We disembark on Wednesday in Dover, early, and take a cab up to their home north west of London a few miles. [I will not mention last names or exact location for privacy reasons.]
If you are following the blog, then the journey may be coming to an end but our vacation is far from over.
We first met Ian and Judy onboard Oriana in January 1999. We were on our first world cruise and they were taking a leg from Hong Kong to San Francisco. We sat at tables that were back to back from each other, across a low divider. One night Fellette and I were early and so were they. I reached over and said, "Hi, my name is Doug and we are from Vancouver". The rest is history, or so they say. We never socialized on the trip except we would bump into each another once in a while.
Nearing the end of our journey in Vancouver, we had a few acquaintances in for farewell drinks. Ian and Judy were amongst the guests. Months later we sent them a card from Maui. They did not have our address or email number, but Ian, being the proper person that he is, wrote a letter to us and mailed it to P & O, the cruise line, who forwarded it to us.
Some time much later when Fellette and I were planning a trip to England, I emailed them and asked if we could drop by and have a cup of tea with them. Ian responded by offering that we fly to London, they would meet us and take us to their home for a few days to get over the jet-lag and then rent a u-drive in their town. It sounded too good an offer to refuse, so we accepted.
Upon arriving in London Heathrow, Fellette and I were somewhat apprehensive because we did not have a picture of them and were afraid that we would not recognize them. Remember, this was some considerable time since we had a casual encounter with them. We found out later that while waiting at the barrier in Heathrow they had the same fears! It all went well though.
Fellette and I just click with Ian and Judy. We are within months of the same age, have children the same age, have been married the same length of time, married our first-loves and Ian and I started our apprenticeships at the same time.
Since 1999 we have vacationed together on a cruise and they have been to our home, [and even to the 100 Mile cabin], and we to theirs a few times, we also vacationed together in Maui.
So, the blog the next 12 days will be of life in an English Village. Amongst the first jobs, [after getting some groceries in], is to go and fetch Hercules, the pet tortoise, who has been at a tortoise lodging home the past three weeks. Who knows, this may be more interesting than the cruise itself!
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