Our last day in England of this grand adventure was Monday, Dec. 7th. Dave and I dropped off Tyler and Josh at the climbing gym in Stockport and then went and did some errands. Janae didn't feel too well with her cold, so she stayed home and worked on her school classes. In the afternoon when Uncle Mick came home he got out his TT racing bike. Pretty cool! He loved to race back in the day, and he still goes to watch the races quite often.

Flying high!

Uncle Mick on the left.

For the rest of the day we packed our suitcases, did laundry, cleaning and work (Dave and Tyler) and school (Josh and Janae). After dinner we played Ripple Golf. Tyler smoked us! :)

It has been such a wonderful 3 months of traveling! We've had great experiences and met such great people. We're so glad that we chose to do this. And we're so grateful to Uncle Mick and Aunt Marian and other extended family members who opened their homes to us graciously and made this trip much more do-able, and enjoyable! It is something we 5 will remember forever! I like what Dave wrote on Facebook so I'll copy that here:

And so it comes to an end. Our trip of a lifetime, that started back on September 8th. It seems like a life time ago!

Since then we have seen 6 countries, been in more trains, planes and automobiles than I can count, and we have walked and walked, and walked. In Paris alone we walked over 100,000 steps and covered 52 miles in 8 days!

We sang Sound of Music songs with complete strangers in a bus in Austria.

We saw the crown jewels of 3 different countries. England’s are the most impressive and amazing, the Scottish have the best story, and France’s are tucked away in a corner of the Louvre, in a back room that is unmarked, just a side note in the unbelievable history of the place.

We met lots of amazing and interesting people. The woman in Mondsee, Austria who gave Michelle an Austrian charm for her charm bracelet for free. We got a picture of her cute little shop and will always treasure the memory. The church members of Kirkcaldy Scotland and their meal of home made soup and breads after Church, who were so kind and fun that they made us want to move there.

The retired folks of my aunt's walking group.

We met lots of family, even very distant cousins, but also got to know my aunts and uncles better. Of course my Aunt Marian and Uncle Mick here in Hyde who let us use their home as our home base, so that we could venture out wherever and whenever we wanted to and know we always had a home here.

Josh and Janae made the National Honor Roll, while taking classes at Mountain Heights Academy, a Utah Charter School that they have really excelled at.

I have launched new products and kept business afloat, while Michelle has become a world class travel agent and master of coordinating excursions in multiple languages and with various modes of transportation. All on sporadic and low quality WIFI.

We have eaten some amazing food, too. The Crepes at the restaurant near Versailles were heavenly. The little French bakery that charged an extortionate 4 Euro for each pastry… but were totally worth it. We had great meats in Germany and Austria, and Lemon Curd, sausage rolls, meat pies, and traditional Sunday dinners with Yorkshire Puddings here in England. And trifle.

I played some memorable rounds of golf with Peter Hughes at St. Andrews, and a variety of courses around Manchester that were outstanding.

In all it has been a most successful and fulfilling trip, and changed our lives forever. Thanks to all who made it a life improving experience for our family!