The Itinerary...

This is going to be quite the multi-part trip. Part one is theoretically a high school reunion in the Bay Area. That will be a weekend with my family and friends and should be quite nice. The weather should also be respectable. If there is time, I would like to go see the Post-Impressionist exhibit at the De Young in Golden Gate Park.
from here.
Then we fly to Newark. Matt has a cousin in Hoboken who got married this summer. We missed the wedding, so we will stop there for about three days before we head out. I hope to hit a museum or two while we are so close to NYC. I am trying to think of a wedding gift or at least some sort of hostess gift as we will be crashing there. The happy couple didn't register as they are both older and have kids from prior marriages and tons of stuff. And I think they may have eloped and we may have just missed an after-party of some sort. I'd just bring some nice wine but we aren't checking bags, so no liquids :(

THEN we fly to Manchester and take a train to Skipton and a cab or something to Earby. This is in North Yorkshire, a.k.a. the Yorkshire Dales, as made famous by James Herriot in All Creatures Great and Small. Depending on who you ask it may be in Yorkshire or Lancashire because apparently they changed the boundary years ago and the locals didn't appreciate it very much. We will be staying with Matt's grandad in a large old cold damp house so that is one more thing to pack for. We are having some quality family time here and helping out around the house, I am not sure what I will do so I will probably offer to do some cooking or gardening if there is anything I can help with.

from here. This is down the street.
Lastly we are having a bit of time on our own - Matt is a rabid atheist but adores cathedrals (go figure) so we are taking a weekend trip of our own to Durham. I figure a nice weekend pottering around town looking at castles and staying in some little B&B sounds like a nice end to a big family trip.


from here.

So don't ask me how I am going to do all this with only a carry-on. My two saving graces are 1. I can leave the warm-weather stuff in Los Gatos (no need for sandals anywhere else), and 2. we will be staying with family almost the whole trip so I can do laundry. So I really only need to pack for maybe five days at a stretch. Five cold, damp days.