Croydon!

I arrived safely in Croydon - after battling through the London 'Tube' (Subway) yesterday. My carry-on weighs A LOT - official weight pending. ;) I also have a small back-pack and laptop case which I believe both weigh about 10# each...I think I shall be very fit by the end of this trip :D I was met just 10 minutes after I arrived at the East Croydon train station by Kate Jenkins.

Philip and Kate have known me since before I was born and their youngest son, Mark, and I were in 'creche' together as babies - kind of weird to think about.

Today I went into 'downtown' Croydon to 'window' shop. I wisely took only £10 with me...I'm not very good at 'just looking' :) I did make a list of some of the things I saw that I want to get later. My suitcase will get lighter as I go - since a lot of it is hostess gifts...nothing like filling it right back up again though, is there?

I walked or sort of stumbled into a shop called Allders which I later found out was one of the outside entrances to WhitGift Centre - a very large indoor market/mall type place! Very nice - has a clear roof on it so one can see out but as Dad pointed out - keeps the rain out! I found a favourite shop of ours from years ago ;) Past Times - loved it! Picked up two items and added a few more to my 'list'. Found a few card shops, an odds and ends shop, and a few higher  priced sortof J.C. Penney or Sears type shops. Then I went back the same way I had wandered in and got a 'bite to eat' - cheese and onion pasty!

I then wandered around downtown. Seeing the sights and the cute billboards:

  I did this until I decided I was tired enough that I wanted to start heading 'home'. I turned around and walked back towards the city center - just as I was thinking I wasn't sure I knew where I was - there was the Electric House where I'd been dropped off! Of course Bus 194 was taking passengers but it was going on not back. I needed to go back! Not thinking quite clearly I crossed the street and got on a Bus 198 - that followed the 194 bus. Maybe this was the 'home' bus? Time: 2:30pm 

Oh dear - I rode it to Monk's Orchard - too far. So when I alighted and started down what I thought was the way I had come I was turned around and went the wrong way - figured it out when I came to Bethlehem Hospital which was totally unfamiliar. So went back to my original starting place. But I again headed the wrong direction - but then did get some directions and started off again! Once I was back at my starting place for the THIRD time - I asked a shop owner who pointed me in the right direction - told me to get on a bus that way and just go - but I decided to walk it? Not sure why!

But walk it I did. I was looking for Shirley Road - and couldn't remember the house number! (They actually live on Shirley Way) So I walked for 'ages' (a long time) along Wickham Road - I never did like Wickham (for my Pride and Prejudice readers) ;) then found Upper Shirley Road - maybe upper turned into just Shirley? And Trinity School was on the corner. That was a plus - I remembered passing that on the way in this morning. But which direction had I seen it from? We were on a Round About - so not too much help...Oh for a MAP! The little tiny ones at the bus stops weren't much help.

Well turns out Upper Shirley was not where I wanted to go. It turned into Shirley Hills Road - which a) I didn't recognize and b) I didn't want to climb! All phone calls were to no avail - those who may have been able to help were out or not in the Office/near a computer with e-mail...I only had the house phone number on my mobile that I had been lent (foolish me) so I couldn't get ahold of the Jenkins as they were at work.

Keep praying and keep going. Even if it means back the way I'd just come! Alright. The bus numbers were now not showing 194 at all so I was obviously not on the right track! Back down Upper Shirley  after a 10 minute rest at a bus stop.

Found a little bigger bus stop with a 'mark your route' map - YAY! At least I could kindof see where I was wanting to go? Follow the purple line for 194...got it. A,B,C, or Y stops will take me there. Took a turn onto Shirley Church Road. I wasn't doing so badly, I began to think: "Yes I am a little cold - but I've got a good warm coat on, and my feet are tired but-" at which point a blister on the back of my heel burst - causing a burning pain to be felt with each subsequent step. Ahhh! But I knew if I stopped I'd find it harder to keep going.

Walk I did and eventually found Bus stop 'C' - so waited. But I was cold so went into a co-op (small grocery store) to have a look 'round. Of course by the time I came out...Bus 194 was just pulling away :( So I watched it and saw it turn down 'Hartland' further up. I trudged on after it got to Bus stop 'Y' and waited - there are 10-13 minutes between each bus. I pulled out a funny book of sayings I'd bought at Past Times - Now Panic and Freak Out! Until the next 194 showed itself.

Ok back on Bus 194, took me down and around and I never would've gotten to Shirley WAY without it!Good thing I never did 'find' Shirley ROAD! Then still didn't know the house number - but walked and found a few things from this morning that looked familiar - the bus stop I'd gotten on, a footpath/no cycling sign. Now I just needed to find a house without a car in the front. The first one was facing the wrong direction and the second one looked fairly familiar. Number 65. Didn't ring a bell - but the key fit and I was in and home at long last! It was now 5:40pm. What should've only taken me half an hour had I got on Bus 194 to start with had taken me over 3 hours!

Below is a map of the area and below that my traced route - I hope you can read all the little writings? :) If not at least you can see the random colour changes? But I'm hoping you can zoom in if necessary :D

In 20 minutes of my arrival home, Phillip got back from work! I was glad he'd not had to come out and 'fetch' me, and that the sun had not completely left the sky before I'd made it home. Goodness that would've been scarier yet!

Just a few minutes to relate the scariness and then it was off to Girl's Brigade for testimony and sharing! They ranged in age from 8/9 to 14/15. There were approximately 25 girls I'd say? Plus the leaders somewhere around 30 people where there - eeek! :D I focused a little more on the educational aspect of my testimony since they are all in school and would probably be able to relate more to that. Taking things one step at a time. Ps 138:8 my verse from God after I failed Maternity. "The LORD will perfect that which concerneth me:" and then His giving of a 4.0 for then next semester - that a 4.0 was perfect (since their school system is different some extra explanation was needed). They were all very attentive and the younger ones were the ones that asked questions. After they broke back up into smaller groups (the 'juniors' being the 10 and younger and the Yr 7-Yr10 being the older 12-15), one of the girls in Yr 10 came bounding over to talk with me as did one of her friends. So that was great! They had a bit of teaching on City Safety and then they broke for 'tuck'. Meaning candy time!

Jill and Sarah are behind the counter and Rohanna and Phillip are talking

(This post was written on 11/09/11 and took me a good part of 11/10/11 to finish and post!)
Thank you again for praying - I really appreciated it yesterday!