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Day 1: IAD—LHR—Waterloo, London

Well, we are finally on our way back to the UK as a family! I love to early for a flight as I enjoy the Virgin 1st Class Clubhouse. Yes, I am a bougie snob but I’m also adorable. Unfortunately, the check-in desk for our flight didn’t open until 6:55 and we arrived at 5:45 and I should also mention I am the only member of the Family Koog that is flying Virgin Upper Class. Before I am judged let me explain. I offered, nee, begged Mrs. Koog to join me in my lay-flat-bed-and-free-pajama-oasis but she refused. I told her that while I respected her decision to go economy with the kids, I should not be punished for her poor choices, so 3 economy seats and 1 upper class for the Koog Family on this trip. Anyway, we waited our hour in line and enjoyed watching the passengers for Qatar Airlines come though the line with countless bags, boxes, suitcases and laundry baskets (no joke). I loved seeing the multigenerational families traveling together. Especially the little kids and grandparents. I ...
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Luckily, I am frugal and outdoorsy…

The planning for our 2026 UK trip began in February in Deep Creek Lake, MD. For Christmas, my gift to the FamilyKoog was a 5 day trip to the mountains complete with skiing, shopping and ice caving. They were only thrilled with the first 2 of those activities, by the way. In true Koog fashion, I was planning the next adventure before ending the one we were on; so Mrs. Koog and I were sitting in the ski lodge at Wisp Resort talking about doing the UK again. She agreed that while our 2023 trip was magical, no one was able to enjoy London because of the exhaustion at the end of the trip and the entire trip was a bit overshadowed by our traumatic return to hear of her breast cancer diagnosis. But, that was 3 years ago and she is back to her healthy and amazing self, Thank God! Finally finished with their last run, the Twin Koogs found us in the lodge to swindle some cash and returned with their lunch trays packed with 2 large pizzas EACH, copious amounts of fries and the larges bucket of...
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How not to drive in the UK. A cautionary tale…

When we were in the UK for a month in 2023, Mrs. Koog did all the driving. I will admit, she hit nothing and no one. She got us safely from London to Bath to North Wales to Liverpool and all over Scotland until we turned in our car in Edinburgh. And when we turned in that car, it was pristine. No dings, dents, scratches or bumps. As I have written in the past few entries my trip was magical and healing and all those things trips should be. With one exception, driving. I was nervous when I booked the trip that I would forget to stay to the left and cause an international incident on the M4. Apparently, staying to the left would not be the problem. No, my problem was staying too far to the left. For some reason, I completely lost my depth perception on the left (passenger side). This issue wasn’t a real problem on the motorway as there was a shoulder and every time I’d cross the line I was able to correct immediately. The drive from Heathrow to Conwy, Wales was uneventful until I go...
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Photos from the trip

Here are the photo galleries from the trip. Please click on "Read More" to access clickable links. If there are issues with the links please post a comment and it will come directly to my email. I hope you enjoy looking at them as much as I enjoyed capturing them. Eryri: adobe.ly/41nT3xu Aqueduct: adobe.ly/4hGOzrQ London: adobe.ly/3DSCfXy
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Wrexham—>London—>LHR (March 8-14)

Saturday, I woke up in Wrexham in the beautiful Butler’s Flat at Cefn Park under a lovely down comforter. Remember, yesterday I hiked more than 10 miles up and down a mountain. As I went to get out of bed, my body was like “oh, hell no!”. My legs were like jello. After doing the requisite morning things (bathroom and making tea), I practiced some of the stretches my trainer taught me and took some Ibuprofen which did the trick to get my legs moving again. After stretching and a cup of Earl Grey, I FaceTimed my family to give them a virtual tour of my cozy little place. As I showed Mrs. Koog the view of the courtyard and she asked the rather innocuous question, “is that a dent in your car?”. I said no it was probably distortion since the windows of the place were leaded. Mrs. Koog’s question was movie-worthy foreshadowing… Knowing that my body would be sore, I planned today to be a relaxing day; get gas, get food, and wander around Wrexham‘s town center. I was excited to have dinne...
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IAD—>LHR—>Conwy—>Snowdonia—>Wrexham (March 5-7)

After a tough go these past few months, I am off on a short solo trip to find myself again. For some reason, I think I may be lost on a mountain in North Wales. Yes, it is a strange place for someone that hates to fly, has a fear of heights and hasn’t really loved the outdoors for the past say 50 years. I am a very, very, very fearful flyer. This trip was strangely different. Sure, it may be the meds but I had almost no anxiety about the flight. This calmness made me nervous. Poor Mrs. Koog had to listen to my nervous banter about being calm for an entire morning. Is this how normal people travel? I must have asked her this question 100 times in 100 different ways. I may have also asked in Spanish, German and Welsh. Anyway, I got to the airport and was able to use my charm, good looks and credit card to upgrade to first class for a couple hundred bucks. I don’t want to discount my charm and good looks, but it seemed the lady was mostly interested in the credit card. The Virgin At...
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Broken

Hello Koog Fans! It’s been a minute since I’ve posted.Those that actually know me, understand life has thrown a lot at me these past 18 months or so. I think it’s important to be honest about my hiatus, I have been taking care of my mental health. In the span of 18 months, Mrs. Koog had breast cancer and a double mastectomy, I was diagnosed with psoriatic arthritis, Mrs. Koog endured painful reconstruction, then complications with reconstruction and one final surgery on July 5, then Momma Koog got sick, then Momma Koog got sicker, then Momma Koog moved into our family room, then we had our house turned upside down for hardwood floors upstairs and finally we had a chairlift installed so Momma Koog could have an actual bedroom with an actual bathroom. Oh yeah, I also had a full body blister rash that started in October and was not going away in spite of the dermatologist giving me every frickin cream, gel and lotion known to man. And it itched. And it wasn’t chicken pox or shingles, it...
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Winter-Part 2

When Mrs. Koog got the breast cancer diagnosis, she decided her course of treatment would be double mastectomy with autologous reconstruction. Since they couldn't do the surgery in one procedure due to surgical suite availability for the duration of the ~20 hour surgery, it was done in 2 parts. Double mastectomy and implants for a while then the autologous reconstruction a few months later. While Mrs. Koog looked amazing with her new bubbies, they were aggressive. Like Real Housewives aggressive. That look is really not Mrs. K's jam. Plus, she had many nightmares of puncturing those babies while she did one of her less glamorous chores like chainsawing trees or digging ditches. Suffice it to say, she wanted them out and her own tissue in. The plastic surgeon she sees is amazing. And very handsome. And he looks like he is 14. Anyway, he could not stop admiring his handiwork at every appointment. It was almost creepy...almost. He was very honest about the surgery and the rec...
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