24. The End

Friday & Saturday, June 7 & 8

I decided to combine the last two days as our awesome trip came to an end. Bob said, "There is no way to tell anyone about this. And, pictures just can't capture it." He's right, but we did our best.

After breakfast, we walked with John, Mary, Daryl, Jo-Anne, Doug, and Ros down to the Pavilion and got in to the fabulous gardens.

We met up with Lynn and Frazer who told us about some of the plants. Love in the Mist was one, and she said the seeds are edible and used in food as pepper. Another was Fox Glove which she said the foxes slipped their paws into to keep warm. I am now into gardening. Mary pointed out the Rosemary and I rubbed some on my hands and it smelled so good. She said I needed it when Bob cooks that leg of lamb he is craving.

 We walked on down to the coast and found a cafe open in a big old hotel. We pulled chairs around and sat by the window. I will cherish that time as we sat and chatted and laughed.

These people are a find. We have so much in common and I'll miss them dearly. We all talked about how fast it had gone. We mentioned how hard it was to stay awake on the long bus rides in the afternoon if the sun was shining on us and Henry was playing soft music. Doug said, " No wonder it went so fast. We slept through the whole thing." But it was a hearty group, and when we stopped we were all out and hiking to take in the most. Henry even said he was impressed. He said he didn't often have a group that would take on the castle tower in Cardiff, and we all did it without complaint, even Barbara who needs a cane.

We walked on down to the pier and took silly pictures along the way.

We met the bus by the Ferris Wheel by 10:30 and headed back towards London.

We crossed into Kent where there was a lot of caulk in the ground and we saw small white cliffs. This is what makes up the White Cliffs of Dover. The countryside was lush and peaceful. Henry says it is full of walking trails and many come out from the cities to escape a while.

It began to get dark with sprinkles and storm clouds in the distance. We have been so fortunate with the weather, a little rain only seems right. 

We stopped in Tunbridge Wells.

The spring there was discovered in the 1600's and believed to have healing properties. For one pound, we could have a glass and we did. It was mineral rich and you could taste the iron. We lunched, walked around and then headed for London. The mood became very somber. I forgot my jacket in a cafe and realized just as we boarded the bus. Bob ran back and found it. Lucky. We started the trip with rain and me forgetting something and we ended it the same way.

We were now in busy areas that could be any city with industry and heavy traffic. Henry began to prepare us for good bye. He thanked us for being a good, easy going group and we surely thanked him and Andy. He said that this was not a vacation, it was a tour, and tours are exhausting. It made sense as we were all feeling like we needed a rest. If we hadn't lived it, I wouldn't have gotten it. It was grueling, but so rewarding.

We pulled back into the point where we started at our hotel, Kensington Close, in London. It was a mess as we poured off the bus in tears and hugs. There was no time as many were off to other connections. I just needed to walk and process.

We did an online check in for our flight the next day and headed out the door. We stopped in the Whole Foods store down the street and picked up cheese, chips and fruit and sat on a park bench in Kensington Park watching people and eating. We walked to the Princess Diana Memorial children's park just to see it and slowly made our way back to the hotel.

We saw Yvonne from Tasmania in the lounge and told her we'd have a glass of wine with her. When we went down, we found a circle of friends still in the hotel and we pulled chairs together with, Andrew, Ann, Gordon, Yvonne, Cindy, Anne and Julian. It was a fun way to end the evening. We also decided that Aussies, New Zealanders and Tasmanians are a tougher lot than us. Many had already been on tour before ours  and were going on for more yet. They said once they pay to get here, they might as well see as much as possible. I can't imagine trying to absorb more. I don't have the stamina.

When we got back to our room, there was already an email from our friends John and Mary who had gone on to a different hotel and were going to see the musical, Phantom of the Opera. Thank God for email and technology. He said Mary and I were soul mates. That was so sweet. What good people. We will meet again. 

The next morning, we laughed with our friend Alice, from California, who was also heading home, about how tired we were of the bus. We agreed we now have cankles (swollen ankles) and truck driver butt.

We thought about how far we had come. I now know how to work a variety of showers. We have a system with little bags for each thing and I know how to rotate clothes and live out of a suitcase. We know that it takes a room key card in the slot inside the door for the power and lights to work. It takes any card, so we kept one from a previous room so we could each have a room key and didn't have to use one of those. I know that coffee is served black with little pitchers of milk on each table. The first day, I unknowingly asked for cream and sent the young waiters scurrying with confusion and apologies. We were all mixed up.

After our last breakfast we saw several more friends and said goodbye once more. We rode a van to the airport with a couple named John and Sandy who had been on a similar tour as us about a day behind us. They were from Australia and now on their way to their next tour in Madrid and through Europe. We instantly made friends, compared notes, laughed and chatted all the way to the airport. Aussies must just all be grand people.

Business at the airport went smoothly. We were impressed with the efficient, smiling, helpful people in London at Heathrow. It was pretty painless.

We landed on the second to last seats of the airplane but were quite comfortable. We were ready to relax and I felt like Christmas I was so excited to be home.

Then we got in to JFK in New York and thought we had two hours to get straightened around. We found out we had to check in, get our bags, go through customs, go through check in for our next flight and through security again. We got Quick Connect Passes as we had a connecting flight, but that made no difference as the clerk taking care of our line left for a while to help another couple while we and several others stood there. We finally got through and jogged to baggage claim which was a joke. There were not enough workers and they were trying to check in three huge flights at once. The conveyor  belt kept stopping and starting and we waited there close to an hour. In the last minute, Bob got his bag, but I never got mine. The clerk trying to help yelled, run for your plane and we'll get your bag to you later. Again, we ran and just made it to our flight to Detroit. Here too we were at the very back of this small plane and meanwhile the toilet had backed up and it smelled so bad. We spent an hour and a half cramped in the back with the yucky smell. It was not pleasant. And then, there is Detroit. We finally found someone to help and they let us wait quite a while demanding a driver's license, which we didn't have, to verify our address as our address wasn't on our passport. We finally got them to listen and off we went to meet up with Ron and Thelma. They were supposed to deliver my bag Sunday, which they did. A relaxing glass of wine and a snack with Ron and Thelma as we shared our traveling stories restored our spirits. 

We felt so blessed to have so much to be thankful for and for the opportunity to experience this awesome trip. We love the British Isles and can surely feel some kind of deep connection in our roots. So many places gave both of us chills and tingles. But, home calls and we can't wait to see dear friends and family. I've gone all emotional. Time to stop.

Until the next adventure, fare thee well!