Covent Garden

Covent Garden in London is famous for its shops, pubs, restaurants, theaters, and street performers. It is always jammed with tourists here but a lot of fun on the street. Julie and I took Brooke here yesterday for a day of shopping. I just can't tell you how excited I get when I go shopping with the girls. I'd rather have a Root Canal instead. They spend all day buying bags full of total worthless items. Although I guess it does help the struggling economy, I just don't get it!

Lion King

We finally got our daughter Brooke here in London for a holiday visit, only 6 days late. After London Heathrow Airport cleared the snow and got flights moving again, Brooke arrived on Christmas eve. We had a great Christmas together and took in The Lion King on the 26 th. This very entertaining West London show is in it's 11 th year at the 2000 seat Lycheum Theater. It was a full house at the popular theater which has been open since in 1834. We are now affected by yet another underground tube strike. They usually will strike on a holiday when it causes a lot of disruption. So we move through the city on the overground trains and with the city taxis. The train drivers are now asking for triple pay on holidays instead of double pay.

Freedom Pass

The Freedom Pass here in England is one that you can apply for after turning 60. This is a free pass to ride on all London trains and buses. Also this pass works on most National trains with some restrictions. Now there aren't many advantages to getting older but this is a big one. I now receive prescriptions without the normal 7.50 pound co-pay, and my gym membership dropped 40%. I just used this pass for the first time yesterday evening as we joined friends for a West London show. I ordered a bottle of wine and was given a 10 % discount just because I asked and showed my pass. Can you believe it! I can now travel all day long in London for free. I can't even sit at home for free..Life is good...

ASU Grad

Congratulations to Brooke! To our daughter after a long journey from pre-school through grad-school. You finally made it and we are very proud parents. Brooke now has a teaching degree, with training in special needs and early childhood development. Brooke attended grade school through middle school in Wenatchee Washington. After moving to Arizona in 2001, she attended high school in Cave Creek Arizona, then went on to college at Arizona State University. Good going Brooke!

Here comes winter

Here we are, home in England after a wonderful holiday in sunny Arizona. I'm settling in for yet another long cold UK winter. This trip to AZ I picked up two extra guitars to help me get through the winter blues. One is never enough for us greedy Americans, we always want more. In the pic left to right I have a Martin acoustic electric, a 512 Guild 12 string acoustic, and a Clapton Fender Stratocaster which is my first electric guitar. The electric guitar is actually nice to have here in our flat as I can plug into an amp with headphones and nobody can hear a thing. Since we moved into London last year, I had to give up my golf membership so the guitar is a nice way to pass the time. I have no music background and can't read a note of music. I don't know the key of E from a load of coal but I can play a few chords. In the top pic, I'm practicing the pentatonic scale watching a Utube video. This is a lot like golf, I will practice for years and never be good at it, but it does entertain me. So Fred, when you come to visit you'll have a 12 string to make you feel right at home. Bloody hell,,, we'll make some noise!

Boggie

This might be the highlight of our annual Arizona trip, when we get to see our dog. Julie, Brooke and I enjoy a visit here in sunny Az. with Boggie before we go back to the bitter cold UK. He lives in Mesa Arizona on a golf course as he enjoys his retirement. He is still a ball chasing fool and has amazing energy that never ends. Boggie takes 3 daily walks and snoozes in his leather recliner. Thanks again to Gene and Sara for taking over dog duties until our return, you guys are the best. We miss you Boggie!

Greg Gammack

Yesterday we attended a memorial service in Mesa Az. This was in honor of our long time friend Greg Gammack at his wife Patsy's home. He died of a heart attack while riding on the east coast in September. It was quite emotional but really a wonderful tribute to a great American. A large group of the Arizona Patriot Riders, who Greg rode with, did a service in his honor. This is a picture of Greg last year and one of his new bike he sent me before his final ride. He proudly carried the Marine and the American flag, as you can see. A few years back, on one of our many rides, I asked Greg if he ever received enemy fire as a medivac helicopter pilot in Vietnam. He said "hell yes almost every week, and on Mother's day 1968, I was shot down 3 times that day". He was each time given another helicopter and sent out again. Can you believe it! Many of his friends didn't come back from that war, so we owe these military men and women a lot for what they do. The way I see it, If you live in any country under the protection that military heros like Greg provide, You should support them or move out!

Laguna Beach, California

After getting settled in Arizona for a few days of R & R, Julie and I took a side trip to Laguna Beach to visit some good friends. We flew into John Wayne Airport, (Orange County) Monday afternoon and had our friends pick us up. We drove along the beautiful California coast in an open convert able. As we were stopped at a light, a car behind us started honking. We turned around and were surprised to see some great friends from Arizona. It was Sara and Gene who are taking care of our dog Bogey. So of course we got together for a few laughs. Now what are the odds of this happening as we come here from London.

Happy Thanksgiving

Here we are in sunny Arizona to celebrate Thanksgiving with family and friends. It is a little colder here than usual so all of the locals are complaining. They don't know how good they got it! Julie and I are not looking forward to our return to the already harsh UK winter and early snow. Check out the fuzzy friends we saw in the neighborhood here. This weather is why we moved here 10 years ago. It's the only place to be in the winter months.

HMS St Albans

This Royal Navy Frigate was open for the public to see yesterday. I have never seen the Navy ships open for tours before. This was a chance for the public to get an up close look at what Navy life is like. It was very interesting going aboard the ship's chopper and learning what it's role was. It's main function is to support the ship and can use sonar to detect subs. The Chopper can operate up to 300 miles from the ship and is equipped for search and rescue. This ship has a crew of 182 and I enjoyed talking with several of them. Even though I am American, I support the armed forces of the UK 100 per cent as I do the US military. We are both fighting the same war. These men and women are the Best!

The Royal Navy

Look what came through the locks and tied up at my dock yesterday. At 133 meters long, (over 400 feet), this is the largest ship I've seen here in Canary Wharf. Just back from 3 months of duty off the coast of Somali these British sailors get a well deserved break. This is a stop that the Royal Navy uses on occasion so I've seen several Navy ships here

The Clink

Here at London Bridge on the Thames River is the site of the Old Clink Prison. This is the prison that gave the name to all other prisons. I took a tour of the old prison today and saw a bit of London's unsavoury past. The Clink was opened in 1144 , and is London's oldest prison. It appeared that from the bad conditions and forms of torcher, that prisoners didn't have many rights like they do today. I got a photo here but would have been beheaded if I didn't get out there quickly. Bottom photo is US friends Paul and Mary who went there last week, but were a little scared to go in.

Alice Cooper in London

This year Alice Cooper brought his huge "Theater of Death" tour to London for two Halloween shows. The 62 year old rocker is very popular here in London and has played many shows here over the years. I dug up this recent Halloween picture of Julie and I and it's easy to see that he's got nothing on me.

The Old Red Lion

This Pub on the west side of London is one of the oldest in the city, as you can see on the sign. My friend Paul and I had a great lunch here a few days ago. This might be a surprise to everyone, but I've always tried to avoid these places that serve booze. I only go into English Pubs to see how the food tastes. I've got absolutely no interest in the ice cold pint of lager that they serve with meals. I only take an occasional drink to chase down either good or bad tasting food, and whenever I'm thirsty.

Air Head

What a beautiful morning here in London looking out of our flat. It reminds us of the Arizona mornings we saw every day, 3 years ago. "Red sky in the morning, sailor take warning". It's true because by 3 PM it was raining, blowing, and darn cold. Look what I found on the street today, An empty head! You always gotta have a camera ready if you're a blogger like me. I tried it on but it wasn't my size. Isn't it odd that the biggest heads in the world are always the emptiest. It might be a real air head!

Hard Rock Cafe, London

London's Hard Rock Cafe is the one that started it all. Just listen to me and get the real facts! The very first Hard Rock Cafe was opened here June 14, 1971 on Old Park Lane, close to the Green Park tube station. There are now over 150 of these cafes worldwide. The London cafe has some of the best American cuisine and also has one of the most valued collection of Rock 'n' Roll memorabilia in the world. Today I visited the cafe and got into the basement "Vault" where the memorabilia is locked up. This was sure fun for an ol rock fan like me, and a great place to take my guests when we tour London.

Arizona friends

After spending last week in Italy, 2 of our great US friends came back to London with us. Julie went back to work and I spent the week with Paul and Mary touring the city. We had great weather for this time of year in England with mostly sunny but cold days. Here are pictures of us in our flat, in the sub-zero London Ice bar, and Paul and Mary at Westminster Abey. We visited Windsor Castle, the Tower of London, Buckingham Palace, Greenwich village, the Churchill museum and war rooms, and I can't remember what else during the week. If you ever come to London and get a tour guide, you'll have second best if you don't have me. I'm getting real good as a city guide here.

Italy freeways

You never know what you might see on the road, so always have someone ready with a camera. We were usually driving in heavy traffic on these freeways. I wished I was able to translate some of these Italian words especially the one on this tour bus. How do you like this shot of this dude driving at highway speeds reading a newspaper. He did have his seat belt on so I'm sure he felt safe. This idiot should have his license taken away and be put on that tour bus with the funny name on it. Click on the pics and get the big view.

Pisa, Italy

We took a day and visited the historic city of Pisa. This Tuscany city of 87,000 is full of 12 th century churches. It is best known for the Bell Tower of the city's cathedral, or the Leaning Tower of Pisa. The tower was built in 1173 on a poor foundation. It weighs 16,000 tons so engineers have done a lot of work to stop the settling. I couldn't resist a photo of this public toilet in Pisa. With the commode flat on the floor, I had to assume that the roll of paper on the wall and the brush were there to clean your shoes when they got splashed on. I got no idea what the women did in there.

Citroen Van

Here is the car I rented for our Italy holiday. This is a diesel 9 passenger Citroen Jumpy van with a 6 speed manual transmission. We needed all the room it had with 6 adults and luggage. Bruce and I picked this up in Rome. The van came with insurance but with a 3,000 euro deductable. Oh but don't worry we could put insurance on the deductable for only 9 euros a day, which we did. It was the smart move because Bruce, the first driver and made it 3 turns in the rental garage before hitting a cement post. I was then given the driving job for remainder of the week. The van was a great rig, easy to drive, and served us well as we traveled about 1000 miles during the week.