Got up, got ready and were sorted by the time mum and dad arrived to drive us to the station. Arrived at Totnes just a little bit early. Sat in the café for a while. Eventually the train arrived. A rush of people trying to get on meant I didn't even get a chance to say goodbye as said people blocked the door. Found our seats.
A quick quiz question. If there one hundred empty seats on a train and only two have reserved tickets in them, which do you sit in?
Well, if you are miserable bastard wearing a light mustard jacket then you sit in a reserved one. As we arrived by our seats, he had the temerity to point at the seats opposite and say you can sit there if you like. That didn't go down too well. I pointed out that we'd like to sit in our seats. He huffed and threw his laptop across the table and moved in a deliberately flouncy way. We gave each other a sideways glance and sat down.
Train got busier and busier. We thought we'd never seen a First Class section so full. Turns out the train before us was cancelled due to a dodgy speedometer, so they were just piling everybody on to the train in any seat, and then any aisle. By the time we left Westbury our carriage had people stood all the way down the aisle. Ann and I agreed that we should be smug as we had reserved seats and had no intention of offering them to anybody.
I had the joy of a Waitrose family standing next to me. Both parents appeared to be utterly pointless. Their young daughter's eagerness to show her father the writing she'd just spent half an hour doing was soon met with him taking the book, not looking away from his phone and saying 'That's amazing' before jabbing the book back at her without a glance. She looked very glum. I felt glum for her.
Eventually arrived at Reading. Got off train, got on RailAir Link coach. It was less crowded. Breezed along to Heathrow Terminal Five. Checked luggage in, ate some lunch, sorted out my car insurance and then waited for the gate to open.
It did, got on plane, waited, waited, waited, eventually took off fifty odd minutes late. Flight was fairly uneventful. Watched a couple of films, bit of TV, won 'Who wants to be a millionaire', ate food. Not much more to say.
Before long we saw this.
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| The Windy City |
It is a bit funky, a bit old school punk rock. Album covers on the lift walls.
Got to our room, looked out the window.
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| Chicageeee! |
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| He's the Lips |
Now back in the room. As I type this Ann is awake, which is unheard of, although I think she may be asleep with her eyes open as she has been very dopey since we've arrived. She has just been unable to find her phone charger which was right in front of her.
Anyway bed soon as it is now 10.20pm CDT, which is 4.20am BST. Travelled 4000 miles and been up for nearly day. Need to be ready for tomorrow.
Ann is now asleep as ever.
Bears seen - 0
Moose Watch -Low
States Visited - 1
