Mt. Whitney~ "They Made It In One Day!"

Monday August 2, 2010 will be a day our family remembers for quite some time. Jay and Dan, along with two friends Dave and Jennifer hiked Mt. Whitney. It took them 15 hours! They were up at 1 a.m. preparing to leave the motel and be ready to begin the hike no later than 3 a.m. I can't imagine being up at that hour! Anyway, it has been reported that they saw a great sunrise and that the weather was most agreeable. Those are the "good" facts.

They said it was like no other experience. It was desolate and just went on and on and on. Fortunately they took altitude sickness pills and that became a non-issue. Near the top the air was thin and they could hardly walk. I think the downhill was quicker, but Dan was pretty wobbly once they got to the bottom. He said he would not have made it

without the poles. I really have nothing else to say, but if you go to http://www.ultrajay.com you can get a better sense of the day. I am including a few of the pictures here.

A Field Trip

Today the Motley Monday retirees went on a local field trip. Right here in Point Loma at Liberty Station (you know the old naval barracks) is a non-denominational church. It is no longer used by the US Navy, but is rented out to the community. Lots of history and a neat place. Thought of Jay and Heidi. It has beautiful stained glass windows, a pipe organ, choir loft, wooden pews and kneelers, a raised pulpit and alter. There is a smaller room off to the side that is for Catholic mass because it has confessionals and a different alter. It is very plain on the inside, but just lovely. After the tour we headed down the walkway to a new restaurant called Tender Greens. If you want a GREAT salad, this is the place to go. It was packed, so obviously Point Loma residents know the place. The steak sandwich and grilled veggies I had was amazing! Not a bad field trip for us retired folks.

Night Before the Hike

Dan, Jay, and friends Dave and Jennifer are hiking Mr. Whitney tomorrow. They have been training for a month or so making weekend trips to San Jacinto Mountains to train at higher elevations. The hike begins at around 8,000 feet and goes up to 14,500 feet. Their plan is to begin the hike around 3 a.m. on August 2nd. They hope to then reach the summit by noon and begin the decent. The downhill should be about 2 hours shorter although I think it is harder on the knees and legs.

They are hoping for good weather and for the heat to break a bit. Yesterday and today the temperatures were in the 100s. It should be in the 50s at the top. Their packs have water and an assortment of clothes, first aide items, a GPS watch, and food snacks.

I'll keep you posted...

Salisbury Cathedral

Salisbury Cathedral was our next stop. It is famous for having the tallest spire at 404 ft. It also houses the finest of only four surviving originals of the Magna Carta (1250). This ataructure is larger than Winchester Cathedral which is just amazing! It also houses Europe's oldest working clock (1386)

Since it was late when we were there, we stayed for the Eveningsong. Eveningsong is an Anglican service similar to a Catholic mass. We heard the girl's choir during the service. They sang in the original choir stalls that are the oldest in Britain. What was amazing,

besides their voices, was the acoustics. In early times, attendees were never up with the clergy. They sat in another area and could only "hear" what was going on. The sound was amazing! How could they have possibly designed that all those years ago.

Both Salisbury and Winchester cathedrals survived WWI and II because the spires were used as landmarks for planes.

Stonehenge

Stonehenge was a place I had always wanted to go and see, but never dreamed it would become a reality. We were pressed for time and the lines to go into the interior part of the monument were quite long and expensive, so we opted to walk along the perimeter. I had to hold the camera up above the chain link fence to get the shots. I wish we could have stayed longer, but England in 36 hours was a challenge! And you can be sure we didn't do it, but it was fun to see all that we had time for.

Winchester Cathedral

The historic Winchester Cathedral was absolutely spectacular! I do not have words to
describe the enormity of the building. How in the world did these ancient craftsmen create such mammoth structures out of marble and granite and maintain such detail?

The cathedral was built hundreds of years ago and tells the tale of life we can only imagine. Winchester Cathedral was begun by the Normans in 1075 and completed in the 1500s. In the early 1900 part of the cathedral was starting to sink and a diver was brought in to rebuild the underpinnings. Not only is the stone work amazing, but the interior woodwork and stained glass is spectacular. We spent about two hours here before dashing off to the next stop. Guess where?

Load 'Em Up

Once we got off the ship Carol headed for Hertz and rented us a car for our quick tour of Winchester Cathedral, Stonehenge, Salisbury Cathedral, Bath and Windsor Castle. We piled into the great little KIA with the 4 of us and 10 pieces of luggage! Carol drove like a champ on the "wrong" side of the road. We really looked like tourists especially with the suitcase bungied to the roof. LOL!