Leaving, on a jet plane (2 weeks to go)!
So much to do - so little time (Anne's favourite saying).

 

Tuesday 15 August
We are here!  But how did we get there.

We decided to arrive early (4 and a half hours early!) at Heathrow to make sure that we got to our check in as early as possible so that we could get the best seats we could.  But oh no - we had to sit in a tent in the car park for 3 hours before they would even let us inside the terminal!!  Never mind - at least we were the first people in the check in queue.  We asked for emergency exit seats for the extra leg room but were told that we would be lucky to be able to request any seats as most people were either in "transit" or had booked in on line.  Bugger!  We had to put up with whatever seats were given.

Anne was staying remarkably calm at this stage and I was just waiting for the whirlwind to hit - but to my utmost surprise, and pleasure, it did not!

We boarded the plane and our seats were changed as we were passing through the gate - what next.  We got aboard the plane and found that our seats had been upgraded to business travller plus!!  What a result - loads of leg room, space and everything else we could want.  It still took 2 hours waiting on the runway and an 11 hour flight to arrive though.

Anyway here we are in LA and you can continue our travels with us by looking at the country pages!

 

Monday 14 August - 8.13pm
Thanks to everyone who has sent us messages so far.  For the rest of the trip please see the individual pages for each country - our itinery is to the left of this page.

WAHEY!

 

Monday 14 August
Less than 24 hours and we will be in the air!!  So excited now I dont know what to do.  Anne is busy cleaning the flat (again!) and I have checked the passports and tickets for the hundreth time!!

Thanks to Esther for being the first to post a message - it was quite exciting when we saw we had one.  I hope others leave us messages so we can keep up to date with what people are up to.

We have had a busy last couple of days meeting up with others and watching football.

Anyway, the next time I write something on here we will be in America in our winnebago!

 

Thursday 10 August
NOT THE NEWS THAT WE WANTED TO HEAR THIS MORNING!

Things are still a bit vague about exactly what is or is not happening regarding flights to America at the moment.  One minute they are cancelled for at least 48 hours and then we hear that they are not cancelled.  things should become clearer over the next few days as the initial drama subsides.  I have no doubt that things will be OK for Tuesday.

But what about hand luggage - no books, sweets, ipod - Anne is going to go mad!!  Never mind, better safe than sorry.

At least we did have some good news today (or rather last night).  Anne had a slight scare regarding her ear and that she have more troubles if she flew with the pressure that was building up in her ear.  However, an emergency appointment with the consultant reassured Anne that everything was fine and that the doctor that told her she had pressure building up was a wally.  We have just had out jabs now so we are both a little sore but doing the only right thing for it - going for a drink.  We are meeting Nigel and Charity this evening so we should have a nice evening with plenty of food and drink flowing (not too much cheese though Charity!).

 

Wednesday 9 August
We came back yesterday from a spending a long weekend with Anne's parents near Doncaster.  It was a very relaxing weekend catching up with friends and family before we set off on our travels.  On Saturday we had a nice BBQ and I managed to avoid poisoning people at least.

It was also an emotional time saying goodbye to family, even though we will see them again at Christmas.  My sister was there with my little nephew, Anthony, so I had a chance to say farewell.  Anne's mum was understandably upset as we were leaving which made it hard for Anne.

We are now back at home and doing last minute things to prepare such as finding some spending money to take and making sure that the flat is reasonably tidy for when we leave.

Not long to go!!

 

Thursday 3 August
I finished work last Friday and have spent most of this week trying to sort out the last few bits and pieces of our trip.  Anne is still at work until Friday and takes great joy in saying to me each mroning "Oh it's hard being the only bread winner in this household"!  I think she is just jealous of me being able to turn over and go back to sleep.

Having said that I have been up early most days, particulalry when I had to take the car to have its MOT done yesterday at 7.15am.

Anne's Ipod decided to wipe all her songs off last night which did not go down too well, especially when this morning it would not let her put any of the songs back on from our computer.  To say Anne was a little annoyed is being kind.  I wonder if she has managed to get it working yet?