Airports and Airplanes

With everything done it was time to head out for the trip. Thomas and I left Santa Fe around 6:30pm to head down to Albuquerque to begin our journey to England. Our flight wasn't until 11:57pm but we decided to stop and get some dinner before making our way to the Sunport. For dinner we stopped at Pappadeaux's. I really like this restaurant and we haven't been there in a long time and I was glad we stopped here. The food was as good as I remember and it was nice having a great dinner before our flight to New York. After eating we headed to the parking at the airport and then took the shuttle. We were early and the desk for jetBlue wasn't open yet so we just sat and read for a while. When the employees arrived we checked our bags in and then went through security. Everything was quiet this late and things went quickly. Once at the gate we read until it was time to board the plane. This was an overnight flight to JFK and Thomas and I tried to sleep. It turned out that neither of us slept very well. It is hard to sleep on a plane when you are seated upright and there is really no place to put your head. The flight was uneventful and we landed in New York around 5:30am. We picked up our bags and then found out where our connecting flight was taking off. We had to make our way from Terminal 5 to Terminal 4 which turned out to be a few minutes walk. At Terminal 4 we found the bag storage area so that we could leave our luggage somewhere so we didn't have to haul it around all day. We got that all settled and then went to find something to eat. There weren't many options and we ended up at Central Diner. We took our time eating since we had all day and had coffee and talked about the trip. After eating we went and found where the Virgin Atlantic check-in was located then we needed to find a place to sit and wait. It was too early to check in and finding chairs to sit in and wait proved to be challenging. Finally we found some at the AirTrain area. Here we read and watch a show on our iPad. Unfortunately that did really take up all that much time so we decided to get on the AirTrain and ride around the airport a few times. Once back at Terminal 4 we just sat and waited for Bell Motel to call us.

Around 11:00am we got a call from Bell Motel and she had arrived in Terminal 5. We told her where we were and she made her way to Terminal 4. After she got her bags checked in we all grabbed a taxi and went to Forest Park to find some boxes. We needed to occupy our time until later in the day. The taxi dropped us off right at the beginning spot for Many Attractions of Forest Park. This is a 25 box series on about a mile hike. We spent a little over two hours looking for these boxes and ended up finding 23 of the 25. When we were done we found a place to call for a taxi to get back to the airport. Here we went to the baggage storage and got our luggage and the made our way upstairs to get checked in. It didn't take long since we had checked in online and had our boarding passes already. All we had to do was get the bags checked. Then we went through security which seemed a little disorganized and took about 25 minutes. Once through security we made our way to Gate A3 to meet up with the group for the flight to London. Everyone was there so we said our hellos and then just visited until it was time for boarding.

They started the boarding at around 5:30pm and things went smoothly. The Captain made an announcement about how we had to wait until 6:30pm for takeoff because we couldn't land in London too early. Then he made another announcement about backup at JFK and we were waiting to be able to leave. In the end we left about an hour late. The flight was long and Thomas and I tried to sleep but it wasn't that great and we only got a little shut eye. During the flight we had some dinner, watched a couple of movies and read. Finally at 6:40am we arrived in London. Then we went through Customs and gathered our bags. Once everyone had their things we made our way to the Arrival Hall to meet with the car rental people to get the vans so that we could begin our trip. We are now in England and the journey begins.

Preparations Are Done and It Is Time To Go

Tonight we are headed to the Sunport to begin our journey to Dartmoor. After preparing for almost a year it is finally time to go. I can't describe how excited I am about this trip. It is something I have been thinking about since I began letterboxing 8 years ago. Up to now I have been posting once a month to document the preparations for this trip. Now that the trip is here I am going to post daily on what we do and where we go. The first part of the trip will be in Dartmoor and then Thomas and I are staying in Brighton and London for a few more days after Dartmoor and I am going to try and write something each day.

During the last year I tried to getting things done so that I wasn't having a large 'To Do' list right before we left. So I have to say that August was a pretty easy month for planning, organizing and packing. I did make a logbook/journal for this trip - which I am very happy with - it came out great. Also during the month we added things we needed to take on the trip that we didn't need now to our packing area. So that made it easy to actually see what we had and keep track of things as well as getting things packed.

Other last minute things I did was to go to AAA and get some British Pounds so that when we get to England we are ready and don't have to worry about changing money. I also called Verizon and added a UK calling plan for the two weeks we will be there. And I printed out a few letterbox clues for our time in London - I didn't get many because there are a lot of things we want to do so we probably won't have a lot of time to letterbox at the end of the trip.

We are ready for this trip and are excited about the visit to Dartmoor. The next time I post we will be in England and hopefully relaxing and having fun. All the plans and packing fell easily into place and it is making me a little uneasy - I hope I haven't forgotten anything - oh well, it's too late now. We will just have to do without or go shopping if we need anything. Here is to another adventure.

Getting Things Done and The Excitement Builds

We have less than a month before we leave for England and I am so excited. I have gotten lots of things accomplished but there is still more to do.

First of all I have finally reserved a car for the last part of the trip. I am using 5th Gear - the same company Mark P. used for the vans. We will only have the car for two days so that we can travel to Brighton to see our friends. Once we get back into London we will turn in the car and use public transportation. I also found two great hotels. We are staying at the Premier Inn in Brighton which is close to the city center. And in London we are staying at a Hampton Inn that is near the London Eye, the Waterloo Train Station and Shakespeare's Globe Theater. I am so glad all of this is done - three things I don't have to worry about anymore.

Mark P. also asked if anyone would have a cell phone with a UK calling plan. Originally moonstone was going to have one but she had to drop out. I volunteered our phone since we need it to contact our friends and keep in touch with family here. We will get reimbursed for any calls the group makes, so no problem. Since Thomas is driving one of the vans I asked Mark P. for the route that we will be taking to Dartmoor. I wanted to get familiar with it so that I can help Thomas navigate. He sent it to me right away and it looks pretty easy, so we are all set on that point.

There was one more change in membership and that is Whiz Gee is no longer going on the trip - so that takes us down to 17. Unless Mark P. has added someone that I didn't hear about. Anyway it looks like we are all set with who is going on the trip now because I think it is too late to back out (at least without losing all your money). We also got reminders of some things we should bring with us - passport, water bottles, hiking boots, prescription medicine and electrical converters.

We also voted on whether or not we wanted to take a day to visit a castle. It ended up as a 'yes' and we will be taking a trip to St. Michael's Mount a little southwest of Dartmoor. I think it is about an hour away. I am looking forward to this - from the website it looks amazing.

Final payments have been made for the airfare and we will get our etickets at the beginning of August. I also sent Mark P. the balance for the vans and cottage. So that means most of all the trip has been paid for and we will just have to pay for a few things while on the trip. When we arrive at the airport we will need to give Mark P. some cash - $35 for a couple of things he paid for in advance and £50 for the kitty.

We started packing (sort of) by putting things we need to bring on the trip but don't need now in a box and we checked those things off of our packing list. I have also gotten about 3/4 of the things on my to do list done. So I think the rest of the time leading up to our departure will be pretty relaxing with only a few things to get done.

Two Months Until Departure

This month I contacted Mark P. to find out the company he was using for the rental vans so that I could see what they had in terms of a car we might be able to rent. He told me he was using 5th Gear. So I have been looking over their website trying to decide the type of car we want and other little things. I have also emailed the company to get clarification about a few things. Hopefully I can make a decision early next month.

We also got some reminders . . . check passport expiration dates, let credit card companies know we will be out of the country, how much we need for the kitty, money we will need for other things (Stonehenge, a couple of dinners, pub libations, souvenirs, etc.), and that we will have to pay balances in July for airfare, vans and cottages. Lots to think about and to do!

Very Little Information About the Trip

Not much information has been exchanged this month, I am guessing that most things have been handled. I have been adding to my to do list and my packing list just so that I can keep things straight. I am also still reading the books I ordered and the more I read the more excited I get for this trip. My research is moving along for a rental car and for hotels in Brighton and London. I am having trouble making a decision about what area we want to stay in and what things we want to do and see. I really have to get my act together and make some decisions because before we know it we will be on our way.