In Sept 2008 five friends from America ~ Mo, Wendy, Jane, Krista and Bev ~ went to England to walk the famous Coast to Coast trek. 192 miles in 16 days. Along the way we struck up a friendship with an English couple, Gordon & Vicky ~ who were also on the C2C (their second time). Over countless pints and miles of tramping through the English countryside, a wonderful and lasting friendship was born. After returning home to California we kept in close touch over the next two years, and in Sept of 2010 Gordon & Vicky flew across the pond and the "California Dreamers" ~ as they had dubbed us ~ took them on the California Dream Tour for 21 days. As that time came to a close there was talk of where we should all meet up next. And that brings us to the cusp of this great New Zealand adventure! The spouses have become a fun and welcome addition to this eclectic, adventurous and oh so fun group. The only sad note to this new adventure is that one of the Dreamers is unable to be with us, but we will find a way each day to make sure she is included from afar.
We are ready to go. All are talking about how to pack... This will be our third adventure together. Actually my second time. I missed the first adventure in England. Bev found that trip in a Smithsonian magazine. Jane has told me so much about the 5 friends and who did what and who said what, that I can quote and picture every step of the Coast to Coast trail across England. The second trip together was when the original 5 girls invited a couple, that they met in England, to California for 3 weeks. Vicky & Gordon blindly put money in Jane's paypal account to prepay for the trip to California and prayed that we would show up to meet them at the airport. We did. What a great time I had getting to know this group, and we couldn't part ways at the end of that trip without talking about the next adventure. That was three and a half years ago and we've been saving for New Zealand ever since. It's now three days till we fly to NZ and we're just now learning to blog... Follow us. Tom
ReplyDelete