The Last Day: all travel!
I was not sure there would be much to tell about this last day, and the ride home but there is. It was not a day without events.
We were picked up from the hotel for the two hour ride to the airport. It turned out to be two and a half. There appears to have been an accident on the road as we approached the city of London. Luckily, we had plenty of time as our plane didn't take off until 1:00. We entered the airport and prepared to drop our luggage and go sit but that was not to be. I had been trying to check-in since yesterday. However, I was not allowed to check in online. Everyone else had no problem and were able to quickly drop off their luggage, but then they had to wait for me. Because of the medical issue I experienced on the way over, the airline had to ask me all kinds of questions and fill out all kinds of forms. I even had to switch check-in counters. This took a good 15 minutes. At one point, it almost sounded like they weren't even going to allow me on the plane but I was eventually cleared to fly.
We headed to the gate to go through security. Most of us made it through with no problem at all. Mary Ellen was not quite so lucky. They flagged her backpack and did a careful search. She had forgotten about her tube of suntan lotion and a little can of water that was so far down in her backpack, that it was completely buried. With us all back together we headed to the gate.
It was quite a trek to the gate, but we made it with an hour to spare. After checking in at the gate, we waited for the plane to board. As we sat there an announcement was made that there was a problem on the plane. The temperature on board was 40 degrees Celsius, which is 104 Fahrenheit. They were not going to allow us to board until the plane could be cooled off. They were waiting for a part to fix the plane. This took another two hours. With the plane a few degrees cooler, about 36 C (96 F), they allowed us to board. Victoria said she heard that they knew the plane would cool off when it got up to a certain altitude. It actually got almost cold on the plane. At least it took up two hours of our five-hour layover in Boston.
Upon landing, we quickly got through customs, picked up our luggage, and headed to our next gate. This was another very long walk. I looked at my phone and at one point, we had already gone half a mile. After going through security again, we dropped off our luggage and took our time heading for the next leg of the trip. We were all very happy when we boarded the plane on time. But then again that's when things didn't quite go as planned. There was a bad storm outside. Airplanes are not allowed to take off when lightning is visible. The pilot has to wait at least 10 minutes after a strike before they can taxi out to the runway. We ended up sitting for an hour in half on the plane waiting to take off. Luckily our pilot was able to make up half an hour during flying time, and we landed in Richmond right about midnight. We all collected our luggage and then headed for our prospective ride. I would like to thank Malik Riley, Victoria's son, for picking us up at the airport. It was very much appreciated. So this should be the end of my story. Not quite.
When I got in the house I proceeded to start unpacking. I had some things in my suitcase that needed to come out right away. As I unzipped my suitcase I found that somehow water had gotten inside. All I can assume is that it had been left out in the rain. Luckily, I travel with a foam rubber pillow. And this caught the brunt of the water. A few other things were damp but that was it. I did find out the next day that mine was the only one that got hit by water. I also found a new pet–there was a big bullfrog in one of my toilets!!
I was not sure there would be much to tell about this last day, and the ride home but there is. It was not a day without events.
We were picked up from the hotel for the two hour ride to the airport. It turned out to be two and a half. There appears to have been an accident on the road as we approached the city of London. Luckily, we had plenty of time as our plane didn't take off until 1:00. We entered the airport and prepared to drop our luggage and go sit but that was not to be. I had been trying to check-in since yesterday. However, I was not allowed to check in online. Everyone else had no problem and were able to quickly drop off their luggage, but then they had to wait for me. Because of the medical issue I experienced on the way over, the airline had to ask me all kinds of questions and fill out all kinds of forms. I even had to switch check-in counters. This took a good 15 minutes. At one point, it almost sounded like they weren't even going to allow me on the plane but I was eventually cleared to fly.
We headed to the gate to go through security. Most of us made it through with no problem at all. Mary Ellen was not quite so lucky. They flagged her backpack and did a careful search. She had forgotten about her tube of suntan lotion and a little can of water that was so far down in her backpack, that it was completely buried. With us all back together we headed to the gate.
It was quite a trek to the gate, but we made it with an hour to spare. After checking in at the gate, we waited for the plane to board. As we sat there an announcement was made that there was a problem on the plane. The temperature on board was 40 degrees Celsius, which is 104 Fahrenheit. They were not going to allow us to board until the plane could be cooled off. They were waiting for a part to fix the plane. This took another two hours. With the plane a few degrees cooler, about 36 C (96 F), they allowed us to board. Victoria said she heard that they knew the plane would cool off when it got up to a certain altitude. It actually got almost cold on the plane. At least it took up two hours of our five-hour layover in Boston.
Upon landing, we quickly got through customs, picked up our luggage, and headed to our next gate. This was another very long walk. I looked at my phone and at one point, we had already gone half a mile. After going through security again, we dropped off our luggage and took our time heading for the next leg of the trip. We were all very happy when we boarded the plane on time. But then again that's when things didn't quite go as planned. There was a bad storm outside. Airplanes are not allowed to take off when lightning is visible. The pilot has to wait at least 10 minutes after a strike before they can taxi out to the runway. We ended up sitting for an hour in half on the plane waiting to take off. Luckily our pilot was able to make up half an hour during flying time, and we landed in Richmond right about midnight. We all collected our luggage and then headed for our prospective ride. I would like to thank Malik Riley, Victoria's son, for picking us up at the airport. It was very much appreciated. So this should be the end of my story. Not quite.
When I got in the house I proceeded to start unpacking. I had some things in my suitcase that needed to come out right away. As I unzipped my suitcase I found that somehow water had gotten inside. All I can assume is that it had been left out in the rain. Luckily, I travel with a foam rubber pillow. And this caught the brunt of the water. A few other things were damp but that was it. I did find out the next day that mine was the only one that got hit by water. I also found a new pet–there was a big bullfrog in one of my toilets!!
I will say it was a wonderful trip. I learned a lot about English culture. They are very friendly and love to give a hand when necessary. They love credit cards. The back roads are so narrow I never want to drive in England. They love their red phone booths which they use for a variety of things. Their days are quite long in the summertime with the sun going down sometime around 10:30 p.m. and rising somewhere around 4:00 in the morning. The weather can change on a dime. One minute the sun is shining and you're actually getting very warm, and then the skies open and rain just pours down only to stop 10 minutes later. No wonder you are always seeing English people with umbrellas. I have never visited so many hotels that are dog friendly, even having dog runs and washing stations.
I was very pleasantly surprised to find that in every restaurant we asked about any food allergies.
I was very pleasantly surprised to find that in every restaurant we asked about any food allergies.
I feel like England is so large that I missed seeing many things and will think about going back again.