N and N's New Adventure: Day 48, Wed. July 11

Day 48 Wednesday July 11

Bath to Glasgow

This morning involved not only the usual ritual stuff, but we had to pack up for our trip to Glasgow. Packing up, which is easier for us, than Pete and Jess went quickly. Babies certainly require a lot of stuff...just because they are babies. Jess officially has the hand, foot, and mouth disease....compliments of Joey. We get the things cleaned for the flat that we are to do and head downstairs. Pete and Jess go around to get the car. The rest of us wait for them to bring it around to the front. We load up and go.

Getting out of Bath is as entertaining as getting in was. The streets of Bath are not laid out in the nice grid forms we usually find in the States. They are diagonal, one way, circular, etc. Actually with only one extra loop we find the A13 which will take us toward Oxford....our first stop.

We travel across England following the most direct route to Oxford. The English country side is a bit hilly, but it is very green. The May, June, and July have been the wettest on record. Pete watched for the lowest price for fuel. He finally found one that was 1.37 GBP per litre. There are 3.79 litres in a US gallon, so the price of gas is over $5.00 a gallon here. It is predicted to go up.

We got to Oxford in time for lunch. Pete and Jess took us to a small French cafe that they had discovered when they were in Oxford for a conference. I had a quiche which was wonderful, and Neil had a ham and cheese croissant which was also excellent. Then we had a cinnamon roll and a brownie for dessert. The desserts can only be described as being sinfully delicious.

Since we had a schedule to keep we got back on the road to Stanstead Airport. By the way, I still don't like to fly. The trip around the ring road by London was busy, but Pete navigated it quite well. We stopped near the airport to put gas in the rental car....must return it with a full tank just like in the States. The directions on the roundabout to the airport were a bit sketchy so we missed the exit and got to around the roundabout again. We made it the second time.

We reached the terminal where Pete dropped us and the luggage off. Then he took the rental car back to the lot. Eurocar has one of the lots furtherest from the terminal which is why he dropped us off. When he got back, we did the Easyjet check in thing. Once again the pram and the car seat had to go to a separate conveyor belt. The people checking in next to us were much more interesting. There were two women and three children around 8 to 11 years old. First they had two big suitcases. One suitcase was terribly overweight which would cost them quite a bit of money. The ticket agent had the extra cost receipt done when they decided to move stuff from one suitcase to another. The agent was not happy, nor was the line of people behind them. Then the agent told them they had too many carry ons. They then spent time moving stuff again. Then the agent noticed one of the children had a skateboard. The agent told them it was too big for a carry - on. The mother then begins yelling at the kid about she told him to leave it home. It had to go as extra baggage. I don't know how it came out because we finished and left to deliver the pram and car seat.

Next stop was security. I made sure the camera, iPad, and prescription case, step meter, watch, and necklace were in the security bins to go through x-ray. I went through the walk through and set off the beepers. Once again I was thoroughly patted down. Then they pulled my bag for further searching. I went with the guards to the table where the young man asked me if he could check my bag. I asked him if I had a choice. He said if I didn't agree I couldn't fly. I explained to him that I really did not have a choice then. He laughed and gave a very cursory check of my bag. Jess once again had to open a formula box and taste it.

We went to the waiting room to wait for our plane. Unfortunately, there had been a number of rather bad storms that afternoon and evening which made our plane late. Our plane was eventually posted...they don't post until 15 minutes before boarding. We went to our gate where everyone had rushed. However, all 5 of us had priority boarding because the nice ticket agent had marked them that way. The plane was full of business people....only 2 little ones. So everyone is all lined up at the gate when they repost it, telling everyone to wait in the lounges....no one left the line.

The plane finally took off a little after 8 PM rather than at 6:30 PM. It was raining. Our pilot climbed, turned, and climbed and turned avoiding another big storm. It was a little bumpy, but it wasn't awful. iPad and Joey distractions made the time go more quickly. Soon we were coming into Glasgow. Pete tells me we came in fast because of the cross winds that are frequent in Glasgow.

We walked down the stairs and into the airport, collected our luggage, stopped at Tesco for some ready meals to take home with us, and went out to the taxi stand. There was a large taxi big enough for all of us and Joey in her car seat and all of the luggage. However, the taxi driver second in line thought he should go next, so they were playing politics. Jess explained to them in no uncertain terms that the second one would not do. It cost us 27 GBP for the taxi from the airport to Cecil St.

We finally got to the flat about 9:30. Joey went right to bed. Pete warmed up our meals, we ate and went to bed.

STEPS: 5,594

Jess & Joey in the big hallway chair in Bath