What a joy to make a trip to London with new-found friends, Ron and Betsey. Betsey is a distant cousin of mine -- a Kinlaw. We met these two great people while attending a Kinlaw family reunion in June of 2006.

Here they are seated on the airplane prior to our departure from Chicago's O'Hare International Airport.

I took this from the plane after our "push back." As you can see, Chicago was having "weather" that day! ha

We had just risen above the clouds after leaving O'Hare. The plane had to be de-iced prior to the push back, so the windows were coated with the chemical used in the process. It adds little sparkles to the above photo of the first glimpse of the afternoon sun.

Soon, all we could see was a cottony blanket of clouds.

One of the lobbies of the County Hall Marriott, located right at the Thames River and Westminster Bridge. (There are huge floral arrangements like this one all over the hotel!)