So what about this bucket list anyway?

Stonehenge, driving on the left, seeing the town of Lingwood... what is the whole bucket list all about?

By popular request, I've been asked to explain a little further about the now (in)famous "Lingwood bucket list". So here goes, an attempt to explain.

First, we're not like those guys in that movie. It's not like we have a ticking clock and we're trying to knock off a few "must dos" before the expry date. So, just so we're clear, we're both healthy and happy and looking at many decades of growing old together.

The list is more about the spirit of doing things you want to do, because you can and you have the choice and the power to make them happen. If someone suggested "want to go river rafting?" Well maybe that specific thing wasn't on your list, but suddenly you can't imagine going your whole life without ever river rafting so now it's on the list. And why wait until you're fifty or seventy or never? Do it now, or at least next month.

The bucket list is not something we have written down. It is not a list derived out of fear, but rather out of a love of life. Some things on the list are added on a whim (like singing karaoke at a dive....) Some are deeply personal and really not for sharing in a public space like a blog. Sometimes they are totally laughable, like seeing the cafe where Harry Potter was first drafted. Our bucket lists are separate, but we are happily parntered up in helping each other cross things off the list. I understand that Mark doesn't really care about a Harry Potter site and Mark gets that I'm terrified of driving on the left side of the road.

So the question isn't "what's on your bucket list?" although that does make for some very interesting conversations. The question is, "when are you going to have fun and check some things off?"

Ok, ok, I get that you still want a list. Here's a few travel related things from my current list:

-Visit all seven continents
-Visit all fifty states
-Learn another language fluently
-Drive my kids from coast to coast without the constant use of a DVD player, Nintendo DS, or equivalent
-Boston in the fall
-Watch the Huskies win that game that is played in Pasadena, and attend the parade beforehand.
-Beat the original Oregon Trail game

What's on your list? Do you add more things once you've checked some off?

Harry's #1 fan visits the UK

Can you identify which book any quote belongs to?
Does your heart skip a beat if you hear the theme song and start to watch a trailer for the upcoming movie?
Do you belong to one or more online fan communities or subscribe to any fan news sites via RSS or google reader, twitter, etc?

If you answered "no" to any of the above, or if you think HP is a computer brand, feel free to skip this post. If you think it's awesome that I got to do some HP fan site seeing, keep on reading!!

The first thing I saw was the Moray House School of Education where JK Rowling got her teaching certificate. She only spent a brief time of her life as a French teacher, but I like thinking that my hero has had the experience of being called teacher. Unfortunately the only picture I could grab of it was not great, and actually the site itself wasn't great but the experience was!

Below: Lots of pictures from the Elephant House!

We found it!

Did you know it was the birthplace of Harry Potter?

It has received a lot of press

Can't argue with a plaque

Quality to back it up too!

Oh I miss the espresso!  

More press 

Wall of fame

Justification for the expensive mocha...

Why yes, I bought the coffee cup. 

Coming out of the loo...

Inspiration for Hogwarts

One of my heroes, for sure.

Still in a bit of shock that I am actually here

On our last day in Edinburgh, we made it to the Elephant Cafe, where Jo drafted (long hand!) much of the first few books at a table with a view of the Edinburgh Castle. Now the cafe is pretty touristy with "birthplace of Harry Potter!!!!" stuff all over it and lines of fanatics like myself patiently waiting with giddy grins to get our pictures taken. Mark and I ordered coffees and the loo was graffitied with things like "Good luck, Harry, wherever you are" and "If you read this Harry, we're all behind you!" and "Long live Harry Potter!" Since I don't expect most of you to actually get it... those are direct quotes from the graffiti on the statue at the Potter's home in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. As you can see from the above pictures, it was quite an experience. 

Balmoral Hotel

On our way of out Edinburgh, we saw the Balmoral Hotel where Jo finished book 7. She famously left a signed statement on a bust of Hermes in her room saying "JK Rowling finished writing Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows in this room (652) on 11th Jan 2007." According to America's most reliable source, Wikipedia, she was later fined for the removal of the graffiti.

Below: King's Cross Station

On our trip to London, we arrived via King's Cross Station. No trip to King's Cross Station would be complete without stopping at Platform 9 3/4. Though the Elephant Cafe was cool, this was way better! Even though they had added a little trolley through the wall, it was completely unassuming. One of the best parts was waiting in line with people from all over the world, representing several different languages and cultures, all with huge giddy grins on our faces. One of the guys in front of us (I think he might have been Japanese?) took the time with his friend to have his picture while he posed in an accurate representation of each of the entrances through the platform: running, crashing into the wall, leaning casually, escorted, etc. At this point Mark finally realized how big the HP phenomenon actually is, compared me to a Trekkie, and I just said... yes.

And then just when I thought the tour was over, we were transferring trains and I saw this! Obscure, and all the better for it.

So there you have it. I barely scratched the surface of Harry Potter sightseeing available in the UK, and of course someday I still want to meet Jo herself, but for now I did something totally awesome!

Lingwood, England

Let me take you back about, oh, seven years ago. Mark and I were on some camping or road trip or another when we happened through the town of Brady, Washington. Unfortunately this was before the time of prolific digital cameras and neither of us were really into taking pictures, so we have no actual account of the visit other than a completely inappropriate shot glass. Mark managed to look up and discover that in the world there existed a town of Lingwood. However, as it was located in England, we always thought it would be far off before we had the opportunity to visit.

Fast forward to last spring, when the wheels got put in motion for us to take our trip out to Cambridge. One of the very first things Mark said we needed to do was go visit Lingwood. He figured out the train schedule and before I knew it, we had plans to train out to the tiny little town of Lingwood.

This is the cute little train station.

Still cute and little.

Very cool to see our name in the standard wherry lines sign format!

Poor dilapidated sign... 

The post office is also the general store. Look closely and you can see my completely shocked face in the reflection. I am a city girl. 

In the 30 minutes between trains, we walked through the entire town and I'm pretty sure we took pictures of every Lingwood sign we could find. And then still had time to do dorky photo shoots (found in our Picasa albums).

Desolate park...the only people we ran into were kids shouting about weed. No, we do not think small towns are safer than big cities.

Two of the most bored birds in the world.

I am so glad that my idea of being a Lingwood lady is not... this.

Apparently in small towns like this pubs put up their "food tonight" sign on nights when they are serving food.

The approaching train... to take us back to Cambridge. We were glad we went to Lingwood, but who knew it could have been smaller than Brady, WA? 

These are the guys we met on the train back. They downed an entire bottle of Jack in their hour ride. They thought we were the coolest people they had ever met because 1) we were American and 2) we did something as crazy as visit Lingwood because of its namesake. We thought they were cool because they thought we were cool and they were British.

So there you have it: Lingwood, England! Another thing off the bucket list, and another crazy story to tell.