Whist it was obviously a sad occasion, I was inclined to view it more as a celebration of Mum's life and a chance to reflect on all the happy times we had shared together. I am glad that she is finally at peace now and wherever she is, hope that she is reunited with Dad and my brother Paul :)
Brrr!
Now that's what I call I full English!
... was so tempted to amend the title in the wrapper and hand it back
After what seemed like mere hours ... didn't we just get here? ... all too soon it was time to head back across the pond again, but we certainly made the most of our week, cramming in as much time with friends and family as possible as well managing to tick off nearly all the experiences from our collective list of 'Things we have missed about the UK'. They included:
1. A trip to the pub - we met up with Eldest and had a great meal at The Sportsman in Goddards Green complete with roaring log fire. Mr B predictably went for the fish & chips, the boys opted for steak and I chose one of my favourites (and which I rarely ever cooked at home as none of the boys would entertain it *tuts*), liver, bacon and mash with onion gravy ... Mmmmm, I can still taste it now. Delish!
2. A walk down Lindfield High Street to see the carpets of crocuses that appear every spring. Sadly we were out by a couple of weeks for the crocuses I think, but there were plenty of cheery daffodils, pansies in window boxes, bright red camellias and the odd magnolia tree just starting to bloom. Beautiful!
3. A curry at the local Indian - have only seen one Indian restaurant in Scottsdale and haven't been brave enough to try it yet, so as it was 12 months since I ate my last one this was high on my list!
4. A walk along Brighton seafront - I have to say I was a little disappointed. Everywhere looked greyer than I had remembered (apart from the beach huts which were thankfully still the same) and was either covered in seagull crap or rubbish. We also seemed to have timed our walk with the start of some charity dog waking event as we were suddenly surrounded by people with dogs of all shapes & sizes sporting orange bows ... not to mention pink tutus, socks, woolly jumpers and bandanas. Still, I suppose at least they were actually walking. If it were in Scottsdale they would all be being pushed round in a buggy tucked in with a blanket! (I kid you not people).
5. A Chinese takeaway - I know that Chinese restaurants abound in Scottsdale, however, it doesn't taste the same somehow. Everything seems to be much sweeter for some reason? Or maybe it's just me. It was made even more perfect because we ate it with some of our best friends whom we have missed dearly :D
6. Friends. Ethan got to go for a sleepover at his best friend Charlie's (who he also introduced to the rank Bean Boozled challenge. If you missed last week's episode, you can read all about that there) and we got to spend some time (although not nearly enough) with some of our best friends. Apologies to all those that we didn't get chance to catch up with this time, but we did pretty well I think given the circumstances.
7. Chocolate. We pretty much cleaned out Sainsburys of Cadbury's ... OMG! how I have missed chocolate buttons! ... also Kinder eggs, which Ethan bought for each of his friends at school as bizarrely they are banned over here (as clearly they deem American kids too stupid to know the difference between chocolate and plastic. On the other hand, having tried some of the chocolate here maybe that is not as far fetched as it sounds ...)
8. And finally, another item from Youngest's list ... breakfast at Bill's! Mr B was working in the Brighton office the day before we left so Ethan and I made the most of our last day and managed to tick this one off the list as well :)
After a 5am start on Wednesday morning we set off for the airport and the long trek back 'home'. Oh well, at least we will be able to go in the Priority Pass lounge when we get to the airport (in my opinion one of the best benefits that comes with the American Express Platinum card) and get some breakfast and a much needed coffee. It was then that Mr B (who works in ... where is it again?.... oh yes, Travel) announced that he had left his card at home *facepalm* and whilst I could have signed him in as a guest, it wasn't really worth the £30 charge for just under an hour. Idiot (or I think I called him something along those lines).
Our return route was British Airways to LA and then LA to Phoenix via American. Groan. The BA leg couldn't have gone smoother and it was our first experience in one of the new A380 double deckers. We had paid the extra for BA's World Traveller Plus and it was well worth it. Plenty of leg room, comfy seats and even the food was edible, in fact I would even go so far as to say it was bordering on nice! A pleasant surprise. The flight left bang on time and after watching four movies (Suffragette and Burnt were both OK, the Minnions mildly amusing and the hidden gem, Hector, which I thought was terrific) and the first episode of some TV drama called Unforgotten (which I immediately wished I had watched first and followed with the remaining episodes as I was completely gripped!), we arrived in LA. That's when it all started to go downhill.
We arrived in the Immigration hall to hideous queues ... ugh ... and whilst Mr B now has Global Entry which means he can skip all the lines and whizz through a fast track lane, he gallantly waited in line with us as Ethan and I are still waiting for our appt to do photos and fingerprints and so ours is not yet complete. Mind you I think he was soon regretting that decision as after being told to join a queue for those with ESTA's and Visas and finally reaching the 'self service kiosk' we then discovered that this didn't work with the type of visas we had, only basic travel visas, and so we were then directed to join another long line to wait for one of the immigration officers, where we had gone in the first place. Grrrrr!
After clearing immigration and collecting our bags we then joined another long line to recheck them in for our connecting flight. Never mind, at least as we had a three hour layover in LAX there was no rush. Deep breath and count to 10. It was then that we noticed that our connecting flight to PHX was running an hour an a half late. *sigh*. Well at least we could go to the lounge and sit in comfort with a drink. Oh wait. Never mind. Well at least Ethan and I could go to the lounge and sit in comfort with a drink! Luckily, after explaining dozy's memory failure and smiling sweetly at the lovely chap on reception he let us all in. By this time we were all beginning to feel a little tired and so after settling EJ (who was by now in severe wifi withdrawal) in a chair with plug and wifi password, Mr B and I found the bar for a much needed drink and a packet of cardboard pretzels. Some while later, after watching a Captain Birdseye lookalike honking up greenies and spitting them into the waste paper basket at regular intervals *gags*, I could take no more and we wearily made our way to the gate, heaving a sigh of relief as we saw that the information board read "Boarding will begin in 10 ... 9 ... 8 minutes". It counted down to 0 just as the gate doors swung open ... perfect ... and throngs of disembarking passengers meandered their way through! What?! Well, clearly we will not be boarding any time soon. Grrr! Another half a hour or so passed and finally we were allowed to get on. Once all passengers were on board we sat patiently ... well except for the 3 screaming babies and a cranky toddler ... wondering why we weren't going anywhere. Suddenly an announcement from a clearly pissed off pilot:
"Ladies and gentlemen, apologies for the delay, however it appears that some one (you could so tell he wanted to say wassock) has overfilled one of the fuel tanks by 300 gallons and so we are now just waiting for it to be siphoned out again. Thank you for your patience and we shou be on our way in about 20 - 30 minutes."
Oh for God's sake! Don't bother to thank me as I actually don't have any patience left due to the fact that I have now been up for 23 hours and just want to get home to bed! What moron did that?! And further more how can you possibly over fuel a plane?!
Fast forward 45 minutes ...
"Ladies and gentlemen, I have just been advised that it will take another 30 minutes (which means at least 45) to complete the offloading of excess fuel from the tank, after which time we should be able to get on our way." Cue synchronised moaning from passengers. Sensing the rumblings of a passenger uprising, one of the crew members hurriedly handed us all a credit card sized biscuit ... yum.
A disgruntled 30 something man in a black baseball cap in front of me asked the indifferent crew member whether he could at least have some water? 10 minutes later they appeared pushing a cart loaded up with bottles of water, pausing tantalisingly close before moving past.
"Erm ...hello? It was over here!" Black Cap shouted.
"I'm afraid you'll have to wait sir, as we'll be starting from the front of the aircraft"
"Oh great, what like another 20 minutes?! Jesus!"
Oh dear, Trouble a't'mill! It didn't get him anywhere though as they just breezed past and carried on up the front. Black Cap was spot on though, as we were finally handed warm water in a plastic cup - no ice - about 20 minutes later.
Finally, three and a half hours later than scheduled, we were on our way and we walked through our front door a mere 26 hours after we had got up!
As unbelievable as it may seem though and a mere 3 days later, this morning we are all on a plane again heading off for a few days in Sarasota and then Naples, Florida, for Spring Break (which we had arranged some months previously. Another stupid o'clock pick up (4.30am this time!) and a chaotic Sky Harbor airport, but after a very efficient and hassle free boarding process, we took off bang on time and are now about half way there. Great job South West! Much to our surprise, Ethan was also seemingly unpeterbed by South West's policy of 'no seat allocations' and after I explained that we may not all get seats together, exclaimed, "What, you mean I don't have to sit with you two?" and promptly plonked himself into a spare aisle seat next to some other couple at the front of the plane as we filed on. Lol! I can't believe how much he has grown in confidence in the last 12 months!
Looks like we are coming in to land now so I will sign off for this week. Look out Florida - the Barlows have arrived!
TTFN
Bev x
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