What an experience. It is now Thursday morning, about 7am and the key tag on the hotel key tells me I'm in West Yorkshire. Now that wasn't quite the plan, and I'm not entirely sure how we ended up here, but I've just had a good nights sleep, Rowan is still asleep and I have time to write up my blog before we go and get some breakfast and hit the road for Chester.
But to fill you in up till now - all pretty simple really – turn up at the airport, get on a plane and fly for 27 hours and you end up at Heathrow. The Qantas flight to LA was great – pretty bumpy along the way, so much so that we were all strapped in including the cabin crew for about 30 minutes, but we got through that okay. The air hostess sitting at the back of the plane kept yelling “Sit Down” as people got up wanting to go to the loo. She was getting quite grumpy and said to one guy -can't you read the sign, it says fasten seatbelts. He was disgruntled, obviously needed to go to the loo, but she sent him back to his seat.
Anyway we made it safely to LA where I had to collect my baggage and re-check it in for the ongoing flight. Had about 5 hour wait here, but by the time you walk to the next terminal and re-check in the time goes quite quickly.
Luckily I didn't have any US dollars or I might have been tempted to buy one of those Sony e-readers I have been checking out on the internet, and I resisted the temptation to put it on the Card.
The next flight to Heathrow was on British Air. Again good flight, but I don't think the services as anywhere as good as Qantas, although this time the in-flight entertainment was working and I watched a couple of movies in between reading the saucy novel Kathy S gave me to read.
The Heathrow terminal 5 experience was great. What a fabulously efficient, huge place this was. Through border control, pick up the baggage and through to the arrivals lounge and there was Rowan waiting for me. Then onto the tube and out to Shepherd's Bush where he has been staying with Stocky and Philly.
I had a shower, Rowan went down to his 'local' chicken take-away and got us some Tandoori Chicken and chips and salad for lunch, and then we hit the road. Our first idea was to stay in London but then we decided on Plan B, head towards Cheshire and get a B&B along the way, heading vaguely towards Sherwood Forest.
Well that sounded very simple. But – I fell asleep in the car, and Rowan just kept driving towards
Nottingham and then it was not just as simple as finding a motel, hotel or B&B. They just don't seem to exist. But then we discovered that Southwell was close by, so a quick detour to check it out. Thought it would be a good place to stay, but unfortunately the place was booked out, an antiques fair and a Morris Dancing Folk Festival here at the weekend, and they were expecting 12000 visitors, so no room for Heather and Rowan.
So on to Plan C. Set the GPS to get us back onto the motorway and we will stay at one of the service areas, and that's how we ended up at the Travelodge Wakefield Woolley Edge, in West Bretton, West Yorkshire, somewhere on the M1.
But what the heck, we were hungry and tired, so booked in and it was only this morning that I discovered where we were. So now for a shower and breakfast and we're heading for lunch at the Wild Boar at Beeston near Chester. Check out the website. I found it at home by just doing a google search. A fabulous old place that John brought me to for dinner in 1974. So reliving a few memories here. Will catch you all later.