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.

A Change and More Information

Well, it's the end of April and the Dartmoor trip is getting closer. At the beginning of this month I made a trip to Arizona for an event that was held because Mark & Sue Pepe were visiting. Since Sedona really isn't that far I decided to make the trip, get some letterboxing in and get to visit with the Pepes. That took the first week of the month and when I got back I continued with reading some of the books I had ordered and did more research on rental cars and hotels.

There hasn't been much information on the Talk List. I know Mark P. had the Arizona trip to deal with and I guess everyone else was busy with other things as well. One thing that did come up was a question about how much walking we would be doing each day on the trip. It seems that we will probably be averaging about 4 miles per day. Not too bad!

We also had some changes in the members of the trip. Moonstone has had to drop out and we got someone new. Lampwick is now coming on the trip taking moonstone's place. So we are still at the same number of members which is 18.

Not Much to Report

In terms of the trip to Dartmoor it has been a slow month. Now that I have made flight arrangements from Albuquerque to New York and all of the deposits have been made there isn't much to do. I did do a little research on rental cars and hotels for Brighton and London but I haven't made any reservations yet. Also I am getting some reading done from the books that I have ordered. But other than that there hasn't been much going on with the Talk List. A couple of other things I have done is to update my to do and packing lists. I have been adding things to the lists as I think of them because if I don't add it when I think of it I will most likely forget it - here one day, gone the next. That's it for now, I will report again next month.

Flights Confirmed and Some General Information

I have been working on our flights for the trip and it was a lot of work to make things come together. Daniel from Best Group Airfares had done the New York to London part but I needed him to make some adjustments since Thomas and I need connecting flights and we are coming back later than most of the group. It took three or four calls to Daniel to get everything arranged but it all worked out finally. Thomas and I will have to leave Albuquerque at 11:57pm on Wednesday, August 27th in order to get to New York and make the connecting flight to London with the rest of the group. We will get into JFK around 6:00am on August 28th and have to spend 12 hours waiting for the connection. But that worked out the best. The other flights really didn't give us enough time since we have to collect our bags from Albuquerque and go through security again. But at least we will be able to make the flight to London with the rest of the group. We will return from London on September 11th on an early morning flight which gets us into New York around noon giving us plenty of time to get through customs and make our connecting flight around 8:00pm. Both trips will be long but I think it will be worth it. I am glad that this part of the trip is handled. Here is our actual flight information . . .

JetBlue 66     27 AUG     ABQ - JFK     2357. 0559.

JetBlue 65     11 SEP      JFK - ABQ     2015. 2404.

VS 4     28 AUG     JFK - LHR     1830. 0650.

VS 3     11 SEP      LHR - JFK      0905. 1150.

 

When this trip was first announced Mark P. asked for suggestions for a group name and one of the suggestions was from Grumpy Grinch (who unfortunately had to back out of the trip) came up with a good one. And it seems that is the name we are going to use since I saw a post on Pinecone Boxing for the trip using that suggested name. It is The Hounds of Boxerville. This is a play of course on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes story The Hound of the Baskervilles - which is set in Dartmoor. You can read Mark P.'s account of the trip by going to The Hounds of Boxerville Trip on his blog.

Deposits have been made for our airfare, rental vans and our accommodations in Dartmoor. Things are getting more real. We will have to make full payments sometime in July. Mark P. has also given us an idea of what the total cost will be for each person for everything including extra meals, gas for the vans, entry fees and souvenirs. I think it will be a very reasonable price for this incredible trip. We have been putting money aside ever since we were invited on this trip so I am ready to pay when the time comes.


Earlier I had asked Mark P. if we would be going anywhere near Stonehenge but he said it was a little out of the way and when they had gone on a previous trip they were disappointed. Recently Mark did some research and mapped out a more rural driving route and we will be going right by Stonehenge. Also he read up on Stonehenge and they have revamped the whole experience and he has added a stop there on our way from London to Dartmoor. I am so excited, this has been something I have wanted to do for a long time.

This month I purchased a new point & shoot camera. I got the Panasonic Lumex DMC-TZ40. At first I was going to bring my DSLR but I decided that it is too big to carry and I am trying to keep things as compact as possible. I think this will work out great. We also needed to give Mark P. any dietary restrictions we might have so he can make arrangements at Blackadon. And we got information on how much we need for the kitty (£50) and we will also need $20 for Stonehenge. We also got a link with some information on British coins - hopefully it will all make sense when we get there.

Now I still have lots of things to get done since we are staying a few days longer than the rest of the group. I need to arrange a rental car and hotels for those extra days. It shouldn't be a problem, I just need to get it done. I am so excited about this trip and as things get done I get more excited because it makes it all the more real. I will post again when more plans are finalized.