Thursday March 29, 2001-raining off and on Well we got up at 1pm, 13 hours after going to bed and I could have slept even more. We went to Mum & Dad's again and had some lunch. Then we took Dad to Warwick Castle. Wayne & I had visited this castle on our last trip to England two years ago and I loved it so I wanted to see it again. We spent about 2 hours wandering in and around the castle and about died climbing the tower. No wonder they have a sign at the entrance saying that the elderly and people with heart conditions should not climb it. We were all huffing and puffing when we reached the top. It's such a beautiful castle and it was decorated wonderfully with wax figures from the world famous Tussaud's Group, who we later found out actually owns the castle too. After we were done at Warwick Castle, we went and picked Mum up and the four of us went out to dinner at a pub just down the road from our hotel. Then we dropped Mum off at home and Wayne, Dad, & I went to the hospital club again. Craig was DJing a party there and he let us in. It was a great time although the smoke was starting to get to me. So many people smoke in England, it's the complete opposite to California where you can't really smoke anywhere. I'm just not used to being in all that smoke. About 11:45 pm we headed back to the hotel and off to bed. We ordered breakfast for tomorrow morning and asked that it be delivered to the room at 10am This way we will have to get up earlier.

Friday March 30, 2001-cloudy but no rain Well I had next to no sleep last night. I just could not fall asleep until about 6am and the alarm went off at 9am. So I got up when the alarm went off and had my shower. Breakfast was there when I got out of the shower, and it was delicious. After eating we went out and bought Dad a computer, then we spent the majority of the day getting him online. He seems to really enjoy learning about the internet and how to send emails. After we were done at Mum & Dad's we stopped in at Craig's and the three of us went to a fish & chips shop, or "chippy" as the brits call it, and I had a proper fish and chips. It was very good, a lot better than the US versions. After that we spent about an hour or two at the hospital club, then came back to the hotel.

Saturday March 31, 2001-cloudy but no rain I had a bit more sleep last night. I was able to fall asleep but kept waking up throughout the night. Wayne seems to handle this jet lag thing a lot better than I do. We took Dad to Kenilworth castle around 11am. Basically it is castle ruins, but it was still neat to see the architecture from so long ago. It's amazing how much of the castle was still standing considering its age. It was built around 1125. But what's really fascinating is that Warwick castle is slightly older than Kenilworth castle and it is in perfect shape. They much have done quite a bit of work on Warwick Castle to get it looking so good. The tour of Kenilworth took about 1 1/2 hours, after that we went to Coombe Abbey to look around. They had just re-opened to the public after closing at the beginning of the Foot & Mouth outbreak. The main building was originally a 12th century abbey (a monastery ) but is now a very expensive hotel. The grounds are beautiful with manicured gardens and a small stream with ducks, geese, & swans swimming in it. The surrounding areas are more wooded and there is a grove of redwoods imported from Canada. When we finished at Coombe Abbey, Dad dropped us off at our hotel so we could freshen up and change clothes for Dad's big retirement party tonight. We napped for an hour and then got ready for the party. Mum and Dad picked us up in front of the hotel. We arrived at the Hospital Club around 7:30pm and shortly after we arrived, the rest of the guests began to pour in. There was over 80 people that came to wish Dad a Happy 65th birthday and a great retirement. It was a wonderful party and it was very clear that Dad enjoyed himself immensely. The party ended at 11:30 pm and Wayne & I went with Craig & Frank and a bunch or their friends to a club in downtown Coventry. We stayed there for 2 hours and I had so much fun I was actually dancing!! Anyone who knows me, knows that I do not like to dance because I can't do it well at all, but I did anyway....probably because it was dark in there. We left the club at 2am and walked to where you are supposed to wait to get a taxi. There were only about 3 other small groups in front of us but it still took 2 hours to get a cab because they weren't coming very often. We later found out that this is because there were people lined up all along the road that parallels the road we were on and since the cabs had to pass them in order to even get to us, they were all getting picked up instead because the drivers wanted to get more fares quickly. We finally got back to the hotel at 4am and went to be absolutely exhausted!

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