Our alarm woke us at 7 am. Got up and showered. Organized our suitcase. Then headed downstairs and out the back door, just before 8 am. The owners of our b&b lived two doors down which is where breakfast was served. We met up with one other couple, who were from Ottawa, Canada. They are in England for a few days, prior to heading to Southampton to take a Celebrity Baltic cruise. Enjoyed a very tasty breakfast. We headed back to the Churchill Guest House and finished packing. We took our suitcases down to the car, which was parked close by on the street. Started our drive around 9 am to the east side of London. We stopped once to get fuel. It was a Shell station that did not have restroom. So, we headed back to the M1 and found another Shell station with restrooms. The traffic was backed up once we got close to the city. There was one car accident and they were tying up a lane, which slowed us down. We went thru a couple of lengthy tunnels and eventually arrived at the pre-arranged restaurant Coborn Pub. Victoria was there, working away. We had such a lovely visit. Lunch was good, but the portions were way too big. I am not sure how we managed to not take any pictures. Thanks, Victoria for meeting up with us. We could not find any parking lots around the restaurant, so we just parked on the street. It was for permitted cars only. Just as we headed to the car, we noticed a meter patrol guy at our car. When we got close to him, I asked him to be kind as we could not find parking and we were only there for today and leaving. He decided to walk away. I hope that means we are not getting a parking ticket. We headed over a few streets to the Dr Who Store which housed a Dr Who Museum. Again, there was no parking lot, only a side street with permitted parked cars. Mark took a chance once again and thankfully, no one patrolled that street. We walked over to the store and checked out their Dr Who merchandise. Mark paid 3 Pounds each for our entry to the museum. We entered thru one of their Tardis Police Call Boxes. We were warned that we could not take any pictures in the museum as everything was copyrighted. They had lots of costumes and pieces from many of the shows. My favorite was the Van Gogh painting where he added, 'To Amy'. Mark loved the Weeping Angels. It was interesting. We didn't stay much longer. Our car was safe in the spot where we left it. Mark found a cell phone store to get them to figure out why we do not have data, after paying for a month's service. I told him to stop on the side and if someone complained, I would drive around the block. The store was able to reset something on the phone. We now have his UK sim carded cell phone working. Lots of stores around there. I was surprised at the amount of litter and trash on the streets. They had plenty of trash bins, but no one is using them in the big city. I thought the Brits had a higher sense of cleanliness.
The next stop was to Waltham Abbey where Mark booked us into a Marriott hotel. We got our room and got connected to their wifi. Answered a lots of emails and made some plans for the next few days. Tomorrow's drive to Nottingham got moved to Saturday. So, tomorrow will be an interesting day for us. Mark's cousin suggested that we visit Avebury. After doing some research, it definitely peaked my interest. We may also drive back to Stonehenge as we fill my birthday with some stunning places to visit. Today, was surprisingly warmer. Our highs were in the upper 70's. I still wore my sweater but we didn't need our jackets. The sun felts nice and hot. Thanks for all the emails and messages. We decided to take a drive thru the town of Waltham Abbey. There were many row houses as well as single and double units. Everything looked nice and clean here. We stopped at the Queens Head pub for a light dinner. Mark got to try a local beer. After we finished, we drove back to our hotel which actually has a beautiful indoor swimming pool and gym. However, neither of us are feeling enough energy to partake today. We are watching the movie, 8 Days to the Moon and Back, on our tv. All is well here!