Last day in London, final night of trip

And our trip has pretty much come to an end. We just finished watching The Lion King as a play. It was in another class, really ... in terms of entertainment value, I put it behind Les Miserables and A Midsummers Night's Dream, but it was still a great performance to watch.

Last night we hung out with my British friend Elinor and her boyfriend John, who just happens to be from the Chicago area. However, he has picked up enough of the English accent in the past 2 years that he was really starting to sound British.

Today we went to the Cabinet War Rooms (from WWII) and the Churchill Museum, as well as the Imperial War Museum. Now, Rick Steves said we only needed 2 hours at the Imperial War Museum, but let me tell you ... that was the best war museum I have ever been in. They had a re-creation of a WWI trench, complete with smells. Tons of exhibits and complete rockets and tanks. I didn't even get to see half of the exhibits. Rick Steves, you have failed me yet again. I think he is getting sloppy.

The weather here has been gorgeous the last few days - probably getting us prepared for the weather back home, which luckily is NOT in the 100s like it was when we left. According to Weather.com, it appears to be partly cloudy/sunny and near 75 degrees all next week. Happy Labor Day weekend, everybody.

We arrive back in Portland at around 11 PM on Sunday. We have a 3 1/2 hour layover in Minneapolis / St. Paul, so we are going to try and do something touristy like go to the Mall of America so we can say we've been to Minnesota. A stretch, but it's within the rules.

Rachel, you're still traveling, lucky girl. If you are writing stuff somewhere else, let us know. You completed our travel group; it just isn't the same without you.

I don't expect us to write another post until we return, so thanks for reading and goodbye British Isles - I will miss your accents, beautiful views and rich history. But I won't miss your rain, since I will be getting enough of that soon anyway.