Three Weeks in England

The next morning, the alarm went off at 5:45 a.m., as we were to catch the 10:05 plane from London to Dallas, and then the 4:38 from Dallas to arrive home in O.C.at 5:54 p.m. We checked the weather, and again there were heavy storms over Texas, so we hoped the storm would pass before we had to depart that flight. When we arrived in Dallas, we actually got in twenty minutes early, so we went to lunch at a terminal restaurant. As it turned out, the storm had passed, but as we sat on the plane we were delayed for half an hour for two reasons. One, someone in the pilots cabin needed a Band-Aid. We watched as two flight attendants opened overheads on the plane searching for a first-aid kit. I hesitate to think how long it would have taken if someone needed that first-aid kit for something much more serious. And two, any reason for a departure delay has to be reported to the tower, and the person who was supposed to receive the electronic notice was off somewhere else. We had to wait until they had returned and approved the delay before the plane could take off – all for one Band-Aid.

Unfortunately, on the flight back, there were several children who cried and screamed for a good deal of the time. Fortunately for me, I had my noise cancelling headphones which blocked all that, saving my sanity. We at last arrived at 6:30 that evening, exhausted, having been up for over twenty hours. Arriving home, seeing our dear cat Lily, and looking forward to our soft beds, softened the blow of a rough return trip. Still, there were so many highlights to our trip that we enjoyed, and in the balance of it all, we were thankful for a great trip.