keeps proving to me that he will continually take care of us and that he is always with us. I can feel now that he walks right beside us, not waits for us at the end of the day. What a relational God! So we got an incredible shower and a comfortable bed for the night. The wait staff that helped us, Heather, Rachel, Dave, and Rob was so incredible! Bless you guys!
Sunday 2009-06-14
Today was another good day. Over 20 miles again. We are rockin’ it. It looks like we are going to make it into Birmingham a day ahead of schedule! So not much happened during the day. All the action seems to go down at nighttime around here. So we got to the town of Cosford and started to look for a place to stay. The fields were once again all wheat fields, so there were no flat areas. But then we came up to this very nice home with a big yard and though, “why not?” So we walked up to the house and noticed a guy in his courtyard and pleaded to stay on his grass. He was completely fine with it! I love it! Everyone that we have asked to stay either with them or on their lawn, they have said yes! His name is Tony Price and he is a very interesting guy. For about an hour before we went to sleep, he showed us around his house because his land has quite a bit of history. His next door neighbor’s house was a hospital in WW2 while his house was a prison for German POW’s. He has bricks in his barn that have the names of some of the prisoners on it. In his courtyard, there is a well that has a secret tunnel that leads about a mile away to a random field that was used to help priests escape during the English Civil War. You can also see on the side of his house where a Spitfire plane crashed into it during the war. He even has some cannonballs that were used on his home during the Civil War. I was so amazed! There is so much history here on his land! He even told me that you can see that outline of a Roman Road that went right through his field. That’s 2000 years ago!!! I couldn’t believe it. That’s what I love about this place. They preserve the history of their country here. So that was a good bedtime story before I went to bed. Good night!
Monday 2009-06-15
We got up a little extra early today because Tony had to feed the horses who were right next to us. Stacey got up and helped feed the horses while Tony and I talked more about English history. We didn’t leave for two hours! They fed us breakfast and we just couldn’t stop talking about history and politics. It was a lot of fun.
We got into Wolverhampton, a city outside of Birmingham, and stopped to have lunch in a public park. Well there just happened to be a massive public kiddy pool in the middle of the park. So what did I do? I jumped in and bathed!!! It was so refreshing.
We made it to the city centre of Birmingham by 7:00 P.M.! We officially made it from Liverpool to Birmingham in four days. That is over 90 miles in four days. That is amazing. We are taking two days off now and luckily we have a place to stay here. My friend from DCC, Thomas Loftus, just happens to be a missionary here! What a small world! So he is going to let us stay in the house that he is staying in. It’s very nice. The owner is a member of the church that he is the youth leader of. His name is Steven and he is very nice. His house has three stories and my room is a tiny 7x12 foot room in the attic with a skylight that opens. So at night I slept with it open and the night breeze filled the room and made the temperature perfect. I slept like a baby. Ah….two days off now.
Tuesday 2009-06-16
Today was a chilled day. We got up when we got up and went with Thomas to his church which is in a community center. It’s a beautiful building in a beautiful park. We got to meet a lot of people and the pastoral staff, including a woman named Alysen Merrill. The funny thing about this woman is that she went to college with Daren! I called Daren to tell him that I am with her and he just about flipped out! What an even smaller world! I love how I run into people on the other side of the world like this!
After that we just chilled at the house, at some food at a local diner, and played Scattergories with one of Thomas’ youth group kids named Andre. He is a riot. I love the youth here; very lively and kind. Not much else happened after that. Tomorrow we get to go into the city centre tomorrow and look around. Another long night of sleep! Woohoo!
Wednesday 2009-06-17
So Birmingham City Centre isn’t too bad. I didn’t get any pictures because it was raining all day. So we stayed inside and looked around in their shopping center called the Bull Ring. It was pretty cool, but it’s just like any normal mall in America. But I enjoyed going into the city.
Tonight we had dinner at Alysen’s house with one of her roommates Nikki. It was such a good dinner! Salmon, peas, parsnips, carrots, rice, and gluten free cookies with ice cream! Oh my goodness!!!!!!! It was so delicious. After that we just relaxed in their living room and talked about different things. It was so encouraging to be around them and receive so much blessing from them. They prayed for us and then Nikki said a famous traditional blessing for us, which was beautiful. I got a picture of it so you can see what it is. It is so encouraging and it is specifically for travelers. I was so joyful for the people here doing kingdom work for this country. I can see that this country is growing and slowly turning back to God. Ever since the 1960’s they have not been named a “Christian” nation. But because of the passion and zeal in the people here, I can see how that is slowly changing. So that is encouraging.
These two days off were very relaxing and much needed. I think we are ready for another three days of walking to Oxford. Alysen found us a friend that she knows who lives there! So we’re set! Woohoo! Time for bed though. Good night! See you in Oxford!
