Saturday, march 31 Day 9

     We slept in and boarded our bus today at 10 am.  Only a 40 minute trek to Liverpool.....and of course the BEATLES MUSEUM!  It was a self guided tour with so much interesting information about their humble beginnings and their amicable parting.  They completely skipped the "Yoko" years, which was a mystery, because the generally accepted understanding/myth is that she was responsible for the demise of the Beatles.  I know the parents enjoyed the tour, so much so that Steve bought a DVD to watch on the bus.  I think the kids tolerated the tour, as it was light and fun, and a nice outing.
      After 2 hours, we re boarded the bus, and headed to the stadium to watch Everton FC v.  West Bromwich Albion.  Tim Howard the goalkeeper for the US National Team, just happens to be the goalie for Everton.  We arrived 40 minutes early, and 30 of us chanted "USA, USA"  and Tim Howard turned around and gave us a wave! Needless to say the boys were ecstatic!!!  The stadium was packed, with a much more mellow crowd than we experienced at the Arsenal game.  Everton prevailed 2-0 and we headed straight for....wait for it....THE MEGA STORE. We knew this would be the last mega store, so we emptied our wallets as the boys handled, begged for and admired all it had to offer.  We arrived at the hotel at 6:30 and had dinner and cake to celebrate Mick's 39th birthday. Some stayed in hotel pub to watch another football game, and some retired earlier.  Tomorrow we have a game at 2 against Lakeside, a local football club. The boys don't know it, but they are going to have a party for us afterward, with a bounce house, band, food and drink. Should be a really great way to end our trip.... We'll head back to London tomorrow after the party, to spend the night near the airport to fly home on Monday.                                                  
      I can honestly say that traveling with this group of people has been easy and fun. Although, we see each other 10 months out of the year, and spend most of our weekends together watching our boys play soccer, we still enjoy each other's company...Tomorrow night we'll have a pint and toast to this fantastic trip, and start thinking about the journey home.  If I can post tomorrow, I will. If not, we'll see you all soon...Cheers!