- Summer Traveler Home Page
- About
- Iceland
-
England
- Day 1 Arrive in London
- Day 2 London and the Royals
- Day 3 London: Harry Potter Day
- Day 4 London: What's English Food?
- Day 5 Travel Day: Shakespeare's Globe Tour
- Day 6 The Lake District: Beatrix Potter's Hill top Farm
- Day 7 the Lake District: Guided Tour and Hadrian's Wall
- Day 8, Travel Day: Tour of Stratford-Upon_Avon
- Day 9, The Cotswolds Gardens and Afternoon British Tea
- Day 10 Exploring the Cotswolds
- Day 12 Bath and the Roman Baths
- Day 13 Stonehenge
- Day 14 Taking a Bath in Bath
- Day 15 Heading Home
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Hawaiian Islands
- Day 1, July 13, 2023 Travel Day
- Day 2, July 14, 2023 Polynesian Culture Center
- Day 3, July 15, 2023 Diamond Head and Iolani Palace
- Day 4, July 16, 2023 Dole Plantation and Northshore
- Day 5, July 17 Pearl Harbor
- Day 6, July 18, 2023 Travel Day 1
- Day7 July 19, 2023, Spouting Horn
- Day 8, July 20, 2023 Spouting Horn and the Lighthouse.
- Day 9, July 21, 2023, Travel Day 2
- Day 10, July 22, 2023 Volcano National Park
- Day 11. July 23, 2023, Chocolate Day
- Day 12, July 24, 2023, Coffee Day
- Day 13 July 25, 2023, Botanical Gardens & Going Home Day
When I woke in the morning, I didn’t think I would have much to write about but boy, was I wrong.
I woke early, just as the sun was coming up. I peeked through the curtain and thought we were still moving because of the pink buoy in the water. I opened the curtain a little farther and realized we were stopped. It wasn’t a buoy that I had seen. As I took a closer look, it was a pink teddy bear floating on its back. I felt sad knowing there was a little girl somewhere who would be looking for her teddy bear never to be found. I hoped the bear would at least have a great trip.
Mom and I finished packing and headed to breakfast. After that, it was smooth sailing to the airport. Gate 1 Travel had arranged a taxi to take the six of us. The driver was very informative about Basel, Switzerland, since this was our only chance to see the town. He pointed out important buildings as we passed by and also told a few jokes about the people. At the airport, he helped us with our bag all the way to the baggage counter. We had no problem locating the gate since the airport was so small. Our flight for Munich left on time.
I woke early, just as the sun was coming up. I peeked through the curtain and thought we were still moving because of the pink buoy in the water. I opened the curtain a little farther and realized we were stopped. It wasn’t a buoy that I had seen. As I took a closer look, it was a pink teddy bear floating on its back. I felt sad knowing there was a little girl somewhere who would be looking for her teddy bear never to be found. I hoped the bear would at least have a great trip.
Mom and I finished packing and headed to breakfast. After that, it was smooth sailing to the airport. Gate 1 Travel had arranged a taxi to take the six of us. The driver was very informative about Basel, Switzerland, since this was our only chance to see the town. He pointed out important buildings as we passed by and also told a few jokes about the people. At the airport, he helped us with our bag all the way to the baggage counter. We had no problem locating the gate since the airport was so small. Our flight for Munich left on time.
When we landed in Munich, it was raining. The plane was so small it was met by a transport vehicle instead of opening right into a gate. We all got a little wet. Once in the terminal, the wheelchairs ordered were not to be seen. After waiting for about 10 minutes and seeing two other wheelchairs pass by and, when asked, were told that they weren’t for us, Linda K., Mom and I took off for the very long hike to the gate. When we arrived at the gate, there were about 80 plus teenage scouts in line to go through Security. Luckily they opened a second line and we quickly went through that one. That only gave us about 15 minutes to wait. Once on the plane, Mom and I had perfect seats. We paid for the extra leg room and it was worth it and since it cost extra there were no scouts near us.
We were on track to land in Washington D.C.’s IAD Airport on time when the captain’s voice comes over the intercom to let us know of a problem. There was a storm in D.C. so the plane had been circling waiting for clearance to land and was running out of fuel. We were being routed to Philadelphia for refueling. In Philadelphia we sat on the tarmac for about 1 ½ hours. When the plane was refueled it headed back to IAD in D.C. We landed just as our connecting flight was taking off. We missed the flight home. So much for my bed that night.
We were met with a wheelchair as we exited the plane. The man pushing Mom was going so quickly that I have never been through Customs so fast. There were no forms to fill out, only Passport control. Then it was on to collect our luggage and figure out what was happening with getting to Richmond. Lufthansa Airways put us up for the night at the Wingate hotel and arranged flight for the next day. The problem with getting home was the timing. Due to so many canceled and missed flights earlier, the only flight available the next day was at 1:30 in the afternoon to Charlotte NC with a connecting flight to Richmond at 4:30 getting us to Richmond by 5:30. We would be wasting the entire day and no one was happy about this. We decided to deal with it the next day.
I convinced the airline to give us food vouchers for dinner since we needed to eat. The last thing anyone had eaten was the mini “breakfast” on the plane around 5:00 p.m. We were told to go to the Lufthansa desk to pick up the voucher. That felt like a nightmare just to get there. Mom and Linda K. were in the wheelchairs. The men pushing were speed walking and the rest of us were trying to keep up as tired as we all were. We did have to ask them to slow down for all the good it did. Once at the counter, we were given a voucher which read “$25.00 X 6 for in the airport.” Downstairs in the arrival area is where we found a place to use the voucher. We all chose a little something but the amount wasn’t over $75.00 and the man behind the counter encouraged us to use the whole amount. We all started grabbing additional item; snacks, drinks, and pastries. I felt like I was grabbing anything just to get to the correct amount. With dinner and snacks in hand, we made our way to the shuttle to the hotel.
Day 12
The next morning we, met after breakfast and decided to call Lyft for a ride home. Two cars were ordered which arrived within 7 minutes. We were headed home, finally.
We were on track to land in Washington D.C.’s IAD Airport on time when the captain’s voice comes over the intercom to let us know of a problem. There was a storm in D.C. so the plane had been circling waiting for clearance to land and was running out of fuel. We were being routed to Philadelphia for refueling. In Philadelphia we sat on the tarmac for about 1 ½ hours. When the plane was refueled it headed back to IAD in D.C. We landed just as our connecting flight was taking off. We missed the flight home. So much for my bed that night.
We were met with a wheelchair as we exited the plane. The man pushing Mom was going so quickly that I have never been through Customs so fast. There were no forms to fill out, only Passport control. Then it was on to collect our luggage and figure out what was happening with getting to Richmond. Lufthansa Airways put us up for the night at the Wingate hotel and arranged flight for the next day. The problem with getting home was the timing. Due to so many canceled and missed flights earlier, the only flight available the next day was at 1:30 in the afternoon to Charlotte NC with a connecting flight to Richmond at 4:30 getting us to Richmond by 5:30. We would be wasting the entire day and no one was happy about this. We decided to deal with it the next day.
I convinced the airline to give us food vouchers for dinner since we needed to eat. The last thing anyone had eaten was the mini “breakfast” on the plane around 5:00 p.m. We were told to go to the Lufthansa desk to pick up the voucher. That felt like a nightmare just to get there. Mom and Linda K. were in the wheelchairs. The men pushing were speed walking and the rest of us were trying to keep up as tired as we all were. We did have to ask them to slow down for all the good it did. Once at the counter, we were given a voucher which read “$25.00 X 6 for in the airport.” Downstairs in the arrival area is where we found a place to use the voucher. We all chose a little something but the amount wasn’t over $75.00 and the man behind the counter encouraged us to use the whole amount. We all started grabbing additional item; snacks, drinks, and pastries. I felt like I was grabbing anything just to get to the correct amount. With dinner and snacks in hand, we made our way to the shuttle to the hotel.
Day 12
The next morning we, met after breakfast and decided to call Lyft for a ride home. Two cars were ordered which arrived within 7 minutes. We were headed home, finally.