Days 10 (and 11) - SeaTac, WA - Conway, AR

We purposely booked a midday flight home so we wouldn't have to be rushing around in the morning to get to the airport.  Even with the extra time, we arrived early and buzzed through security without a hitch.  Near our gate, a cellist who plays (or played) with the Seattle Symphony was set up in a common area playing her electric cello.  It was so soothing and relaxing that I nearly dozed off right there in an airport seat (NOT the easiest thing to do).

Our inbound plane from Dallas was delayed due to weather and thus our outbound flight to Dallas was delayed too.  Our connection time was already a little tight, but this made it even more so.  I kept an eye on the weather and the timing and decided to just go with it and not worry about rebooking anything at that point.  We were soon boarded and on our way with Mount Hood and Adams off to our right, still covered in snow, but gleaming under the sun.  Even the mountains of Idaho were pretty!  I was able to see the Great Salt Lake before clouds obstructed further views.  Dallas was still dealing with weather/storms and by the time we got close, the pilots slowed us down just enough that we could sneak into our final approach just following a storm.  It did provide some really cool photos from my window seat, but quite a bit of turbulence too.

Upon landing, my American app notified me that our flight to Little Rock had been cancelled and we had been rebooked on an 8:30 pm flight Sunday night.  Gah!  I had no intention of spending and entire day in Dallas for no reason.  After getting off the plane, we stopped and some friendly gate agents where we struck up conversation and made the best of the situation.  After about 20 minutes, we figured out the best we could do was an early flight the next morning on United to Chicago, then an American flight to Little Rock.  Not great, but at least we were going to be home by noon.  We walked to the Hyatt Regency at the airport (being on-site sold us), got two rooms, and soon settled into a dinner at the hotel restaurant.  Before heading to bed, I checked to see the status of our bags (we checked them) and they had made it to Little Rock where they would be waiting for us the next day.

We both had to set alarms at 3:45 am in order to get to the airport in time to get checked in and get boarding passes.  Our flight for Chicago left at 5:45, which is really, really early folks.  We hit some bumps over Missouri as we flew over thunderstorms that had parked in the air, but we were soon on the ground at O'Hare.  Unfortunately, the helpful gate agents in Dallas made a snafu on Carolyn's ticket so we had to fix that with the ticketing agents in Chicago.  All was well in the end, but when you're running on little sleep and you're ready to be home, it just added to frustrations.  Finally with boarding passes in hand, we got on the plane bound for Arkansas.  Again, the storms over Missouri caused us to have some roller coaster fun mid-air; even our descent into Little Rock was fun.  We deplaned and then retrieved our bags from the American baggage office (faster than the baggage claim!).  Our parked car was ready and we were soon headed over the river and back to Conway.

This was an amazing trip.  Such sights, such fun, and such food!  I'm a traveller at heart and whenever I'm on the road, I'm often at my happiest, especially when I'm there with family and friends.  And when I return from trips, I'm always re-energized and ready to tackle the daily grind.  Time to start saving up vacation time again, but I'm already thinking, "Where to next?"

Day 18 - London

We're ending our trip where we started, in jolly old London. We had a busy day, first catching the light rail out to Greenwich. This is where the Cutty Sark, Naval College, Royal Observatory, and Prime Meridian are located. This area of London is absolutely beautiful! We didn't tour the Cutty Sark, but it was neat to see from the outside. Alaine mentioned that it had been rebuilt several times due to fire, even recently. After grabbing some coffee, we hiked up to the Observatory. Along the way, we passed an Olympic construction site for the equestrian events! When I see it on tv in a month, I can say I was there!

The Observatory is really a great place to visit if you have any interest in time, astronomy, or science in general. Even though it's "touristy," I stood on both sides of the Prime Meridian today and was at 0.00.00 longitude! VERY cool! The exhibits were great and we saw the 4 iterations of the first time-keeping devices for ships, a very important thing back in the day. There was also an octagonal room where early astronomers (including Sir Isaac Newton) would come to star gaze. On the Prime Meridian is a telescope that points to true north; the panels above open via a very simple turning mechanism so the sky can be seen.

We then had lunch by the Thames before catching a really big and fast water taxi that took us up river to the Tower of London. The boat ride was fantastic and we even got to go under Tower Bridge. The Tower of London was a great historical stop as it not only houses the Crown Jewels, but it is also the place where much of Britain's less-than-proud history took place. Many Britons were imprisoned here and some royalty lost their heads. Even the Romans occupied this space at one point. The Crown Jewels were quite impressive and no Donna, I wasn't able to snag a bobble for you. The reinforced glass was a bit of an obstacle!

We quickly caught a taxi which whizzed us to our next stop, St. Paul's Cathedral. The admission price was high and I was prohibited from taking photos, but it was still a great church to see. This is considered to be the "people's church" in London. It was designed by Christopher Wren after the great fire in the mid 1600s. Our Capitol building was no doubt influenced by the design of St. Paul's. The mosaic ceilings were amazing and glittered in the light. Appropriately, just as I was about to light a candle in memory of Mom, the priest spoke over the loudspeaker and asked for prayers for the departed.

Next up was Covent Garden to do some last minute gift shopping. After about 2 hours (and some ice cream) we headed to My Old Dutch which was the restaurant we first ate in 18 days ago. Surprisingly, packing went really well this evening and we're all ready for our flight to Chicago tomorrow (I get to be on a Boeing 777 this time!).

This has been an absolutely wonderful trip; truly life-changing. I cannot thank Alaine and my other travel buddies enough! I also want to thank all my family and friends who kept up with the blog...it was really rewarding to get your feedback!

For the last time from Jolly Old...cheers!

 

It has begun

I slept surprisingly well last night considering how many butterflies were churning in my gut! This IS quite an exciting adventure and I feel like pinching myself to make sure I'm not dreaming. I must admit that I made a rookie mistake by staying up late packing, but I am happy to say I didn't have to repack anything!

We breezed through security at the Little Rock airport and then boarded our tiny Embraer jet for O'Hare. After I saw the water tower by Lena and Franklin's house drift by my window, I actually dozed off...something I NEVER do! After a quick, smooth hour and a half flight, we landed in Chi town; too bad the Cubs are playing a night game!

Our 6 hour layover has gone really quickly, actually, and we had dinner at Frontana, a really good "quick" Mexican restaurant. We were really excited to see that American and British Airways have a shuttle that runs between the domestic and int'l terminals, meaning we didn't have to go back through security.

We're now in the int'l. terminal and our BIG 747 is parked right outside! Dianne's trying not to think about the physics behind getting that much metal to fly. We also just visited a duty-free store which was really weird as they sold candy, perfume, and alcohol. I guess those are essentials for some travelers. Caroline, your mom bought a Cadberry fruit and nut bar in honor of the many bribings you and Alaine were put through as kids when picking your dad up at the airport.

Our flight leaves in a little over an hour and I have to say I'm excited to see the inside of this plane. Looks like it's going to be a full flight. I'll sign off for now. We'll arrive in London at about 4:30 am Central time. Here's to a safe, restful flight!