September 28, 2018 — The Trip Home

September 28, 2018 — Day 25 (Friday)

Slept pretty decently. Finished packing and climbed up all the stairs with our luggage. We waited with one other couple for the shuttle driver who soon arrived. They were headed for a holiday in New York City and Orlando . . . interesting combination. We were dropped at MAN Terminal 2 and the adventure began. Long lines for luggage drop and they tagged all our bags as carry-on. Then when we got to drop off, they couldn’t find we’d paid for two checked bags . . . 90 GBP. The gal finally sent them through without making us pay again. I had a receipt on my phone but she wouldn’t look at a phone. Strange since they accept your ticket on the phone . . .

Next adventure was security. They bark at you, albeit politely. You and your things are completely separated into several bins and several lines. You can’t possibly keep track of anything. We were also separated and I got the usual pat-down and wand. All these airports must have major problems with 70+ year old grandmas. The two of us and our backpacks got through but the briefcase didn’t make it. We had to stand in line to wait for it and then a man went through it with us. The electronics (laptop brick and cards with extra hard drive) didn’t cause any trouble but my nice dry non-electronic paints seemed to set off alarms. They were removed and put through x-ray again and we were free to go. In France when they see your paints, they immediately usher you through like an honored guest. In England artists seem to be suspect . . . despite the fact that Prince Charles paints.

Next you are forced to walk through a major shopping mall to get to the gates. There is no escape and very assertive vendors are in the aisles busking their goods. The perfume section goes on forever and smells horrible. You finally get to the Departure Gates and the gate is not posted so we’re waiting in the lounge until flight time when they finally post the gates.

Leaving England on Virgin Atlantic Air

Flying over Widnes and Warrington from Manchester to San Francisco

Later: We did get on and had a delightfully boring flight, landed in San Francisco and caught the BART to Pleasant Hill. Since Peg was gone on vacation, Ed hailed a taxi and we had to use our GPS to guide the driver to Peg’s. A taxi without a GPS in 2018 . . . wow.

We did arrive at Peg’s, used our key to get in and settled in for the night. The next morning we packed up our car and drove home without problem. It was good to see our little kitty, Mimi, again.