Okay, to visit this weekend getaway, you have to either be visiting Britain already or have your own Lear jet. I'm going to assume you don't have a Lear jet.

This is a photo of Snowdonia National Park in north Wales. I took it while hiking to Mt. Snowdon, or Yr Wyddfa, its Welsh name which means "burial place." Legend has it that a particularly fierce giant named Rhita Fawr is buried beneath. Snowdonia is the epicenter of much British mythology from the Celts to Arthurian times and was the stronghold of the last true princes of Wales.

The ascent is brutal; no switchbacks like you often find on mountains in the United States...the trail goes straight up the side of the 3,560-ft. mountain. But it's worth the effort. The views are outstanding, and on a clear day you can see the curve of the world...and sometimes the Irish coast and the Isle of Man.

There are numerous small towns with very reasonable lodging near the park, all having excellent transportation via bus to the various trailheads. I stayed in Bangor and took the short bus ride to the Llanberis trailhead. For more information on Mt. Snowdon and Snowdonia, visit this Web site.

I watched the Stevie Nicks interview on Sunday Morning on CBS last weekend. It's hard to believe that she's pushing 60 (that means that I'm pushing...um, never mind). Seeing clips of Fleetwood Mac concerts from the 1970s really brought a flood of memories from that time...mostly happy, some sad, a few bittersweet when I remembered friends who have died and friends whose lives took different directions from mine.

Later that night, I watched a PBS special on Doo-Wop music that was popular in the mid-1950s and early 1960s (before my time). The audience was comprised of grey-haired, pant-suit wearing people 10-15 years older than me...people who were the "hippies" when I was young. The format of the show...bands and singers from that era introduced by an emcee...reminded me of the Lawrence Welk Show, of which my grandfather was a fan. Then a cold chill ran down my spine...in another 10-20 years, Fleetwood Mac and Elton John and Pat Benatar and Blondie and Steely Dan would be performing on a show much like that, emceed, perhaps, by Peter Frampton or Donna Summer. YIKES!!!!!

But time makes you bolder
Children get older
Im getting older too

Well the landslide will bring it down