Aaron and Peyee in England (more on that in a bit); my sister Beth and our 159th friends in Raleigh; back to friends in Dallas; once again with Brian, Megan, and Gwen in Austin; the roadtrip home with stops at the 
Guadalupe Mountains National Park, Carlsbad Caverns National Park and the final stretch along the Million Dollar Highway with the beautiful fall colors. The long trip all came about because of Michael's Western Water photography exhibit in Mesquite, TX in September. That was enough of an excuse for me to plan an extended trip during September, because who wants to drive to TX to drop off the pictures, come home and then turn around 4 weeks later 
and do the drive back and forth a second time? Not me! Since we would be in the vicinity of DFW, why not head off to England to see Aaron 
after getting to spend a few days with Brian, Megan and Gwen?England has experienced the worst summer in 60 years (rainy and cold) but the weather changed when we arrived and we only had rain two afternoons (of course while walking on the moors near Aaron's and once in Northern Wales while touring a 13th century castle built by King Edward I...how fitting). Aaron's place in Slaithwaite is charming and we definitely managed to see quite a bit while there in England and Wales (including sheep, sheep, and more sheep).
Our time started with a tour of the University of Huddersfield and the new building housing the Music department. It is a very impressive
facility. We also managed to tour York; the moors near Marsden; the guys made it to a Premier League football game - Manchester City versus Chelsea; Liverpool for the final day of the Tour of Britain bike race; Wales (Snowdonia National Park, summitting Mt. Snowdon - the tallest peak in Wales, waterfalls, castles and 
cathedrals, Pembrokeshire National Park, Brecon Beacon National Park); the Devon coast including Exmoor National Park, a cotton mill in the Cotswold's 
and finally the Yorkshire Sculpture Park. We had originally planned to spend more time in the Cotwolds with a visit to Bath and Stonehenge but Wales was so beautiful we spent the majority of the time there.Michael drove over 1600 miles on the wrong side of the road with a large percentage of the roads, aptly named single track lanes, barely large enough for a minivan. We tended to either eat or walk while in England so luckily
the latter offset the effects of the former but whoever says there is no good food in England needs to either spend time with Aaron at his dinner table or at some of the wonderful Country Houses we stayed in. Aaron's fiancee, Peyee, 
arrived while we were there so we also got to spend time with her too which was a treat since we had only had one other opportunity to be with them last January.As far as our time in TX is concerned, Michael's show was a success. Gwen is growing quickly and is so adorable and a joy to be with.
Karen threw a great birthday bash for Kaivon and it worked out that we were in town for the big party. All in all, it was such a treat to spend so much time with friends and family the past month and we
look forward to our next trip to TX (maybe at Christmas) as well as getting together with the entire family in Chicago in June for Aaron and Peyee's wedding.Michael and I have one more road trip before the end of the fall so stay tuned for more on that soon!
