Off to Oxford through the Cotswolds
While we did not see much evidence of the Cotswolds along our route for quite a distance, finally the rolling patchwork of fields came into view. Our GPS which has been very reliable got us almost to the church near Oxford where CS Lewis worshiped and is buried, but a little hunting brought us to the correct spot a block over. It is a very peaceful churchyard, with many flowers brightening up the cemetery.
It being Friday, we enjoyed a tasty traditional English fish'n'chips (haddock) lunch at a fine pub, The White Horse. It was time to do some laundry so the helpful pub server directed us to a local 'launderette' (or laundromat) which brought me to the need to convert some travellers' cheques into cash at a nearby Barclays bank. While the laundry was in the machine, we toured part of Oxford University, though were somewhat thwarted by pedestrian-friendly roadblocks.
In the early evening, we popped in unexpectedly on Yvonne's mother's sister (Aunt Shirley) and family, as they are located only half an hour from this night's motel. Uncle Sam's love of flower gardening is obvious from his backyard!
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Up Hill and Down Dale
Today we got underway later as I took some time to fine-tune the route using Google Maps then copying the co-ordinates manually into our helpful GPS. (Plus we're on holiday, so aren't we allowed to be leisurely?!) While finishing breakfast at McDonald's (with WiFi) I read to Yvonne from my handheld computer interesting facts about our principal stops for the day - Barnstaple, Exmoor National Park, Glastonbury, and Bristol. Our first stop was the 'chemist's' (pharmacy) in Barnstaple (which used to be an important town in its own right, with its own mint, at the time the Domesday Book was written to aid William the Conqueror assess the state of his new nation; Barnstaple was one of the few 'staple' ports by which goods such as wool were exported and taxes levied).
Next we drove for several hours through Exmoor National Park - which actually seems to be mainly farmland, grazed by sheep and cattle - catching glimpses where we could through towering hedgerows of its undulating natural beauty. We spent an hour having 'garden cream teas' at the village shop and post office at Challacombe, just before leaving Devon for Somerset. Clotted cream, jam, and fresh scones - calories don't count when you're on holiday, right?
Yvonne has enjoyed an historically-based book Glastonbury so we headed next for this unusual Tor rising high above the Somerset plains. I was fooled at first, mistaking Burrowbridge Mump for the actual Glastonbury site - well, isn't one ruin atop a hill much like another?! But Glastonbury's height was really amazing and worth a few extra miles.
I had hoped to visit the oldest Methodist church in the world - John Wesley's 'New Room' in Bristol, but alas, by the time we arrived (after 6 pm) it was closed. However I was able to get a picture of the famous evangelist atop his circuit-circumnavigating steed in the courtyard. Perhaps our modern churches could be reminded by Wesley's chapel of the merits of simplicity and frugalness in church construction - saving resources for the church's mission.
Yvonne has, thankfully, been holding up very well through these first few active days of our trip. She didn't doze at all today in the car despite not having time for a nap; but, then again, perhaps it had something to do with the 14-18% grades on the hills, twisty turns, non-existent shoulders on the roads, and me pulling out Canadian-style to almost meet an oncoming vehicle head-on... I decided I'd better be a bit more careful!
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[click for Video of Exmoor pastoral panorama]

A RELATIVE-ly Good Day
Wednesday we managed to catch up with three of my mother's first cousins and their families in the area of Devon between Holsworthy and Bideford. The next generation is involved in a wide variety of occupations, from sheep-raising (upwards of 850 animals) to repairing search-and-rescue helicopters to high-tech import/export. We were deliciously overfed and graciously received even when we were way overdue on account of longer-than-expected visits at a previous place.

It was wonderful to feel a little connection with my mother's mother Ada (nee Blight) Glover who I had never met - died 8 years before I was born - who grew up in the little village we visited today. Also to share concern with committed church folk who long to see the church return to the significant role in people's lives it once played (before we got busy with other things).
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The Idols We Keep: Salisbury to Stonehenge
While the 'light breakfast' deposited outside our door of our Travelodge room may not have been impressive (cereal flakes with UHT milk from Ireland and a cookie), it was good to see Fair Trade coffee and sugar was used. Having recently flown across the Atlantic in 7 hours contrasted to the 5 weeks it took my Dow ancestors to come across by ship in the 1820s, it was a reminder how tightly interconnected the planet is today, and how our actions (together) do affect farmers and economies in distant countries.
My morning reading included a somber reminder from Psalm 106 of our fallen human tendency to get off-track in what we make sacrifices for / of: “At Horeb they made a calf and worshiped an idol cast from metal...They worshiped their idols, which became a snare to them. They sacrificed their sons and their daughters to demons. They shed innocent blood, the blood of their sons and daughters, whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan, and the land was desecrated by their blood.” (Ps 106:19, 36-38)
Our first main historic outing of the day was the impressive cathedral at Salisbury, sporting the tallest wooden spire in Britain at 404 feet. Our tour guide was friendly and full of interesting details. However viewing the twisting pillars, eroded sandstone statues, and crumbling walls, one cannot help but wonder if the monument conservation funding of £15,000 per year is the best way to spend the money. When does a religious building outlive its usefulness and become simply a costly monument? Would the needs of local Christians and the community be better met if such an antique structure were replace with a modern, eco-friendly one? When do our religious edifices stop being a facility or tool, and become an idol that robs money from mission and worship more suited to God's Kingdom?
Our afternoon concluded with a stop at Stonehenge, the massive stones of which force one to wonder what celebrations were conducted here. 'Henge' means 'gallows', and an altar is a central feature, so the Psalm's warning against idolatry seemed particularly apt. The structure of the 'gallows' reminded me of the butchering props constructed by deer and moose hunters to deal with their kills. One can only hope a minimum of human sacrifice was carried out at such a garish place. How easy is it for an entire society to become caught up in idolatry that victimizes the innocent? Devilish power then is wielded by those called priests.
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[click for Video of world's oldest working clock at Salisbury]
[click for Video of quick pan of Stonehenge]

Safely Across the Pond
[photo] Air Transat A310 airbus that faithfully delivered Yvonne, me, and 300-odd other passengers to London Gatwick airport from Toronto Pearson. With a good supper meal and breakfast muffin thrown in, too! Departed 21:50 on time, arrived 9:45, ~7 hour flight.

Praise God that the flight went well; baggage came through fine; rental car was awaiting us as expected; I did not crash today! Think it will be fun having a standard transmission after all (I like shifting, even if it is with my left hand). Took a few times to learn how to follow Ms Garmin's [Gps] advice about exits on roundabouts but seem to have picked it up. Took "shortest distance" rather than "fastest route" option to start, so got some driving practice on back roads as desired, before graduating to the M3 (high-speed motorway) this afternoon.I had a few hours sleep on the flight; Yvonne became very bushed by the trip so has settled down for a well-deserved nap.

We stopped in at (her mother's cousin) John Tims' in Fareham, near Portsmouth; no one home, had a hospitable 'cuppa' with a neighbour lady while waiting to see if he'd return shortly; will try again this evening. Travelodge Motel in Southampton is very clean and adequate if not posh (as expected). Thanks to any who prayed for my driving the first day when tired and jet-wupped by the lengthy flight.

[photo] View from our top-floor Travelodge penthouse, with the derricks of Southampton's docks silhouetted against the sky on the horizon.

[click for Video of Southampton skyline and street]