Well, I guess the title is a bit misleading since that’s something that’s usually said when the baby is actually born, but you get the idea. Heather and I were able to make a visit the the doctor today to find out the gender of our child. I bet you can’t guess what it is…
Here are a few pictures:
The doctor said that everything looks normal and that from what he could see, we should me expecting a healthy baby boy on March 16th. Now to come up with a name…
Well, it’s been a while and I’m sure that most of you already know the big news. Heather is pregnant! As of now, it’s too early to know what the gender is, but we have had one ultrasound since there was such a high risk of twins. Here is the picture of our new baby:
The doctor tells us that the due date is March 20th, but I think that if we had anything to do with it, we would do our best to have the baby on February 29th (it’s leap year this year), but of course we know that the baby will come when it’s ready. We are so excited!
Heather, Dad and I left Utah County this morning en route to Mesquite Nevada for our annual trip to San Diego. When we got to the Fillmore area we could see the smoke and could tell that the fire was a bad one.
As we traveled further south, we could see firefighters in the Northbound lanes standing by their trucks. It seemed as though they were there to protect I-15, but the flames were still a ways away to the West - not very close to the freeway.
As we continued South, the flames got closer and closer to the freeway and the wind was ferocious. We knew that eventually it would be right up against the freeway and we were a bit nervous. Eventually we came up on the hill right before dropping down into the Cove Fort area and there and the we could see the flames at the top of the ridge were shooting nearly 50 feet into the air and were right against the freeway - we knew that there was no way that we could pass.
Shortly afterwards we saw a set of headlights coming the opposite direction of our side of the freeway. What little traffic was left began to part and people pulled off to the side. Vehicles began driving into the median and up to the elevated northbound side of the freeway. Thankfully we have 4-wheel drive and made the turn OK. We wondered how some cars and semi trucks were ever going to make it.
We made our way back to the North and were eventually stopped by the same firefighters we passed coming down. To the left we could see the motorcycle that had been mangled in the accident along with about six other cars that were involved in a horrible pileup. The passengers of the cars had walked across the median and were standing by firefighters in the northbound lanes.
We noticed that up ahead the flames had jumped the southbound lanes and was now raging in the median. With the fire behind us and the fire ahead, we honestly wondered if we would make it out alive. Eventually the firefighters put out the blaze in the median and we were allowed to continue North. At this point, we were pretty sure that we would be safe, but thought for sure that those involved in the accident would have a good chance of being burned alive.
After a few miles, visibility dropped to practically zero and we slowed to a crawl. I can see how the smoke was the cause of such a horrible accident.
All in all it was a horrible experience - but one that will not be forgotten. My thoughts and prayers go out to all of those that have been displaced by this terrible fire, and I give thanks to the firefighters, paramedics, UHP officers, and other authorities that risked their lives today. Thank you.
Disclaimer: this has to be one of the most boring days of the trip. Feel free to stop reading here (if you started from the bottom). If you are just starting to read this, It would be best to start from the bottom and work your way up since this is all in reverse chronological order.
Taking the Train
Well, today was our last day in England - even though it was not much of a day. We woke up bright and early (4:00 am) so that we could make it to the train station in time to catch the 5:15 train to the airport. We got up and started to get ready and I called the cab company - but there was no answer. We had to haul all of our gear on foot to the station. While we had walked this journey several times before this week, it was a bit different when you were dragging along 1-1/2 weeks worth of stuff behind you. We made it to the station a bit early and boarded the train.
The Airport
What is there to say about the airport? As always, there were long lines at the ticket counter and at security. I was a bit paranoid and wanted to make sure that we made it there a good three hours early - especially after the last time I was at Gatwick! After a stop for lunch and the souvenier shop, we found our way to the furthest possible gate (of course) where our plane was preparing to board. We hung out until we boarded and away we went. 8-1/2 hours later…
Cincinnati
We made it to Cinci where we had a brief layover - enough to grab a bite to eat, call our loved ones, and then board another plane. Hooray! We did get to eat at a Cincinnati Chili place where I had a 3-way spaghetti chilli. It is an interesting dish - if you ever stop in Cinci, you will have to try some. Back on the plane, and a few hours later…
Home
We fianlly made it home. It was about 7:00 at night in Utah, which doesn’t sound too bad, but when you think about it, it was actually 2:00 am in the UK. We had been awake for about 22 hours and we were exhausted. We made it back home and got our luggage inside and just crashed. It was nice to be asleep back in our own beds, and our cute doggie Suzi was sure glad to see us.
Company visit
Friday morning (as early as we could) we took a train into London again. Our first stop was to visit a company that I had worked with in helping them implement our software. We stopped off at the nearest tube station (or so we thought) and wandered around in what I thought was the right direction for a few minutes. Finally, when I got a little concerned that I had not seen any familiar landmarks, I got out a map. As it turns out, we were headed in the wrong direction. We corrected our course and made it there -passing another tube station along the way. Doh! It was nice to finally meet the people I had spent hours on the phone with, but we didn’t stay - after all, we were on vacation 
The Tower Of London
Our main purpose for our visit to London this day was to visit the infamous Tower of London. This is probably one of England’s most famous castles, so we had to take a gander. We found a two-for-one entry coupon that ended up saving us about $32.00, so we felt justified.
Once across the old moat (now grass) and into the castle walls, we decided to make our way to the White Tower. This tower was built by William the Conqueror and was now home to a museam of armor, weapons, and other interesting artifacts from ancient England. There was one display on hand for “giant armor” that was built for a man that was 6′9″. Of course, everyone around us (dozens of other tourists) made me stand up next to the sign where I nearly reached the mark for the appropriate height.Everyone thought it was real funny. Ha ha.
One of the other exhibits that is at the Tower of London is the Crown Jewels. We walked inside one of the other towers within the castle and made our way through videos and other displays until we reached a gigantic vault. Once inside, there were moving walkways that carried people past the Crown Jewels. It is amazing to me how ornate those crowns really are. Just one of them must have cost a fortune to decorate. There were many guards watching over the jewels even though they were undoubtedly encased in very thick bullet-proof glass. Despite the many warning signs, tourists still attempted to take pictures and were promptly dealt with by the guards. I wonder why they didn’t allow photography…
After the Crown Jewels, the weather took a turn for the worse. Welcome to London. The rain came down hard and we looked for some shelter. We wandered around from tower to tower and listened to historical tales of betrayal and murder. Eventually we wanted to see another part of the castle that was only accessible by tour. We found one in progress and latched on. The tour guide was very entertaining as he told stories about the old church and about be-headings and divorces. A lot of those kings had quite a colorful past. I made Heather take a picture with a couple of these guides or “Beefeaters” as they were called. As we came to find out, these guys actually lived within the Castle walls. In fact, you could see some of their housing and there were clotheslines and you could even see into some of their living quarters. I thought that that was odd for such a touristy place.
After we had seen just about everything we wanted to see, we decided that we had had enough and that the wet weather was too much, so we headed back to Reading. On our way back, we learned that a birthday dinner for one of my co-workers had been planned that night. Once me made it into Reading, we immediately caught the train into Basingstoke where we met up with everyone for a dinner at the Queen’s Arm pub just outside of the city limits. It’s a fun little country pub with a neat atmosphere (I had actually been there once before the last time I was in England in March). We enjoyed a nice meal. I had bangers and mash (sausage and mashed potatoes) and Heather had a Tanglefoot meat pie.
Preparing to Leave
We eventually made it back into Reading where we spent the night packing. We wanted to make sure that we got most of it done because we had an early morning ahead of us.
Westminster
Our first stop was Westminster Abbey. I know, we went here on day one, but it was closed so we decided to come back today. However, when we made it up to the front door, we realized that they were charging 10 pounds to get in. Since I consider myself a frugal kind of guy, I figured that it couldn’t really be worth $40. So, we trudged onwards.
Leicester Square
We decided to walk from Westminster to Leicester Square. We took the long road walking by Downing Street (home of the Prime Minister) and Covent Gardens. We also walked by the National Gallery, although we did not go inside. While we were in the area, we stopped by the local TKTS booth so that we could pick up some discounted tickets to the theater. Heather decided that she wanted to see Les Miserables, so we picked up a couple of tickets at a decent price.
Lunchtime
We met up with Chris (one of my coworkers who lives in England) who spent lunchtime with us. He showed us a few sites and we headed off to eat lunch at a pub. While on our way to eat, we were making our way down a smaller side street when a car pulled up and out steps none other than Sir Paul McCartney. At first I knew that he was someone I had seen before, but I could not put my finger on it. After he walked by us nearly brushing shoulders with Heather, Chris turned around and said “Hey, that was Paul McCartney!”. I felt dumb, but I guess that this is just a byproduct of me not being a huge Beatles fan. Nonetheless, it was awesome to see him as he is such an achieved artist and international superstar. After the shock wore off we settled into the pub and enjoyed some nice food. I had a sausage sandwich and Heather had a club. I thought that the food was pretty good.
British Museum
After lunch, Chris pointed us in the direction of the British Museum, and we parted ways. We made it there and stepped inside. We had read that some of the better exhibits were actually not on the main floor, so we began upstairs. We meandered through ancient European artifacts, a history of money, and Middle Eastern historical displays before we finally decided to call it quits. We were tired and sore and we discovered that we were really not ‘museum people’.
King’s Cross Station
At this point, you may ask yourself why are they going to a train station? Since we are fans of Harry Potter, we decided that we had to take a quick stop at the infamous platform 9-3/4 at the King’s Cross station. We got the usual tourist pictures with us attempting to push a luggage trolley through the brick wall that separates the two platforms. Since this is an actual train station and there is not much else to do here, we left quickly and continued the journey.
Temple Church
Sticking to the theme of movie/book sightseeing, we decided to stop back off at the Temple Church. You may recall that we stopped here on Sunday just to find that it was closed. This time we did our homework and we knew exactly when it would be open. Since this was my third time at the church, we know right where to find it and we made it there with 30 minutes to spare before closing. We stepped inside and admired the eerie statues and the effigies of some of the Knights Templar. The organist was playing the organ and the music I thought made the church even more spooky than before. Who would want to worship God in a place like that. In a way that place gave me the creeps.
Shakespeare’s Globe Theater
After the Temple Church, we decided to head across the river and take a look at Shakespeare’s Globe Theater. As it turns out, this is a recreation of the old building that was burned down, rebuilt and then demolished again. The theater did not even sit that closely to the original site. A bit strange… We paid the entry fee and began the tour. We were lead up to the middle balcony of the theater where the tour guide told us all kinds of neat historical facts about the theater. We were then taken downstairs to the ground level for a different view. The entire time we were there, one of the actors was ‘warming up’ for the show. He walked around the pillars on the stage in a figure-eight pattern and chanted things like ‘Ga ga ga gee, ga ga ga goo, ga ga ga gye’. This went on for quite a while and I found it rather humorous and even a bit entertaining. Heather, who is quite the theater buff, told me afterwards that the whole experience was a bit lame. The tour guide told her nothing new and we essentially paid $15.00 per person to sit in the theater and listen to the actor pace around the stage and chant. Our recommendation for those wanting to see the Globe is to spend $10.00 on floor tickets to the show and then come and go as you please rather than spending the money on the tour. Oh well - live and learn.
Mr. Wu’s
While we were looking for the pub to eat lunch in with Chris, we passed this little Chinese place called Mr. Wu’s that offered all-you-can-eat Chinese food for 5 pounds. He told us that the food was rather good and that it would be a nice place for us to eat. On our way to the show, we decided to take Chris’ advice and enjoy a meal at Mr. Wu’s. Chris was wrong. The food was pretty bland and tasteless and the service was worse. The staff stood behind us the entire meal and spoke in Chinese. I’m sure that they were making fun of the ’stupid Americans’ or something like that. We survived the experience and the food did not make me sick (which was a big plus), but our goal now is to give Chris a hard time about Mr. Wu’s whenever we see him, Maybe that could be his new nickname: Chris “Mr. Wu” Jenkins.
Les Miserables
We capped off another long day with a nice relaxing evening at the theater. As I mentioned earlier, we got tickets to see the production of Les Miserables. Because we were able to buy tickets early on in the day, we ended up with some pretty good seats. We were 11 rows back and nearly in the center. We liked the production and the actors did a very good job. After the show was over, we got on the tubes and headed back to the station where we were able to catch a late train back to Reading.
Monday was a great day for us here in the UK. Today, we had the privilege of taking a tour of the country that many who come here on vacation do not get the chance to see. We were able to take a ride with Brett (who is out here on business with my company) who happened to rent a car for the week. This is what we did.
Stonehenge
Our first stop was the famous, yet mysterious, stone-age landmark also know as Stonehenge. It was neat to see those gigantic rocks arranged in a near perfect circle and to ponder on the meaning of it all. Why did these ancient people carry these stones from miles and miles away just to stand them up and arrange them in a circle? What purpose was this supposed to serve? It is all a bit puzzling, but makes for a cool place to visit. We decided not to pay the entry fee since you could not get close to the stones and you had almost as good of a view from the road. In fact, it was a bit odd to just be driving along this country road, and as you come over a small hill - there it is - a tall circle of large stones with throngs of tourists gathered around. We got out and took a few pictures, spent a few minutes, and away we went.
Avebury
I don’t think many people have heard of Avebury - at least I hadn’t. This small town is the location of much larger stone circles and other formations - cousins to Stonehenge if you will. To me, this was a much more impressive site. We were able to get out in the fields and touch the stones and stand next to them. There was one large stone circle, and smaller concentric circles within it. It was an interesting site to behold.
Tintern Abbey
We received a tip about some old abbey ruins just over the border to Wales. Since we weren’t too far away, we decided to make a go at it. We crossed the Severn River on a big suspension bridge over to Wales and made our way to Tintern Abbey. These magnificent ruins were quite a site to behold. It was a old abbey built up in the 12th century that eventually met its fate under the hand of King Henry VII. Despite the ages and the best efforts of the king, the walls of the abbey along with a few of the ceilings and roofs were kept preserved. We paid our money and wandered around the abbey for quite a while admiring the incredible architecture. It amazes me that even though technology and modern methods of construction were lacking that the people in the 12th century could erect such beautiful structures.
Gloucester Cathedral
On our way back to England from the abbey ruins, we drove through the city of Gloucester where we stopped off at the enormous Gloucester Cathedral. It was constructed back in the 11th and 12th centuries and still stands today in all of its magnificent glory. It houses the bodies of many notable people, including a huge burial shrine for King Edward II. This cathedral was also used for the filming of some scenes for a couple of the interior shots of Hogwarts School in the Harry Potter films. We wandered around the church for some time before we got back in the car for a decent ride back to the flat in Reading.
Sunday was a busy day for us in England. We walked a lot - maybe too much - and saw a lot of really neat sites. By the end of the day we were quite exhausted and we looked forward to heading back to the flat in Reading for some rest and relaxation.
Piccadilly Circus
This was our first stop in London after arriving to Paddington Station. We took the tubes (the London Underground) to the Piccadilly station stop. This is London’s version of Time’s Square. It is packed with people, curved buildings and huge electronic billboards. It is quite a place. There are shops and restaurants - all of the usual tourist traps. We didn’t spend too much time here as there were other places that we preferred to spend our time.
Westminster
Our next stop was the Westminster tube station.We stepped out of the station right at the base of Big Ben and London Parliament. It is an awesome building and a must-see London landmark. We took plenty of pictures and then headed across the bridge to the south bank of the Thames river. Here we passed by the London Eye and hoards of people and street performers. We stopped and watch a British man ask for our money as he struggled his way out of a straight jacket and chains. After we had had enough, we found a McDonald’s (don’t go there, it’s cheap food) and had some food. After some lunch, we headed back across the bridge towards Westminster Abbey where we learned that the Abbey was closed on Sundays (why would a church be closed on Sunday?). From there we decided to take a walk to Buckingham Palace. We paused there to rest after a decent walk and admired the sights. There was a guard there who we were convinced had his leg fall asleep. He began a goofy march back and forth a 15 foot path stomping his feet loudly to shake the blood back into them. After we had had enough, we headed back to the nearest tube station.
Temple Church
We decided to make a journey to the church made famous by the Da Vinci Code. This church is located in the middle of a huge living complex formerly operated by the Knights Templar and is nearly impossible to find. We found the doorway to the alley that leads to the church, but it was locked. We decided to go a bit further and we walked to the main entrance where a guard told us that the church was closed. Again we found that on Sunday, more churches were closed. Weird… At this point we were a ways away from the nearest tube station, so we began the journey back.
Tower Hill
This area of London was our next stop, and probably my favorite. We got off the tubes and headed towards the Tower of London - and old castle on the banks of the Thames that was erected by William the Conqueror. It is quite an amazing site. We meandered around the building and took a bunch of pictures. Next up was Tower Bridge. This is the bridge that everyone thinks of when they think of bridges in London. I can’t imagine why anyone would need to construct a bridge like this, but it gives us something to do while in London. The bridge is awesome. We crossed over the bridge for a different view and continued along the south bank.
St. Paul’s Cathedral
After crossing over Tower bridge, we decided that we should see St. Paul’s Cathedral. Despite the bad luck with other churches, we trudged on. We decided that rather than find the nearest station and make several transfers we would walk the whole distance. This was probably where we overdid it. It was quite a walk. We finally made it and low and behold, the church was actually open for Sunday night services. We wandered inside and took a seat towards the rear of the small congregation. We listened for a while as scriptures were recited and some lady rambled on about the Da Vinci Code and how Jesus could not have been married until we were rested up enough to make our way back home for the day.
The Journey Home
After St. Paul’s, we decided that we had done enough for one day and began the journey back to the flat in Reading. We made our way to the nearest tube station - St. Paul’s - only to discover that it had been closed for ‘modernasation’. We located the nearest station and began walking some more. Once we got to the station we found that that it did not have the lines that we needed but we could transfer via underground footpaths. We walked underground until we reached the next station and hopped on the train. On our second stop on the way back to Paddington, the train stopped at the station while the conductor explained that ‘there had been a trespass’ on the tracks several stations away that had halted all trains on those tracks. He recommended that all passengers take a bus as an alternate means of transportation. We left the station an immediately found the right bus, and as it turns out, it was headed right to Paddington Station. What a relief. We climbed up to the second deck and settled in for a long bus ride. Finally we made it to the station where we found a train that took us back to the Reading station.
Overall it was a good day, even though I did develop a blister on my foot. We saw some great sights and formed ideas of what else we wanted to do throughout the rest of the week.
Well, week one of the trip has come and gone. Most of the time that I was over here in England was spent at work. Nothing too thrilling happened throughout the week, even though I had a birthday. I spent the day at work, helping the company upgrade their software to the latest version, while there were a few problems here and there, as a whole, it was a pretty successful upgrade. After work each night it was either a trip back to the apartment.
Pub Quiz
One of the nights I had after work was spent at the pub. I participated in my first ever pub quiz. For those of you who are wondering what a pub quiz is, let me explain. Participants form teams and provide a small entry fee. The quizmaster then asks questions over the PA to the teams. There are multiple rounds with different categories, and at the end, the team that does the best wins some sort of a prize. We had 15-20 people there and so we formed two teams. While our team did not win the quiz, we did score higher than the other group, so we were happy. The experience was a good one.
In all, I went to the pub with the people from work three times this week. It seems to me that this is rather normal for people in England. They are a fun place to go spend time with your friends or coworkers and enjoy a drink or two, even if it is just a Coke.
Birthday
Thursday was my 25th birthday. While I don’t like to make a big deal out of it, others apparently do. My mom, being the sweet person that she is, tipped of a coworker of my birthday. He, having previously worked at the company I was consulting for, emailed everyone there so that everyone knew. At lunchtime, a few people ran out to the store and returned with a birthday card and a chocolate cake for everyone to enjoy. They sang happy birthday and we ate some cake. While I don’t really care about my birthday, it was nice to know that someone else cared - even people I didn’t really even know all that well.
Heather’s Arrival
Today (Saturday) Heather arrived to the UK. Her plane landed and she made it through immigration and customs pretty quickly. I provided some directions for her so that she could quickly and easily make her way to the train station at the airport so that she could catch the train to Reading. She followed the directions perfectly, and early this afternoon I picked her up at the Reading train station where we caught a cab back to the apartment so she could catch a quick nap.
Next Week
Next week I hope to update the blog more regularly so that we can keep everyone up-to-date with what we do on our vacation.
Here is the story of our trip to England:
Why we get to go
My company has many clients in the UK. For some reason, the people over there see a real value in subscription management software. Anyways, one of these clients is taking a major upgrade and they have opted to bring out a consultant to hold their hand through the process. Here is where I come in. This is actually my second trip to the UK for the same purpose. Just a short while back, I was over there to help them prepare for the upgrade.
The vacation
So I am slated to be in the UK for a week to help the customer - and while I was headed over I thought to myself “this would be a great opportunity to bring Heather along with me”. So, I extended my stay and we bought Heather a ticket to fly out the next week. We would have a week together to enjoy the sights.
The plane tickets
So, we go home that night and purchase tickets for Heather (since mine were bought earlier that day at the office). We wanted to make sure that we got her on the same flight back that I was on. We toyed around with dates and found the cheapest possible flight, but in changing the departure date, we did not realize that it automatically changed the return date as well. Well, I think you can see where this is going. We bumped the departure date one day earlier and the return flight went with it as well - and I did not catch it. Luckily, when the confirmation email arrived, my beautiful wife (who is much brighter than I) caught the mistake and we were able to call Delta in time to make the appropriate changes. Phew!
The passport
One thing that of course is necessary for all foreign travel is a US passport. Since Heather did not currently have one, we had to have her apply - and fast since the trip was only just over a month away. That next day she spent her lunch hour fighting the crowds at the post office so she could submit the necessary paperwork. We paid the extra $$ to have the process expedited, but with the backlog that the passport offices had been seeing, they gave us little hope that it would actually make it in time. But, just a short time later (maybe 2-1/2 weeks or so), the mailman came to the door while we were at church and delivered her passport (I didn’t even know that the post office delivered on Sundays!?!?). And yet again we let out another sigh of relief.
