Home again, Home again....

Well not quite home, but at least back in the US.  We arrived last night at 11:13 pm.  Sam, Dan and Elaine were there to meet us!!  What welcome faces!

We left our hotel at about 8:00 and headed over to Victoria Station.   We had previously purchased tickets on the express train from Victoria Station to Gatwick Airport, so when we got there we found out where the train was leaving from and headed to the train.  Most trains have 1st and 2nd class seats and if you have 2nd class tickets and sit in 1st class that definitely not acceptable.  Of course, the other way around is fine.....LOL

One time of being "caught" sitting in 1st class instead of 2nd made us very aware - but you never know whether 1st class is at the head of the train or the rear, and climbing on and off the trains is not always easy. 

I was carrying the tickets in my hand when we finally found the 2nd class car and when I lifted my suitcase up into the suitcase bin, I dropped one of the tickets.  I sat down and only had one ticket - since they were almost 17 pounds, I sure didn't want to have to purchase another one.  I looked, but didn't see it so went back down the cars checking to see if I dropped it - no....went outside onto the platform - no ticket in sight.

Sam said he would check - and by this time the departure is getting closer and closer.  He walked out onto the platform and down (I believe it was 4 cars) to talk to the conductor.  In the meantime I looked again on the floor and found the ticket - had to crawl on my hands and knees to get it.

I stuck my head out the car and yelled at Sam, but he didn't hear me!  I went back to our stuff as I had left my bags unattended - and the train starts up.  Needless to say, I'm really sweating it - my thoughts, were "What if Sam didn't get on the train and he's left stranded" - I have what pounds we have left and the credit card - no phone......needless to say my heart was pounding when he plopped down beside me. 

He had asked the conductor when the train was leaving and he said "NOW"  So Sam ran to the first car and hopped on as it started to move - and then walked to our car.  We had another good laugh of relief as I showed him the two tickets!!  Whew.  Another "adventure" in the life of.....

We  arrived in plenty of time at Gatwick and checked in.  They decided we needed to check our luggage as our bags were too heavy for carry-on's.  Hmmm, wonder why? Interestingly enough it was going to be an extra 15 pounds each, but the charge didn't come up when the man put it in because our tickets had included one checked baggage.  Nice!  so we didn't have to worry about luggage until we arrived in Chicago.

The first leg of the journey was to Dublin - an hour and 15 minutes flight.  We flew with Aer Lingus which has really pretty teal colors!

 

Short flight - no problems - an hour until our next flight.  Only problem is we had 30 minute wait to go through Irish customs.  Our palms were starting to sweat - AGAIN!  Finally through customs and then a 10 minutes or so walk to the gate.....and US Customs and Immigration!!  And then we hear - final boarding call for flight to Chicago - would Farring, party of 2 please report......yikes.  Fortunatly, US customs was easy and they were pointing the way for us.....hurry, hurry, hurry!!

Here's a scene from the plane - leaving beautiful Ireland

Found our seats and really the 7 1/2 hour trip to Chicago went fast - I worked on pictures - didn't sleep much; but we made it safely to US soil!

A five hour layover in Chicago - trying to keep the time schedule was interesting.  Sam kept his watch on London time and I changed as we flew.  That's rather mind boggling!!

We arrived in Portland right on the dot at 11:13 p.m. and Sam, Dan and Elaine met us.  SO happy to see their grins!!  The boys even brought us flowers to welcome us home!  Nice, eh?

 

 

 

 

Today we are headed home on the bus and will arrive at about 5:30

We do hope you have enjoyed our trip along with us.  We have SO many memories,.  I will go through my  pictures and upload more and send a link when that's done!

Thanks for sticking by us, encouraging us along the way and for the support from everyone!!

WE DID IT!!

Comments

[Della]

Sam and Jan,
Welcome home!! It has been so great following you on your trip. Thanks so much for "blogging" it for us.

[Holly Scholz]

We're all so proud of you for taking this trip! It was a lot of planning, excitement, and stress, but you did it. We sure loved following you through Europe. Can't wait to see you!

[Char Wilson]

Thank you so much for blogging this trip so that others could see Europe through your eyes. I will probably never make that trip, myself, so I really enjoyed all the comments, pictures and predicaments you both got yourselves in :-)

Hugs,
Char

[Russ and Judy Rosehill]

Hi Sam and Jan,
Welcome home! We've really enjoyed following your adventure (and mis-adventures!) and could identify with a lot of what you saw and felt. You did a marvelous job of keeping up with the blog and taking/uploading the pictures. Now, you're well prepared for a trip to Ft. Worth - don't you think?
Our love,
Russ and Judy

[Bob and Ruth]

Glad you made it home safe and sound. We are looking forward to seeing you in July. It has been so special hearing about your trip on th blog. Look forward to hearing more and seeing more pictures.

Love,
Bob and Ruth

[Kathy Hill]

Loved all the pics. Welcome Home to you two world travlers! What an amazing experience. So glad you could do it.

love Merle and Kathy

[Christine Healey]

Jan, I an SU! demo in Australia, and came to your blog to look at SU! But, then I found your holiday. I have just had the most enjoyable 45 minutes reading of your travels. I have been to many of the places, so it brought back so many memories. Thank you for sharing such a fantastic holiday. I've loved it. Now, I'll go and look at your SU! projects.
Thank you
Christine Healey (Melbourne, Australia)

[Nancy Blanchard]

I thoroughly enjoyed reading all about your adventures and could somewhat related to the train events, as we chased down many a trains while we were there too. I love that you were able to share so much of your trip, and I hope you got your phone back!