Thanksgivng!

Our Thanksgiving week was great! We were able to spend the weekend before Thanksgiving in Columbia, Mo with Cori's family. We got to watch Cara play two basketball games, hard to believe she is already a Junior. Then we drove back to Louisville so we could get ready for the Leis Family's visit.

At Stephens Park (Columbia, Mo)

Kelly, Connie, Cara, Matt (Cara's boyfriend), and Grandma Emma Rene all made the trip out to Louisville. This was our last holiday in our house before the big move to South Carolina, so it was kind of bitter sweet.

We were able to share some quality time with Cori's family. We were able to take everyone to the University of Louisville football game. It was pretty chilly by Kentucky standards, but everyone seemed to enjoy the game even though the Cards lost. On Thursday, we created a Thanksgiving Feast! Everyone contributed to the meal and as always there was more than enough food. David just ate the last of the Turkey this week (2 weeks later) and said it still tasted good! We took a drive of the Kentucky countryside and stopped at Makers Mark Bourbon Distillery. We enjoyed a tour of the grounds and even got a taste at the end. We all got the chance to dip a bottle of bourbon in the red wax (their signature) for a keepsake! We enjoyed showing everyone around the place we have called home for the last 4 (almost) years. We have a lot of great memories of our time in Kentucky and will always have a special place for it in our hearts.

Showing our U of L pride before the game.

Enjoying the game

At Makers Mark Bourbon Distillery

The signature Black and Red of Makers Mark.

In the warehouse. Trying to get a bit of the "Angel's Share"

The Angel Share is what the bourbon aroma is referred to. It's the small amounts of bourbon is lost out of each barrel through their process.

October: Month in Review

We started the month with a trip to Greenville, SC to try and find our new home. We spent a few days looking and finally found our new place. It is a cute little house about 1.5 years old. It is 4 bedrooms & 2.5 bathroom. We are really excited to move-in in December.

Our New Home to be at 217 Barbours Ln. in Greenville, SC

Our backyard and screened in porch.

Our new kitchen.

On the 22nd we celebrated our Anniversary. It is crazy to think we have been married for 4 years and have been living in Louisville for over 3.5 years. How time flies!

We ended the month with a Halloween celebration. Dave went back to his South Dakota roots by being a cowboy and Cori went back to the ugliest fashion decade of all times - the 80's. We had fun with friends celebrating All Hallows Eve.

September's Gone With the Wind....

Well our whirlwind September has ended...only to be followed by the crazy months of October, November, December.... We had a great time on our trip to London and Scotland. Towards the end of our trip we were without Internet access so sorry the blog wasn't updated. David's conference went well and we were able to see a few more things in London before leaving. Well our whirlwind September has ended...only to be followed by the crazy months of October, November, December.... We had a great time on our trip to London and Scotland. Towards the end of our trip we were without Internet access so sorry the blog wasn't updated. David's conference went well and we were able to see a few more things in London before leaving for the US.

Edinburgh Castle

Trafalgar Square - London

Tower Bridge - London

We returned home to Kentucky and then 3 days later hopped in a car and drove the 16+ hours to South Dakota. Cori was representing Michelin at the Career Fair at the School of Mines, so it gave us a good excuse to all make the trip home. We were lucky enough to see David's sister Melissa, Eric (her husband), and Savannah (our niece) who we haven't seen since last July while we were home. They were nice enough to make the trip from Minnesota to Philip so we could all hang out for a few days. We can't believe how big Savannah has gotten and we are excited for Eric and Melissa's next little blessing expected in January.

Family Photo Day

We were able to spend some quality time with family. The brave family members decided to make the 6 mile trek up Harney Peak where we were greeted with 50 mph wind gusts. Hang on to your hats! We all got together at the Leis Family cabin and shared food (of course), games (horseshoes, checkers, spoons, croquet), and good company. We were also able to catch a few of David's "little" brothers' sporting events. It was great to get to watch them compete.

The brave Harney Peak Hiking Crew

While we were home we were able to catch up with some good friends. Our trip never seems long enough but thanks to everyone who made the effort to get together. It means a lot to us! We miss you all.

Of course, it wouldn't be typical South Dakota weather without the frequent temperature swings. We had great weather for a few days (60-70's) and then during our sight-seeing trip of Spearfish Canyon we came upon snow. Nothing like Fall colors along with a few inches of snow.

The Fall-Winter Colors at Spearfish Canyon

On our way back to Kentucky we were able to stop and see Cara (Cori's sister) in Columbia, Mo. We got to watch the Stephen's Stars win a volleyball game. Cara is a Junior this year at Stephen's College. She is liking school and doing well at sports. We are proud of her.

Cara serving up an Ace!

Just another day in paradise - Edinburgh, Scotland

Palace of Holyroodhouse - picture taken from the city observatory

Arthur's Seat in Holyrood Park - we didn't quite make it all the way to the highest point but still got a very good hike in

one view of Edinburgh taken during our hike in Holyrood Park

Edinburgh Castle and the Grassmarket from our hotel room at night

We spent another day exploring Edinburgh, this time spending most of the time on the other end of the Royal Mile. We visited the Palace of Holyroodhouse which is the official Scottish home of Queen Elizabeth and Prince Charles. We enjoyed surveying the grounds and gardens and learning a little bit more about the history of Scotland's royalty. We also took a quick walk through the Scottish Parliament.

Since it was such a beautiful day (probably at least 70 degrees), we took a few different hikes to get some amazing views of the city. David's conference begins on Thursday so tomorrow is our last day here in Scotland. We know we will miss this awesome place, but are also looking forward to being back in London and staying in a different part of the city than we did before. Hopefully the internet connection at our next hotel in London is also good so we can continue to keep updating the blog. We have enjoyed keeping this blog updated so we have a semi-diary of our adventures.

Edinburgh, Scotland

We arrived in Edinburgh (pronounced by the locals as Edinboro), Scotland and it was more beautiful than we expected. We arrived at the train station around 11:00 and walked with our luggage up a HUGE hill because David didn’t want to get a taxi. The one good thing about hauling 40 lbs of luggage and a backpack was the beautiful view – the city of Edinburgh and the Castle. Once we got to our hotel we went to our room and we were amazed at the view out of our room window. It is looking right over the Grassmarket and up at the Castle (see photo below). While we could have sat all day looking at the Edinburgh Castle through our window, we decided to get a closer look.

Our view from Room 4111

We toured the grounds at Edinburgh Castle and saw the awesome views of the city below. We also got to see the Scotland Crown Jewels which are housed there. After spending a few hours at the Castle we headed back down High Street also known as the Royal Mile.

We made a stop at the Scotland Scotch Whiskey Experience. We learned how Scotch Whiskey is made and got to sample some of the local fare. David was bold and went for a more mature whiskey with a very full, smoky flavor. The tour guide said of this specific sample: “You will either love it or hate it.” By the look on David’s face, along with the watering eyes and sporadic coughing – I would say he wasn’t a fan. We also got to see the world’s largest Scotch Whiskey collection with thousands of bottles including a few that were over a hundred years old!!

The view of the city from Edinburgh Castle

At the Scotch Whiskey Experience

We continued our walk down the Royal Mile and got to see a lot of neat shops and old building including the place where J.K. Rowling started writing the Harry Potter books, a statue of Greyfriar’s Bobby (the dog Bobby refused to leave his master’s gravesite for over 10 years and even inspired a Walt Disney Movie), and the place of the last public execution in Scotland. We went to a magnificent Cathedral – St. Giles. There was a lot of beautiful stain glass, statues, and memorials inside. We found a great little Italian restaurant for dinner and decided to turn in early. We have been going a 100 mph since we arrived in Europe, so we figured we would relax and enjoy the beautiful view from our room.

The Statue and Pub dedicated to Greyfriar's Bobby

St. Giles Cathedral

Stained Glass at St. Giles

The Grassmarket (the street our hotel is located at)

Edinburgh Cityscape

Edinburgh Castle

All Aboard!!

Just a quick update as we take the train to Edinburgh, Scotland. Had an early departure this morning and we should be arriving in Scotland in a few more hours. Hopefully the weather will be nice for us - it's a little bit cloudy now but that is probably to be expected for Scotland in September.

London: Day 3

Another busy but very fun and memorable day! We started the day by taking a walk to a really cool area of London known as Marylebone - lots of cool shops, restaurants, and buildings. Cori actually stumbled upon this area while reading a travel magazine a few months ago, so we thought it looked so cool we decided to check it out for ourselves. One of our first stops was at La Fromagerie (http://www.lafromagerie.co.uk/). For those of you who don’t speak French, fromagerie is French for cheese shop. We were able to enter “the cheese room” and sample a few of the 150 kinds of cheese. We settled on an 18 month old Cheddar that was absolutely awesome! We added a freshly baked baguette and a slice of banana cake with vanilla butter cream frosting and headed to Regent’s Park for a nice and peaceful picnic lunch. While La Fromagerie prides itself on being one of the best cheese shops in all of England, we both agreed that the highlight of the meal was the banana cake. The vanilla butter cream frosting was probably one of the best things that we have ever eaten in our lifetime.

After leaving Regent’s Park, we made our way toward Abbey Road where the Beatles recorded many famous records as well as the site of the famous album cover picture of the Beatles crossing Abbey Road.

Next, we jumped on a double decker bus and headed for Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens. Hyde Park is known for a number of famous statues (King Albert, Peter Pan) and memorials (Princess Diana Memorial Fountain was one that we visited) while Kensington Gardens is the home of Kensington Palace (one of Princess Diana’s homes). After spending at least a couple hours in Hyde Park/Kensington Gardens, we took a quick subway trip to visit the Michelin House which is the former UK headquarters for Michelin Tyre Company, and it was built in 1910. It has since been restored and is the home of Bibendum Oyster House & Deli/Marketplace. We then made our way to three of the most famous London landmarks – Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, & Parliament. We ended our night by enjoying the Thames River Festival and stopped by the Mulberry Bush Pub for the classic English meal of fish & chips.

All in all, we probably spent over 9 hours on our feet today, so we are actually looking forward to the train ride tomorrow to Edinburgh, Scotland. It is about a 4 hours train ride which will give our feet and legs a little time to recover before we start our sightseeing adventure in Edinburgh. I think we are planning to visit Edinburgh Castle as well as a scotch distillery and museum once we arrive tomorrow afternoon. Depending on the internet situation in Edinburgh, we will try and give another quick update in the next day or two so keep checking back. Cheers!!

David's own personal heaven - a room completely filled with cheese!

Regent's Park

Cori trying to not get hit by the passing traffic at Abbey Road

The Michelin House

Westminster Abbey



Look kids, Big Ben...Parliament! (Chevy Chase from Natl. Lampoon's)

Big Ben & Parliament along the Thames River

The Mulberry Bush Pub

London: Day 1 & 2

St. Paul's Cathedral and Millennium Bridge by the River Thames in London

The Market Porter Public House during our pub tour.

Windsor Castle (right) and St. George's Cathedral (left)

At the Roman Bath House in the city of Bath

By the Avon River in Bath

At Stonehenge

Piccadilly Circus at night.

We arrived safely into London after stops in the Memphis & Amsterdam airports. The flight to Europe was over 8 hours long but didn’t seem too bad because we each had our own TV screen and a wide selection of movies to choose from which helped to pass the time. We arrived at the hotel at around 4:00 p.m. London time. After a quick shower to freshen up, we headed out for a guided tour called “Along the River Thames Pub Walk”. We got to see quite a few famous London landmarks including St. Paul’s Cathedral, The Millennium Bridge, the Globe Theatre, Tate Modern museum, and of course, the Thames River. We also got to sample a few local brews at 2 pub stops, Youngs Founders Arm & The Market Porter. By the end of the night, we were completely wiped out (basically 24 hours since we started our trip with little to no sleep). We had just enough energy to grab a quick pizza before we turned in for the night.

Today (Saturday) we had another long day. We took a bus tour outside the city of London which included stops at Windsor Castle, the old Roman city of Bath, and Stonehenge. The entire tour and travel time lasted about 12 hours, but we definitely got to see many interesting and beautiful sites. First, at Windsor Castle we got to quickly tour the grounds and see some of the State Rooms inside the castle. The interior decorations are so amazing and truly fit for a queen! The city of Bath was about a 2 hour bus ride from Windsor, but it was definitely worth the wait! The city was built among 7 hills in the English countryside. It was originally founded by the Romans because of the natural hot springs that are found in the area. The main attraction of the tour was to visit the ancient Roman bath house but we found that the city of Bath itself was almost more breathtaking. While touring the city, we also passed by a rugby match and watched a cricket match for a few minutes. We both think that we could spend a few days in Bath relaxing and taking in the sights, but we were limited to only a few hours on the tour. Our final stop was at the ancient ruins of Stonehenge. You may remember this sight from the National Lampoon’s European Vacation when Chevy Chase clumsily backs into one of the stones and brings the entire monument down! However, in real life you really aren’t allowed to get that close to the stones but we did get close enough to enjoy it and snap a few pictures. Honestly, Stonehenge is something that we are glad we visited once, but don’t really have much desire to go back again! It’s basically situated in the middle of the English countryside amongst sheep and farmland so besides the rocks there isn’t much to it!

We ended the night at Piccadilly Circus which is kind of like the Times Square of London. We saw a lot of interesting things – people, buildings, and vehicles. We are planning to head back sometime during the day also.

Hopefully we will get the chance to update the blog a few more times during our trip. We can’t make any promises though because the internet situation is a little sketchy. The internet connection we are using now is in a pub by our hotel, so we really don’t mind seeking out a good brew and free wi-fi.

Cheers!