A New Year and More Plans

Well we are now into 2014 and we are still doing some planning for our trip to Dartmoor. My countdown calendar at the top of the page states we only have 208 days until we leave. Mark Pepe is really doing most of the planning, we just have to make payments and make arrangements for our airfare from Albuquerque to New York.

Brighton's Royal Pavilion

We have also decided to stay a few days after the letterbox group leaves. Thomas has a friend from college that lives in Brighton and we decided since we were in the country we should take the time to visit them. So we also have to decide what day we want to return and adjust our flights. Also Mark P. asked for a volunteer to drive one of the vans and Thomas said he would be willing to drive one - so it looks like he will have to practice driving on the left side of the road before we leave. I have been reading the books that I have ordered and looking at maps of the Dartmoor area just to get oriented. There seems to be a lot to do and a lot of folklore that I can't wait to learn more about when we get there. I am not sure exactly what we will be doing during our time in Dartmoor (well except for letterboxing), so I am hoping we have some time to learn a little about Dartmoor while we are there. Knowing Mark P. I am sure there will be some neat things happening on the trip.

I have a lot of things on my mind related to the trip. A lot of things I want to do, see and experience. I have started to make a little 'bucket list' for this trip to England. Thomas and I have been to England twice and have seen pretty much but there are still some things we want to do. So I am trying to keep my list to only a few things so that we have time to get them done. I am also starting to gather paper and things to make a logbook just for this trip to Dartmoor. Another thing I am doing is starting to make a packing list - I am trying to only take what I absolutely need and trying to keep my luggage to one medium sized bag and a backpack. Hopefully I can do that so it will be easier to get around.

Now that we are in 2014 the trip is becoming more real and we are getting more information from Mark P. and the excitement is building. We started the month with 16 people going on the trip but there have been some more changes. Shorty is no longer going on the trip and we have added Whiz Gee, The Lazy Letterboxer and The Letterboxing Ham. That means we have gone from 16 to 15 to 16 to 18 - and 18 is where we stand now.

We have received information about making our flight reservations to and from London. Mark P. is getting the flights arranged through Daniel Freitas at Best Group Airfares and the flights are as follows . . .

VS 4     28 AUG     JFK - LHR     1830. 0650.

VS 9     06 SEP      LHR - JFK     1605. 1855.

Thomas and I also need to arrange a flight from Albuquerque to New York and then back home after the trip. Also, we are staying a week longer than the Dartmoor trip so we can visit friends in Brighton and then spend a few days in London (one of our favorite cities). Unfortunately when I called the guy handling the flights he was in a meeting. I talked to a woman and put down our deposit for the New York «-» London part and informed her that we needed to add the Albuquerque to New York part and then change the dates of the return trip. She said she would make a note and then give it the guy handling the flights and get him to call me back. Well I didn't hear back from him today so I am a little worried - I am hoping he didn't schedule us to return with the group. I left myself a note on my computer to call him first thing Monday morning and hopefully we can get all the flights arranged and paid for. It sure would be a big part of the trip handled and one thing we wouldn't have to worry about anymore. We made our $80 deposits on the 24th of this month