Sarum, The Novel of England

Sarum: The Novel of England by Edward Rutherfurd
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I just finished this book of 1000+ pages. I highly recommend it to you. It is a must read if you want to know how we humans got to this point.

Warning: It is a historical fiction. It is not a saga of the four families involved in the history. The families are included as a way to move the history along. They are co-stars with the evolution of how we got to where we are today. The story begins around 7500 BC somewhere south of the North Pole and includes the first of the families. They settle in southeastern Britain in Sarum.

It will continue through the centuries until the close of the story in 1985 AD. It is a long read, but you will not be bored. You will not have to wade through the information year by year. Several time periods are skipped before you get to the next part of the journey. The only thing I found disconcerting was his habit of venturing off to another story before he gets back to the original story. (You probably have a friend that does that. I do. By the time we get back to the original story I have forgotten what it was.)

Take the time to read it. You will be glad you did.

View all my reviews

50 States in 50 Years Nos. 2 - 3 - 4

Montana No. 4

Wyoming No. 3

Idaho No. 2

Idaho and Montana. Two of these last three states are what  I call 'through' states. I went through them on the way from or to somewhere else. There is not much to say about either of them: except, I can count them as part of the quest. 

Going through Montana I felt I was at the top of the world. The sky seemed endless to me. There was nothing along the horizon except the curve of the earth. 

In 1977 we were on the way to Yellowstone and swung through Billings, Montana, to say we had been there. 

We took a day to drive through Yellowstone. 

We did not see one animal, but were lucky enough to see Old Faithful let off steam.

and get a picture of the upper falls. From there we went to Jackson Hole along the Tetons on the way to Salt Lake City. 

Bear Lake Idaho 1977

The only landmark in Idaho that was memorable was the sight of  Bear Lake along State Highway 89 in the southeast corner of the state.

Wyoming counts as a 'been to' state.  On the 1977 trip we stopped in Jackson Hole for the night. In 2015 we had a full 'stay for a while' trip. Our starting place was Estes Park, Colorado. From there we went up through Cheyenne and Laramie on the way to Jackson Hole. What an adventure! The Tetons are always an awesome sight to see. We stayed downtown in a quaint period motel right off the square. We love that we can walk to sight-see, shop for souvenirs, and eat. We took a day trip to investigate the mountains. We did not go as far as Yellowstone this time. A photo blog of the highlights of our trip follows:

The Episcopal Chapel of Transfiguration

Window inside the church
looks out on the mountains.

Our Wyoming trip ended too soon and we were on our way back to Estes Park to say goodbye to our family and head back home to Arkansas. 

Good memories were made!

*For "new to my blog" friends...on May 17, 2010, I visited Wisconsin.

I can now say that I have been in, to, or through all 50 United States.

I am committed to make an Artist Trading Card "ATC" for each of

the 50 States.