***Dave Does the Blog

So we’re going to Britain in February.

The plan started out when the Testerfolk and we were considering bidding together on a condo weekend vacation deal at a fund-raiser being held at Margie and my church. At some point, someone (Jackie, perhaps) noted that for the dollars we were discussing, we could fly to England.

Well … yeah.

So we decided to do that. And then Dave & Lori got tied into the idea.

So off we go, the six of us, for a dozen days to England (London, mostly) and Wales (the south thereof), and whatever places in-between and surrounding we might encounter.

Plans are slowly gelling. Jackie found a good in-town B&B a block or two from Victoria Stn. We’re all tied in there for the first four or five days. Margie put together a list of places in Wales for the group to decide on, so we should be all set there, too.

The other four are flying direct from Denver to Gatwick. We, on the other hand, are taking a short side-jaunt to LA to hand-off Kitten to the grandparents (who, last week were figuring out how to timeshare her), and then flying direct from there to Heathrow. We’ll meet at the B&B.

Two cars are being rented for the extra-London leg of the journey, which should provide the flexibility for different configurations of groups to go off touring whatever it is they want, be it stone circles or Victorian gardens or comic book shops or ruined abbeys or Girls Night Out or …

I’m not daunted by driving in the UK. I’ve found on past visits it’s really not all that difficult, if you keep your mind to it (and have someone in the passenger seat to man the map).

I am a bit daunted about being pretty much completely off-line during that time. Haven’t quite figured out how I’m journaling this trip. Last time it was via post cards sent home. This time … if it’s just journaling, I may use my Palm. I’m not planning, at the moment, to bring my computer.

I’m concerned, of course, by the timing. In mid-February, the US (and Britain) may be at war in Iraq. That would certainly add an extra frisson of interesting times (in the Chinese sense) to the trip. But at the moment, I don’t expect it to actually interfere.

I do have worries about … well, I watched I Love Lucy as a kid way too much. And, inevitably, whenver the Ricardos and Mertzes would undertake a joint venture, whether it was a business or a vacation, inevitably there would be frictions that threatened their friendships. And I really don’t want to see that happen here with our friends. I don’t want tensions about where we’re going, or eating, or staying, or doing (be it some folks pressing an itinerary that the others don’t share, or nobody being willing to suggest anything) to make the trip unpleasant. Heck, I know that sometimes Margie and I clash on such things — throw in four additional personalities, and my Apprehensometer goes ping-ping-ping.

I know I’m being paranoid about such things. That’s my nature.

Hmmmm. It could make for a fun Reality Show, though. Think we could arrange for sponsors at this late date?

Paranoia and apprehension and concerns aside … I’m getting excited. It’s actually going to be a hell of a lot of fun.

Now for the big question: how many cameras do I bring?

Cool. I’ll be in the car-buying market come March or so, and I have two people doing all the research for me, with many of the same car attributes in mind.

Now all I need is to install a massively successful PayPal button, and I’m set.