My sister drove us to the airport (thanks, Carolyn!) and we got through security in less than five minutes. What a breeze that was. Then it was up to the Polaris lounge. We opted to do a light lunch (or shall we call it dinner?) there’s where we began with a but if crab dip, and then I had a squash dish. Quite yummy … and the glass of champagne is sort of a requirement when we start a trip. At least in my little opinion!
Then we found some seats (this place is nearly empty, but I think the entire terminal feels that way) because we had an hour and forty-five minutes to go before boarding would begin.
I’m all for having a ton of time. I’m not one who is comfortable cutting things close so I’d prefer sitting around and relaxing. My kind of travel.
Then it was time to read, rest, and relax. Yep, the three Rs!
Oh … and an update on my capsule wardrobe because I’m sure you are all dying to know — I nixed my black turtleneck and I wore my beige one instead. News you can (or can’t … or won’t) use!
And my backpack … welllll … it weighs more than I had hoped because I decided to bring a somewhat nicer looking raincoat in case I need it when we go to concerts. So it goes. My backpack weighs about nineteen pounds. Some suggest they should weigh fifteen. Maybe next time …?
The sling, too, is heavier than I’d like because I’m bringing my Fuji camera and I put it in the sling bag. I was telling Dan that maybe next time I will only bring my phone. I wonder if I can convince myself to do that, though. If I left my camera at home I actually could manage to get everything into just the backpack if I was careful with packing.
But will I ever manage to do that? Who knows?! (And, perhaps, who cares!)
And then it was time to board. Again, that was quick and easy, and I even managed to get my pack lifted in to storage.
Dan and I aren’t sitting together this time: our experiment of sorts was to grab the side Polaris seats so we can both have windows. He’s in row 5 and I’m in 7. I believe the foot space for the side seats is smaller, but I look forward to looking out the window when it’s lighter out. Right now it’s 6:12 PM and rather dark. Not a great photo, but oh well!
I have a spreadsheet (surprise, surprise) for flights. As I’m trying to figure out an upcoming trip I have to keep track of so many options. We have three flights to deal with. We have two potential departure dates. And it’s crazy making! (Warning: this post is crazy making too … I’m not sure how understandable it is!)
I won’t divulge where we are going or the dates (you know me — those must remain a surprise!), but I just printed out all that I’ve put together for Dan and here are the basics he has to go over:
[insert date of first flight here]
Option One: I do legs one and two together, saving the third leg for later First group of three options includes one class of seat for leg one, and a different class for the second leg. I always list things for one ticket only. Paying with: Option 1: ALL $$ — I list the cost and I list the PQP earned Option 2: Money & Miles — I list the cost, miles needed, and the PQP earned Option 3: Miles — I list the cost (they do have to charge a small fee of $5.60), miles needed, and the PQP earned
THEN I do that same thing with all the same seat class rather than two different ones.
After that I have to list the third leg of the trip, again doing the three options. It’s a shorter flight so I only go with the basic seats.
Finally I put all THREE legs in one, doing, again, the same three options, and doing two combos of seat class.
Are you confused? I sure am!
I repeat all of this with a different starting date (just one day later in this case, and the preferable departure date but it’s so much much more we’ll probably have to opt for the earlier day).
From there I have to do math. Me. Math. Ugh. We have options and I want to figure out the very best one. Here are my options at this point and I have to do them all for both starting dates I’ve done:
For the two leg + one leg bit: Both of us pay $$ for the first two legs and then use miles coming home One pays $$ and the other uses $ and Miles and we both pay $$ coming home One pays $$ and the other uses $ and Miles for both legs One pays $$ and the other uses All Miles and we both pay $$ coming home (We don’t have enough miles for both of us to do the miles bit so I do get to skip that.)
Then I have to do the math for the three in one leg data: Both of us pay $$ One pays $$ and the other uses $ and Miles One pays $$ and the other uses All Miles
Of course the cost of flights changes nearly every day, so I play this game numerous times. Some days the price has changed by thirty cents, sometimes by thirty dollars or more. You just never know and I’ve yet to make any sense of it.
At this point I’m still playing the plane game, but I hope that ends soon.
If you’ve read all that and made any sense of it you should get a gold star, by the way.
Trains are, in many ways, so much easier. There are price changes on some trains, so it’s good to book at the right time — too soon or too late and you pay more. Finding that middle spot isn’t always easy. Some train prices (regionals are usually this way) never change price. And I always have to remind myself to tick the box that says I want to choose my seat: why that isn’t automatic is a mystery to me!
Once our flights are set I will work on trains that are most important first, and then move on to the ones with a ton of options. I try to choose a train that departs shortly after the check-out time at a hotel, hoping it arrives in the next spot about when we can check in, but I also always check to see if the next hotel will allow us to leave luggage if we are too early.
Okay … now then, what about elevators?!
Dan and I had our fair share (more, really) of stairs on our last trip. We had no choice, and of course we dealt with it, but this time I thought I’d be sure and see if elevators were in as many places as possible, so on my spreadsheet I have a box to tick for that. I had also read, though, that the star system in European countries is state mandated and if it’s a three star in at least one country we’ll be visiting it must have an elevator. So I found a hotel that works well, with strong recommendations, and it’s three star. With no elevator! Say what?! I thought it was state mandated. So more research ensued. (I really enjoyed using the word “ensued” … you don’t know how satisfied I feel right now!)
It turns out that if it’s an older, historical building, they can ignore that elevator requirement. Heh. Go figure.
Ah well … at least we have no boats or cars to schedule on this trip! At least not to my knowledge.
And now, please enjoy a flower from our last trip. (For those who don’t know, I post a flower every day on my photography site and this one is today’s flower.)
We are in the first row, in the Polaris lay flat seat area. Yes, we chose row one. Some suggest it is better to be further away from the kitchen, but I like being here: it’s quick and easy to get off the plane, and we are close to the toilet. (Except at certain times when they don’t allow us up there — I think it’s when they are serving the pilots or something. What I do miss, though, is a window seat. We’ve talked about maybe giving that a go next time. It means we won’t be next to each other, but we don’t do a lot of talking on a plane anyway.
I had ordered a special meal for this flight because I’d read you often get better food that way. What I didn’t realize when I ordered the “healthy, low salt and low sugar” meal was that I was getting the diabetic meal! And no, it wasn’t special or better. So next time I either go back to the normal menu or I try something different like perhaps the Asian or kosher meal. But, really, United doesn’t do great food. So it goes. These two images show all the food I was served. Doesn’t it look … um … oh never mind. And no, I didn’t eat it all.
After getting my “healthy” meal I was asked what I wanted for dessert. Well … duh … the ice cream sundae! I’m guessing they were wondering about me at that point.
I read for a bit and then put the seat down and slept. Time has no meaning on a plane: there is no day or night. There just … well … is, if you get my drift. You just spend 10+ hours being.
After a bit of a snooze I started reading some more, and eventually some food was brought out. Because of my (foolish) food choice I was given some sort of wrap full of eggplant and I don’t know what else … I took one bit and Dan offered to switch so I got his grilled cheese sandwich and chips and he ate my eggplant whatever. He said it was pretty good.
Then back to reading mixed with resting mixed with doing nothing.
At about 2:00 PM PST the lights were turned on in the plane. Shortly after we were handed our warmed towels and a flight attendant passed by saying “Morning!”
Hmm. In London it would be late at night. In California it’s mid-afternoon. I’m not sure what “Morning!” would be about.
Soon my next “special meal” was delivered, along with sparkling water. Too. Much. Food. They called it lunch, but it was more than I would normally eat for dinner at home. It wasn’t exactly an epicurean’s delight, but it sufficed.
When we landed it was a bit of a bumpy bit and my water bottle fell and rolled over to where the flight attendant was sitting. Made me laugh. After landing it took a while to get to the gate because another plane was still in that space. Then the person (or persons?) who were driving that thing (Dan told me the name but I’ve forgotten) that connects to the plane that we walk through to get into the terminal was having difficulty aiming things correctly so we had a bit more waiting. But finally, out we went! And out went my brain. I forgot to take any more photos at all.
My sister picked us up (thanks, Carolyn!) and we then had the wonderful joy of being welcomed back to the Bay Area with a lot of traffic. But so it goes. We got safely home, opened all the windows because the house was quite stuffy, and started to unpack, make up the bed, and do all the things one has to do.
And yes, I’m fully unpacked and the suitcase is put away. But I still have much to do: the house is quite dusty, and we have piles of mail. (Oh Jan and Greg, you should see your stack of mail!)
But now? It’s 8:10 PM our time and while I feel a bit dazed I don’t feel tired. We’ll see how I sleep.
So that’s that. We had a great trip. We are home. I am grateful.
We woke at 6:00 AM. Too early? Well, for some reason it seemed rather easy to rise, perhaps because I knew we had a flight to catch.
We checked out and got our taxi easily, and then drove to the airport. I was surprised by the expense, but Dan said it was what he expected. The driver was quite nice and we understood most of what he said. There were times, though, when I was at a loss!
Getting into the airport there were a lot of people in lines. Many were school kids — we are guessing high school. They were all in matching sweatshirts with their names on the back. I wondered if they would all be on our flight. I also wondered how long it would take us to get through the line we saw since we did have to check our bags. Thankfully Dan asked at the help desk and we were told that our line was further up and there were only a few people in front of us. One of those in front had a very very red baseball cap on with someone’s name on the back of it.
For the first time on this trip we encountered a maga hat. Dan mentioned to the woman at the desk that it was the first time we had seen one and that we weren’t a part of that group. Her response? “I’m glad.” She was very friendly and clearly relieved that we weren’t maga folks. It just made me sad to see the hat. Even if one is maga it seems as if they should be savvy enough to avoid announcing it. Most countries aren’t too thrilled with the United States at the moment. Ah well.
We got through security in absolutely no time at all, and found a spot for coffee and a sweet roll. We had tons of time to wait. I’m always okay with that!
When we walked to the area where our plane was probably going to be (still not posted on the board), all those kids were there as well. I finally could see their sweatshirts and there was the name of an Aberdeenshire school, Westhill Academy, and “Valencia ‘26”. I didn’t manage to find anything else about it at the time, but I did see they weren’t going on our plane.
Finally it was time to board. This was one small plane. That group of kids probably wouldn’t have fit on to it!
We were in the second row and poor Dan’s knees were right against the seat in front — and then the young man sitting in front of him leaned his seat back. At least it was a very short flight!
I took a couple photos and Dan made a video for me since he had the window seat.
You can really see the bright yellow canola from the plane.
I pretty much spaced out and even snoozed a bit. We were on an Aer Lingus flight and even water would cost money, so never mind any drinks or food. Not that we needed them in any case.
And then we arrived.
Greetings, Ireland! Hello Dublin!
Our taxi driver was very chatty and gave us a lot of information abut the area. I could even understand most of what he said.
We arrived early to our hotel, so we dropped off our luggage and went on a walk in search of lunch. And not “not lunch” but real lunch which was fine by me since my earlier sweet roll was quite burnt. (Darn!)
We ended up in the Temple Bar area. Clearly tourist country. Our driver had told us it was a place to visit during the day even while drinks were more expensive than in other areas. He explained that there was live music and the extra cost was due to paying musicians. I’m okay with that! In the later hours it gets a bit wild and crazy (I’d already read about that as well, and one had to be careful about theft and all.)
We randomly chose a place and went upstairs (where we couldn’t hear the music at all) and ordered our meals. I had soup and Dan had fish ‘n chips. I neglected to take photos but no one really needs to see those — just use your imagination! Instead here’s a photo of Dan and his beer!
From there we did more walking in our typical random way. (The first shot is of the restaurant for lunch.)
We ended up in a shop with tons of gorgeous Aran wool sweaters as well as other wool items. Oh how tempted I was! I know it’s all about the tourists, but honestly the prices for such beautiful sweaters didn’t seem at all unreasonable and they were 100% wool. There was one long one that I drooled over. (Not literally, you’ll be relieved to read.) Still, I resisted. I wish I’d taken a photo of the green one I loved, and the men’s purple — a color I wished they’d had for women. I only took these two photos. One of the jackets and vests and the other of the fishermen’s sweaters. And who knows … maybe I’ll cave and return to buy something. They do say they are made in Ireland, and they are just so doggone beautiful.
From there we just ambled a bit.
I think we were both a bit weary from the early wake up. In addition the bag Dan was carrying was rather heavy (full of his photo gear, I think). Due to all of that we went back to the hotel to get our keys and luggage and up we went to our room. The room is spacious, and the bed is the first truly king size bed we’ve had, I think.
I looked outside our window as well.
A bit of snoozing may or may not have taken place. Just guess!
Eventually we decided to head out in the rain in search of a light bite. I did find one spot we passed rather humorous.
I had done a search on restaurants, and then pubs, but finally I realized the best way to search was to plug in FOOD. That way I’d see even more suggestions. We walked to the closest place but it was burgers and that didn’t grab us. Then we walked a bit further to a small pub but it was so crowded and we didn’t see that they served any food at all. Another place, just a short walk away, was nearly empty and looked okay, but Dan said the one he saw on my map that was only a block or so further down was rated higher so we went to check that out. And that was the spot! It was incredibly noisy, but it seemed more like a local place and we really wanted that. They had all of one food option: toasties. Well, that was something I wanted to try in any case, and it was the small bite kind of thing we were hoping for. PLUS the prices were much more reasonable. The place was full of, primarily, younger people — perhaps college aged. I’m certain we were the oldest people there the entire time! The video I shot doesn’t really show the crowd so much: many arrived just after we did, and some of the slightly older guys had left. (Older as in older than college aged, not nearly as old as us!) You might want to turn your sound way down!
Then it was time to make our (short) way back to our hotel. I did have to stop for this little guy, though:
I mean how very encouraging is that?!
We aren’t sure what’s up for tomorrow. Maybe the immigration museum. Maybe a Guinness tour. Maybe something else. So check in tomorrow to find out! I’m really hoping we get a day without rain, but I’m going to bet that won’t be the case. S’okay — we are having a great time no matter!
And now …
Oíche mhaith!
If what I just read is true, that is pronounced “ee-hah wah” … I don’t think I’ll be speaking Irish any time soon.
Boarding the plane was pretty darn quick. It was all done by facial recognition … except when it wasn’t. The camera didn’t see to recognize Dan! He had to then have his passport scanned and all was well.
We got to our sets (row 5, Polaris). I know, I know, fancy schmantzy … but these days I just can’t deal with tight spaces and the inability to sleep. Plus I blame my brother Greg who got us seats in business class once. He suggested we wouldn’t be able to go back and he’s mostly right (we do premium economy on occasion).
We were offered a drink. Speaking wine for me, water for Dan. Yep, he lives on the edge. Then it was a bit of sitting, followed by taxiing, followed by taking off. It was smooth until there was mild turbulence, which they apologetically said would delay our meal. Not that we were hungry anyway.
After a bit of time I looked at my watch. 4:20 AM.
No, not in San Francisco. But when I get on a plane I set the watch and iPad to the destination time, hoping it will get me to accept the huge eight hour time change.
I did a bit of a jigsaw puzzle, and read a bit, but my brain really didn’t want to concentrate on anything. I actually wanted to sleep! Sort of a good thing, but there was dinner to eat. What to do? (Some people suggest you do NOT eat meals on the plane: I’ve yet to convince myself to do that.)
What to do was start writing this.
Food was a bit late, due to turbulence, according to the announcement, but eventually we received our drink and warm nuts, followed by the appetizer. That appetizer was lovely, and was enough for a full meal as far as I was concerned. That turned out to be a good thing: our dinners were not quite so appealing.
After dinner it was lights out for the two of us, and we did a good amount of sleeping. Dan is, in fact, continuing to sleep as I type this. But it’s 11:35 AM at our destination so I’d prefer to try to stay awake now. (It’s 3:35 AM at home.)
Where we are:
Breakfast was served near the end of the flight. I would have preferred lunch, since it was lunch time at our destination, but since I only eat two meals a day anyway, I sort of tried to convince myself it was lunch. It was, as usual, too much food and not terrifically exciting.
This flight really flew by. Yep, that’s about how funny I can be! And then we arrived.
Hello Heathrow!
We went through the passport control in mere minutes, but oh all the walking one does before and after that. It’s a great way to get steps in after such a long sit, though!
Then it was Heathrow Express to Paddington Station.
From there we had to find our way to our hotel via the tube. It took a while, but we did figure out how to do that.
Oh … but it DID take us a while to walk from Euston Station to our hotel. One of use (me!) was using a map app and got confused. Then someone else (he!) took over and managed to also get confused for a bit. We figure this is par for the course and today we had a number of “oops!” moments so perhaps we got it out of our systems early. Who knows? but we got there. Eventually.
Side note: we had to opt for roller bags due to the things we (Dan, really) needed. I’m so torn between the roller bag and our packs. My back isn’t great, and I have neck problems, so a pack hurts, but it sure isn’t fun carrying luggage up stairs, and there were a lot of stairs to get from one place in the tube to another.
Our hotel is nothing exciting, but it will suffice: we are only here for one night and tomorrow we take a night train to our destination. London was just a quick stop.
After dropping off our stuff we went to find an ATM and then a pub. Well, except I first realized I’d left my phone in the room so we had to go back. Another mistake!
ATM was found, money was pulled from there, and off to The Lamb we went. Dan ordered fish and chips and I had a chicken and leek pie. Both were yummy pub food and just what we wanted for our first night here.
Cheers!
On our walk back to the hotel we went past this interesting building.
And then it was time to finish this blog, post my daily flora photo, and hit the hay.
I’m not sure I will be able to post every day: it will depend upon time and internet access. But I will actually write every day so I can post later if things don’t work.
Yesterday afternoon I played my final opera performance as a tenured member of Opera San José.
Thanks to Bill Everett for this From The Pit photo!
After the concert I was honored at a reception, and then it was off to Il Fornaio where we had dinner. (MANY thanks to Pam Hakl for arranging this!)
Today we board a plane and fly overseas. What a time!
This morning I paid a hefty fee to our accountant, for his tax prep. I changed the bed sheets, washed all the towels, cleaned the toilets, straightened things up around the house, took the recycling and compost out, showered … all the stuff one must do before a trip, of course. Dan did a lot as well. Still, we were ready ahead of schedule.
My sister drove us to SFO … thank you, Carolyn! It took a few minutes to check our luggage (more on that later), and NO time at all to go through security. We are now comfortably seated in the Polaris lounge.
After our champagne we had a somewhat light meal, and now we are sitting back in some comfy chairs, waiting for boarding time.
We’ve had a trip planned for quite a while. Flights have been purchased. (And how we hope nothing gets canceled, but we have to be ready, of course.) Trains are scheduled, along with one bus.
About these trains! What an adventure that is!
Some trains were purchased early. Possibly too early — the prices could have dropped more, who knows? Some were purchased late because they only became available later. Some that I thought would be a straight shot ended up with a transfer. Two then turned out to include a few hours in towns where we can spend a bit of time in before moving on. One was split in two not because I opted to do it but because that particular train company said “it’s cheaper if you split this in two but you can stay in the same seats and same train.” Okay then. On one day we have three trains to take, each leg being with a different train company. (The UK has a LOT of train companies!)
Oooh … guess I just gave you a clue about where we are headed, eh?
But we aren’t headed there quite yet: I have four more opera performances (La Traviata, to be precise), and a few more lessons to teach. When we do board our first plane I plan on a celebratory glass of bubbly: retirement will have been achieved!
Meanwhile, I’m not only packing in my head (which I do for months), but I’m starting to set things out to get a feel for what I must bring, what I should bring, and what I want to bring. The must column will certainly go in the pack. The should list probably will. The wants? Well, that all depends upon weight!
Speaking of weight … yes, I weigh things. A lot. I was thinking of bringing certain pants, but then I weighed those and compared to some new ones I’m feeling are working well and nixed that first pair. I weigh shoes in order to decide which pair I’ll pack (only two pair of shoes for this trip). I weigh purses to choose just one. I weigh underwear and socks. I weigh … well … everything. Because every ounce counts!
But in any case, things are getting set out (currently on top of my printers), so I can get a handle on the all of it. It looks like a lot, but things will get put inside packing cubes and it’s amazing how it all fits. Most everything is merino wool, and that fabric can easily be rolled and squished and still come out looking pretty darn nice.
What a mess, eh? But no worries, it’ll all get sorted!
I’m attempting to use the Sudoku Method for packing this time. Heard of it? After putting it together three of these items (one of each — top, bottom, layer) will be worn on the plane which cuts down, obviously on what gets packed.
When I make the final choices I’ll try to take a photo to show people what I’ve opted to choose. Maybe. Sort of. Unless I cheat.
I would love to say we can manage with carryon only, but we are on one smaller plane going to and from one country, God willing: those are the flights most likely to get canceled because of this abomination of a war someone in our country jumped into on a whim. Sigh. Those little planes are also much more picky about weight and we might not be able to keep our bags as light as they require. 10kg … can we do it? Dunno! That’s 22 pounds, and honestly I really don’t want to carry more than that on my back in any case. The carryon bag/suitcase/pack has to measure 21,5″ x 15.5″ x 9.5″ and for that I’m okay. But then the personal item can only be 15.5″ x 11.5″ x 8″. Mine is 16″ x 12″ x 5″. So the big question is just how picky are they and am I willing to take a chance? I’ll have to ponder that. Or buy a new personal size bag. I’ve been reading up and it appears I’ll probably be fine but …??
So what else has been done or needs to be done?
Well, today we got Covid shots and then drove to get our International Driving Permits. We have a house sitter who can stay here, as well as neighbors who always keep an eye on our place. Mail has been stopped for a month (and then I have to stop it again since we are gone for other a month). Our house sitter can collect a stack of what I’m sure will mostly be junk mail when that first stop comes to an end. Well, junk mail and all the money people are going to send me because they want to sponsor the trip. Right?
RIGHT!!! (I can hear you all agreeing with me. So thanks!)
Nearly two years ago (March 5, 2024 to be exact) our older son and daughter-in-law had to leave their home due to a fire. We are all thankful no one in the co-op, including Brandon and Lia’s cats, were injured, but it was much worse than we knew at first. There is a video (that even shows our son at the start) about the fire. (They live on the 6th floor, and the fire start in the place right below them.)
I flew to New York to visit shortly after the fire happened. I was pretty horrified!
WHAT a mess, right?
They are still not back in their home.
Even getting start on the repair work took, if I’m remembering correctly, over a year. Or at least close to that.
While the whole family was here in January (celebrating our 50th wedding anniversary!), I mentioned to Brandon that I’d be willing to help paint when things were ready. And, lo and behold, we flew there on the 11th to get going on that.
The flight was uneventful and we were greeting at EWR by colder weather and a bit of snow. Then we took a car to our hotel. Our hotel with a tiny room and no place to hang anything up. But hey, it was less expensive than others, and after a 15 minute walk would be a direct train to Brandon and Lia’s.
Before starting our painting adventure we were able to celebrate my “Brooklyn brother’s” birthday (to differentiate between him and my “Germany brother”). We met up first a jazz club, much to his surprise. (It was fun to see his face when he saw us there!).
We then dined at a lovely restaurant. With Timothy and Margaret. FUN FUN FUN!
The next morning we (somewhat leisurely) headed over to Brandon and Lia’s to see what we were in for. First it was cleaning up and prep day. I neglected to take any photos I guess (Funny that I thought I had!) and Dan got only a few. But we vacuumed. Dan did a ton of masking. Brandon and Lia worked on getting the floors (which are beautiful!) covered, along with more and more cleaning. Sorry you only get these three pictures, though.
From there we headed to our hotel, catching a bite at the noisiest restaurant ever. We even texted each other at one point!
The following day Brandon and Lia both had work so we decided to enjoy a lunch at Red Rooster, being fans of Marcus Samuelsson. We had a delicious meal. Dan spent some Dick Tracy time talking to his watch. And yes, yours truly even took a photo of the floor in the bathroom. Because. Of course when I saw Bernstein I had to take a photo!
From there we wandered, with our final destination being the Cathedral of St. John the Divine.
We had learned that Jameson and Meghan were going to be at the Cathedral that evening to hear the Gesualdo Six sing. The concert, however, was sold out. BUT … we get to the Cathedral and hear singing. How ‘bout that? They were rehearsing. So we got to enjoy them as we wandered the building.
Toward the back there was a quilt exhibit. You can read about it as well.
More wandering …
And more quilts …
… and wandering …
From there we took a train down to meet up with Brandon and, when she was done working, Lia.
We had some drinks and dinner and then headed back to get some sleep.
On Saturday morning it was work time! I only took a few photos … I guess I was too busy edging and rolling and all that …
For the evening the four of us went to celebrate our hard work and Valentine’s day at an Albanian restaurant in the Bronx called Çka ka Qëllu.
VERY yummy and such a nice way to relax after a day of work.
Our Harlem hotel room looks out here:
Back to work … and look at that beautiful tile in the bathroom!
The above is the kitchen. That’s right, no cabinets, no appliances … nothing. Yet. But soon ….
For dinner we (finally!) got to meet up with Jameson and Meghan as well. Fun times!
Our breakfasts are enjoyed downstairs at our hotel. For me it’s just coffee. (I had a pastry the first morning and was reminded that eating before doing a physical activity gives me the shakes!).
Back to the subway we went for yet another ride up to Pelham Parkway North!
This was our final day of painting. We managed to get a lot done.
The kitchen floor is lovely. (So is Lia!)
The happy painters … and Brandon being Brandon. 😉
Sadly, we had to head back home on Tuesday. But so it goes. We had the first row of Premium Economy … HUGE leg room! Gotta love that.
And hello Bay Area!
So here we are. Back in what is now a rainy San Jose.
Do you wonder what we’ll do next? It won’t involve painting, just so you know. (Although I’d go back and help more in a heartbeat if we had the time and money to do so.
Anyone who travels knows that one has to be prepared for things to go wrong. I accept that. I say I’m ready. I acknowledge that I am not in control.
And then a plane is delayed.
Okay. Fine. I can deal. Just tell me when we will board.
But sometimes they don’t tell you for a while. So you sit. And wait.
This is what we did on our trip to Vermont. We had a flight scheduled at 6:20 in the morning. Ugh. But this was a more affordable flight and it would get us to our final destination at a fairly decent hour.
We got up before 3:00 AM so we could drive to the long term parking lot. We arrived in plenty of time, enjoyed a short moment in the United lounge, and headed to the gate, where we saw that people were already lined up to board. But then someone said something about a delay. Ah well.
Turned out that the Boston airport was only allowing a limited number of planes to land each hour, and that’s where we were headed. So we went and sat down. The next reported boarding time came and went. It took slightly more than two hours, but eventually we did get on that plane and headed to Boston.
The flight itself was uneventful. Getting a shuttle to the rental car place was fine. The car was gotten, and we headed out. But that was a bit of a challenge: following the guidance on the iPhone, which we never could manage to connect to get sound in the car, was just a bit unclear. But out we (eventually went), and then it was a ton of turns before we got out of Boston.
At some point I had a thought, “What if we can’t check in as late as we will arrive?” I’m so very glad that hit me, because I called and, sure enough, we were arriving too late. Thankfully they could tape our keys (my sister was traveling with us) to the door of the place.
Meanwhile, we had nearly 3 1/2 hours of driving to do. Or Dan did. I navigated a bit. And it was long and we were tired!
And then it was dinner. But could we find anything right off the road? Nope! Finally we resorted to getting to a somewhat nearby McDonalds. We don’t do fast food, but we had very little choice in the matter so whatever.
More driving and we did make it to our lodging very close to 11:00 pm Vermont time.
Our flight was a bit bumpy (the pilot had warned us before we even took off), but otherwise uneventful. Toward the end he told the flight attendants to go to their jump seats and told us the final service wasn’t going to happen. That really was no biggie since I’d already decided I would tell them I didn’t want anything.
And so we landed. Got outside. And met up with my sister. (THANK YOU, Carolyn, for picking us up!)
Once home I did my typical unpacking. Has to be done immediately or I don’t rest well. Things got put away, and then mail was opened. I don’t open everything, but I open personal mail and packages, and that meant mostly Christmas cards (and even one birthday card), a book about Maria Callas (sent for free so I can read and review), and a few other things.
Dan wasn’t feeling great, so he hit the hay early. I’ve now managed to stay up until 10:35 our time and, to be honest, it does not feel like it’s 1:35 AM, which is what it would be in NYC. So I guess that’s a good thing. Maybe I’ll adjust easily.
So it’s over ‘n out for our wonderful adventure.
I guess it’s time to plan the next. 😊
Many thanks to readers who went along on our journey!
