The Return Home

The final morning in London was sad and the weather reflected my mood. During the entire trip the weather had been amazing. No rain. No gloomy skies. At times, it was a bit overcast, but for the most part, the sun was out. The weather was in the low 50's for the high and it worked.

The morning we left, it finally rained. It was drizzly, not a downpour. I was sad but I knew I had to go home. London didn't want me to leave either.

With one last look at some of the sites on our way out to Heathrow, I said my mental goodbyes.

The trip to the airport was quiet. That will happen at 6:00AM. But it was a fast trip, compared to our arrival. It was the right time of day and we were going the opposite direction of the morning rush hour traffic.

We arrived at the airport with no problems. We checked in, again, without any issues other than a printer error, which was fixed at the counter. We got through security fairly easily...at least for mom and I. Again, dad had slight issues, but for the most part it was a smooth entrance.

Once we were all put back together, we ventured off to the US Airways Club. I made a slight detour on the way, stopping at a gift shop to use my last twenty pounds (no point in changing that back) and then proceeded to the club for breakfast. After a sad/pouty selfie and some other family photos, we were headed off to the gate for boarding.

It all passed by fairly quickly. The next thing I knew, we were at the gate, boarding the plane and I was once more in my cushy Envoy seat. While no less spectacular than the first time around, it didn't hold the same fascination as our arrival trip. It was no longer new (so no need to take more pictures of the seats) and I was now leaving and going back to the US...when I would have much rather have stayed in the UK.

I got my sparkling wine as we boarded, though the flight attendant did ask if I was over 21. I told her yes and she asked if I could prove it. I thought it was funny, but said, yes I could, and started digging through my bag for my passport. She laughed a little and patted my back saying that I was too eager to prove it so I must be. I told her I was well over 21 and almost 31 and mom, who sat behind me, said she'd vouch for my age. I also ordered a Bloody Mary for after we took off and the same woman (who was wonderful) kind of had an 'ooh, gurl' moment and then proceed to have fun with the three of us as we each, in turn and without chatting with each other, all ordered a Bloody Mary. She even made a comment about how we must be family. Lol.

However, unlike our trip to the UK, I watched as many movies as possible. There was kind of no reason for sleep, so while I enjoyed my breakfast and lunch (yup...two meals again) I watched four different movies: White House Down, Wolverine, World War Z and Hitchcock.

I actually enjoyed White House Down. Wolverine is just getting old...this particular storyline was a real stretch. World War Z was interesting. I'm not finished with the book yet...so I can't fully compare it. And Hitchcock was good. I think Anthony Hopkins and Helen Mirren were wonderful.

We landed stateside in Charlotte and by that time, mom was full-blown sick and I was tired. So, off to the club we went again, to kill time. The long layovers are great to ensure that you make your next flight, but the suck because if you are on time...you just WAIT AROUND. I read, I checked emails, I drank (yes, that was my theme for almost the entire trip) and waited.

Finally, it was time to board the final leg of my flight (my parents still had one more trip back to New Mexico, but luckily the next morning). After a chugged (yes, chugged) a gin & tonic just before take off, I read a little longer and listened to some music before catching about 30 minutes of shut eye. When I woke up, I read a bit more before we began our descent into Dallas.

Our luggage made it (woot) and mom and dad headed off to their hotel while I waited for Mel to pick me up. I had a headache (from the drinks, I'm sure, and the lack of sleep). I wasn't picking Bailey up that night, so when she arrived, we decided to grab a late night dinner at Pop Diner and then I was back home.

By the time I was back and my apartment and ready for bed, I had been up for roughly 24 hours. I was exhausted but all I had were amazing memories of London and my trip with my parents.

Maybe we'll get to do it again one day...but if not, it will be something I will always remember and cherish.

Now...what to do with these... ;-)

London Trip - November 12 - November 18, 2013

Travel to London

Technically, my trip began the evening before the great departure of 2013. Mel and I headed out from both work and from dropping off Bailey with Ashley and met up at The Loon. We were both in need of their amazing chili cheese fries.

A couple gin and tonics, an order of wings and two orders of the infamous fries (no, we couldn't finish them all), we were sated and headed back to my apartment. I picked up my bags, thankfully having finished packing before taking Bailey to her vacation home for the week, and I quickly loaded up Mel's car and we headed out to Grand Prairie.

Sleeping before this trip was a bit like trying to sleep before Christmas morning: virtually impossible. But I was able to get a decent amount of shut eye and before I knew it, it was 6am.

I trudged out of bed and got a quick shower. Both Mel and Linda came down to see me as I finished putting things back in my suitcase (and we even commented on my packing style/ability). With a quick hug (and a few words of wisdom about running to Linda before departing) Mel and I were out the door and on the way to the airport, via Starbucks.

I met my parents at check in and the next stop was security. Who knew that would be a challenge? Mom got pulled quickly for a standard security check and dad and I seemed to get through fine. Correction: apparently I got through fine. Once through, mom and I met up to find that they were checking my father and his bags fairly closely. Mind you, my father has a cane and a camera bag. That's it. And if a strong wind managed to whip through the airport, my father would be on the ground. Needless to say, this guy wasn't a threat to security. But they hauled him into a room nonetheless.

Luckily for him, they released him...after a lie detector test, strip search, who really knows?! (just kidding) So we headed off to the Delta Crown Club. Were we flying Delta? Nope, but dad's a million+ miler member, so what does it matter, right?

Ah, spicy Bloody Mary's at 8:30am are delicious.

Refueled by food (and in my case, booze) we were off to our gate for our flight to Charlotte. The flight itself was uneventful, as flying first class should be ;-) but I did see Will Power boarding the same flight, which was a funny coincidence. It's a small world, and the theater world is even smaller.

Charlotte was the home to our last meal in the states. Nothing wrong with Chili's in the airport, right? Since Santa Fe doesn't have a Chili's, Mom and dad have to travel to either Espanola or Albuquerque to get to one (which they don't do often) and I do it rarely, as there are other great restaurants in Dallas and apparently, when I go, it's only to relive the glory days of high school. Ha!

So with food and ice tea (unsweetened, of course), we headed to the US Airways club (this time, because we just flew first class and were about to board an international flight in business class).
Another drink there (gin and tonic) and time spent updating my phone and charging other electronic devices, we were off to the gate again, this time for Heathrow.

Well, mechanical delays can put a crimp in your schedule. An issue you on our plane, set to cross the Atlantic, was going to delay us five hours. Five hours! Thankfully, they pulled another jet from the hanger instead, delaying us only an hour and a half total.

But when we boarded...oh my lerd! We were seated in Envoy (which is the first class/business class of US Airways) and boy, was it magnificent. We each had our own individual pods: enclosed spaces that had our own entertainment tvs (which had a ridiculous amount of movie, music, television and game options) and a fully reclining seat. What else did it have?

Oh, sparkling wine once you arrived at your seat, a three coarse meal with a gin and tonic and two glasses of white wine, which was delicious, a snack bar post meal throughout the flight, and breakfast.

Mom said I was screwed and therefore, now spoiled. She was right. How can I travel overseas again without the same accommodations?! Hooooooow?!

Well, after my movie (Now You See Me) and a couple of hours of sleep, it was breakfast time and then, time to land in London.

The travel day was complete...and can I say, an immensely pleasurable one. :-)