The day(s) so far …

We easily boarded our flight and, for the first time in a while, I could put my backpack right above my seat. For a while, in fact, I thought the bin would only be visiting with my backpack, but close to when we departed a woman crammed her larger suitcase in. She couldn’t quite get it to fit so her husband pulled my bag out and fit hers first. I was a bit concerned that they were going to move my pack, but they did manage to shove it in. (I’m glad my camera was in a protective case, though!)


Being in Polaris seats one first has to figure out how to deal with two blankets and two pillows. Oh the suffering! (JOKING, I promise.) We were in row 9, though, which are bulkhead seats (and I’m now realizing I use that word but don’t even really KNOW what a bulkhead is. Hah!). And since they are lay flat seats you still can store your personal item in front of you, and there is MORE room both for our feet and for things to store on a bit of a shelf and pillows and blankets went there for a time. Some people say row 9 is bad because it’s close to the bathrooms and kitchen. I actually like it and would happily choose the row again. So hooray for us.

I was surprised, though, to see signs on the bathroom on my side:

I figured INOP meant “inoperable”. The door was locked, and I thought, “So much for THAT bathroom.” Welllllll … what it really meant was, “You can’t use it, but all the flight attendants will.” Go figure. Still, no worries using the bathroom on the other side, and Dan implied they deserve their own bathroom. (I just always figured they HAD their own somewhere on the plane.)

Dinner was served. It was “meh”. We’ve decided that, from now on, we might just eat a good meal at the lounge before we leave and skip the flight’s meal. It’s always too much food anyway.

Then it was time to rest. Seat turned to bed, and I managed to sleep. (This photo is from a bit before I got back up, as you can probably tell since the plane image at the bottom shows us close to our destination.)


The flight went quickly. Breakfast came about 1 1/2 hours before we landed. I really wish they’d serve the meal according to where we were going, rather than where we came from. Ah well. Breakfast at 2:00 PM … whatever. And too much food. Again.

After deplaning, in the Z area of terminal 1, we headed to B. But how to get there? We went to the help desk and he verified what we thought we saw … we had to leave the secure area and walk walk walk … then took a tram. There was B. But then we had to go back through security. Slow security, even while barely any people were going through. We had to take out all electronic devices, liquids, and our cameras. Heh. My camera was at the bottom of my very full pack! But finally through things went, and I had the full body scan. I guess something showed up so a woman gave me a pretty darn thorough pat down. You’d think she might have said, “You are so fit for a woman of your age!” But no. Nothing. Gee …. Of course I was then able to move on.

But then?! I couldn’t figure out how I managed to fit everything in my backpack when at home. It was pretty hysterical. Dan helped and, yes, HE managed to get it all in. Oh, and I left my phone in the tray. Someone saw it … whew!

Now we are, finally, in the lounge, where we sit around for another hour or so. We thought we’d have tons of time here at the airport, but with the getting so confused about how to get to B and the slow security I’m rather glad we had all that time.

Still, our flight doesn’t leave until 10:05 and it’s only 5:30. Lots of time to waste.

Today is the Day

Yep, we are heading to the UK this evening, and we are packed and ready to go. Today was the day to tidy up the house, wash linens, and just generally wander around seeing what needs some attention. The house won’t be as clean as I would like, but I do have to be careful with this back of mine! Last night I managed to nearly trip and fall when my foot caught on a piece of luggage (it was dark in the room), but I managed to catch myself with the help of some furniture. Whew! As I told Dan, it really could have been a major catastrophe. Instead it’s rather minor, but I can tell my back wasn’t happy with me. So it goes …

We will be off in less than two hours. There is a Polaris lounge just calling our name!

But first … take out trash, check lists again to see what I’ve missed. And maybe attempt to relax.

Oh My … The Time!

When I work on these trips they seem so far away, and time moves at a slow pace.

Until.

Now? I just can’t believe how soon we leave, and I’m going over checklists (both written and in my head), trying to get things done that need doing. Of course I’ll probably forget something, but I’m hopeful the most important tasks get done. I simply must make time for those.

Today it was tidy up the kitchen. Wouldn’t you know as I was doing that the sink clogged?! But better now than when our house sitters are here. In addition, it reminded me to put the sink plunger under the sink in case they need it. I always keep toilet plungers handy, but I forget about the sink since we never (hah … never say never!) have issues there.

I also cleaned up the outside of the house … so many webs that have collected dust. I will NOT get the windows done, though. I simply can’t do them at this point. Dan set up the patio furniture, and I’ll be cleaning up the patio so it’s not a mess: it’s actually nice to sit out there for dinner when things are neatened up.

Some things, of course, have to wait until Tuesday morning after we get dressed: washing linens, changing the bed, all that jazz. I also want to completely clear out my closet (it’s already almost empty) and I did empty some drawers earlier this week, so the sitters have at least one closet in which to hang things, and a few drawers to put clothes in. I just don’t like asking them to live out of suitcases when they are here for nearly a month.

So prep is going on, and of course I’m quite excited. Oh, and my back is improving. It’s not 100%, but I’ll get there.

This very well may be my last post before we start the trip. We’ll see.

Anyway … tick tick tick … that clock is getting mighty noisy!

More Accomplished!

Trains are done, although we still need to get our “Two Together Railcard” which is good for a year. When I purchased the train tickets I included that card on the order which lowers the price significantly. I don’t have to purchase the card quite yet, so I am holding off, in case we visit the UK again within the year. It just might be used for more than this trip if that’s the case, and who knows?

Travel insurance is purchased. It’s a requirement for the walking portion of our trip, but it’s also just a wise thing to get and something we never bought before because we were simply unaware. Our credit card covers things like lost luggage and trip cancellation, but getting coverage for things like medical and evacuation is pretty important should we have an unfortunate incident.

AND our Mickeldore packet is available online so I can see where we are staying! That was fun to receive. It makes the trip all the more real.

Next up is figuring out places to eat while on our walk. I’ve read that getting reservations is recommended and I sure do want to be certain we have places to eat after a walking day.

Then it’s “do we want to schedule any visits?” There are distilleries we can check out, and of course there are some castles. I know we’ll want to see Stirling Castle, and I’m assuming we will also want to visit Edinburgh Castle. Might there be a concert somewhere? Have to check! Is there a pub that will have live music that would be fun to hear? Possibly. So more research is necessary.

Oh … and one other thing. I’m a bit obsessive (can you tell?) so I check our United seats pretty much daily. One leg seated us pretty far back so I was hoping for a change. Well, there WAS a change on one leg … a change of plane, which then put us in seats we didn’t want! Apparently United does this without notifying the ticket holders. I find that so odd. Thankfully I could move us to seats we preferred and take care of that issue. But honestly … shouldn’t they notify ticket holders who are paying SO DOGGONE MUCH for seats?! I’ve since been informed (from a United group) that others have had the same problem, and that sometimes they even separate a couple. One man said his seats were changed the day of his trip. So I guess checking is helpful, but until we are IN our seats there are no guarantees!

Yes, I’m Home

I will post more photos from the flight … maybe. We’ll see. But it was a rather uneventful flight, aside from a few little annoyances.

Because I checked my bag at the last minute which meant it was one of the last to be put on the plane it was one of the first to get delivered. This is one reason I like to do it that way when they ask for volunteers! Then my sweet sister picked me up (Thanks, Carolyn!), and we headed back to San Jose.

We went out to dinner and even treated ourselves to ice cream cones. Okay, really frozen yogurt cones because those MUST be so much healthier! HAH!

Anyway, who knows if I’ll get to photo posting or not, but for now? BED. Ciao!

Flying Home

After my quick cappuccino at the hotel I scheduled a Lyft to take me to EWR. I knew I’d arrive (too?) early, but there wasn’t enough time for a walk and staying at the hotel seemed boring.

The driver arrived a minute after I scheduled the “longer wait” right. Heh. I’ve learned that one rarely needs to get the immediate car that costs more. As we were dealing with a ton of traffic in Manhattan he asked how soon my flight was and I assured him I had plenty of time. But then, even further out, we hit nearly standstill traffic. Turned out there was an accident that was impeding …

<Wait! Side note: the person behind me just closed MY window blind in the plane. Hello?! The same person who put his — or hers, I haven’t checked — blanket plastic wrapper on my arm rest. Heh. Boundaries be gone!)

… our progress. But we got past that and, for the most part, did okay from then on. We did pass another accident with two cars on their sides and another damaged one as well. Eek!

Security was a breeze. Barely a line and very very quick. I then walked over to find my gate, before heading to the United Club lounge. (I like to know how far it is from the lounge.)

I really didn’t end up having a ton of time in the lounge. Or maybe I did and it went quickly because I was playing all my games. Hm. (HUGE fail with “Connections” today, though.)

I stood in the line for Boarding Group 2 until, as I expected, we were told the plane was full and if anyone was willing to check their carryon bag they could do so. Knowing the bin above me would be full by the time Group 2 (really Group 6) boarded I went for it. Too bad they don’t reward us with a meal or something. Oh well.

And now I’m on the plane. I’ll be curious to see if I can post this! (Yes, I paid the $8 to have a connection on the plane.)

Saturday in New York

I’m going to write up what I did today and then add photos later: I’m just not sure how much longer I can stay awake!

I woke this morning, and had a relaxed bit of time, heading up to the 27th floor for a cappuccino. Okay, okay, I had two! It’s only “automatic machine cappuccino”, but it’s free and it’s here and there you go. I’m going to enjoy them.

After that I slowly headed out. It was a lovely day here: there were clouds, but just pretty fluffy things. There was sun. And there weren’t a ton of people out and about. I’m guessing they all headed to the St. Patrick’s Day parade. I opted to avoid that and just enjoy a random walk, heading up Lexington. When Brandon texted to say I could head up to the Bronx I went back to the hotel and then called a Lyft.

I began the Bronx visit by meeting up with Brandon and Lia at their current home … which happens to be a place they stayed in right before they purchased the Pelham Parkway place. We then walked to their very damaged home.

Oh. My. It really is sad to see. As I told them, I would be able to handle it much more (though it would still be sad) when all the rubble is cleared away. It’s just a disaster. There was also water sprinkling down from a broken pipe. I would have thought they’d have shut off the water! That can’t be doing ANY good at all.

From there we got a car and headed to Meghan and Jameson’s.

Jameson had mentioned a nice place to walk to a few weeks back, so we headed there. It’s called Wave Hill and I want to read up on it later. We had a light lunch and then wandered. There were flowers that were so lovely, and we went into a greenhouse with fabulous plants.

From there it was back to their place for a time, and then we headed to a Kingsbridge Social Club for dinner (pizza) where I ate far too much. As usual.

Now, after taking a Lyft back to the hotel, I’m comfy in bed and very tired. I might try to post the photos soon, but it’s more likely I’ll do them tomorrow morning. Do come back to this page to see them!

Update: It’s morning and yes, I have posted photos. I am using my iPad, and this is a great test-run for our long trips. I can certainly manage with this, although posting photos is extremely clunky at the moment. I’ll have to research and see if there’s a better way. I currently have to post one image at a time, and I don’t see a way to make them smaller and mosaic-like. Still, it’s nice to get them up here!

Safely Landed, Now Ready for Sleep!

My plane flight was fairly non-eventful, although at one point they felt the need to point out where the barf bags were! Yes, a bit of turbulence. Nothing that bugged me, though.

In addition, for some reason we were never offered food. Perhaps because of turbulence again. It very well could be that they told us, but I can’t really understand much when the do the loudspeaker thing. It’s not loud, and it’s not clear. Go figure.

Boarding was a bit of a pain. When they say I’m in group two what that really means, as far as I’m concerned, is group six.

First they do people with disabilities, and then they add (not necessarily in this order), people of high standing (maybe platinum members?), groups with young children, and military folks. Finally group one went in and then we go to go. By the time I got to my seat in row eight there was NO room in the overhead bins close by and I had to hike back a bit to find an empty spot. I really wish they’d have a rule that said, “Use the bin above you,” but of course they can’t do that.

In any case, I got my luggage stowed, and went back to my middle (sigh) seat. The man to my right was an arm rest hog, but so be it. I sat quietly, got some rest, played my jigsaw puzzle and basically relaxed.

It was great to get in to Manhattan — it took nearly an hour from EWR.

I got to my room (VERY basic, but I don’t need anything fancy), relaxed, and waited for the boys to tell me what was up.



I met Jameson and Meghan in the hotel lobby and we ambled a bit, finally ending up at a place where we met Brandon and Lia. Foot and drinks were enjoyed, and it really was a great time. I’m SO happy to see them all. It’s good to see that Brandon and Lia are doing okay despite dealing with the fire at their apartment. Soon they will be able to move to the place right across from their uninhabitable place and I think that will be a good thing.

After eating and talking a lot Brandon and Lia said their goodbyes and Jameson and Meghan walked me back to my place.

What a long day. But who cares?! It’s just so great to see everyone!

Tomorrow I will head to the Bronx, view the mess of Brandon and Lia’s, and then go to Jameson and Meghan’s area.