prep prep prep

Final prep for our England trip today; our flight leaves tomorrow. I've been hitting all three local libraries and combing the travel guides for data, free! God bless libraries.

I am very very sad that we will be missing these events in Wales:

http://llanwrtyd-wells.powys.org.uk/eventbogbike.htm

and

http://llanwrtyd-wells.powys.org.uk/bog.html

But I hope at least we might be able to watch some Welsh TV. I've not heard the language before and am uber-curious.

We might be able to take a jaunt up to Hadrian's wall. The idea of a wall that keeps barbarians on one side and civilized people on the other is kind of fascinating, isn't it? Octavia Butler's Parable of the Sower starts out with such a concept. Great Wall of China, of course. And it reminds me of the big ugly walls they build alongside the freeways, though that is probably more for noise control than to keep freeway mauraders from invading the carbon-copy townhomes. (Mauraders would have more taste than to target places like *that,* no?)

Yes. Packing sketchbook and watercolors and a hat and a bike helmet. Englaterra, ahoy!