England and Scotland Day 14
England and Scotland
Day 14 - October 14, 2006 - Depart for the U.S - Edinburgh, Atlanta, Denver, and Home
We were certainly not in a rush today and were able to sleep in until 7:30 and then have a leisurely breakfast at our hotel. As we were going back to our room we saw Vicky and Ramona leaving so we went down to the lobby to say goodbye one more time. We assured Simone that we would be fine getting our taxi and that she and her friend could be off for a little time together.
At 10 AM we went back to our room and made the final adjustments to our bags to distribute the weight. With the new limits on luggage, each bag can weigh no more than 50 pounds. We had brought our collapsible green OAT bag to help with a few pounds. Each person can still check two pieces of luggage so we were well under the limit.
I worked on sorting the photos while Gennie started the final day's journal and read. We went down to the lobby at 11 and met our driver who took us directly to the airport just outside Edinburgh. David was very personable and as he had to pick up a Grand Circle traveler, he walked in with us and helped us locate the Delta desk.
We went through initial security at the check in counter and then were pleasantly greeted by the Delta representative. She quickly checked us in and gave us a pass for the Crown Room.
We proceeded through security where we had to give up our Blistex, eye drops, and hand lotion. We then passed through the rest of security without any problems and entered the business class lounge. We had a chance to get a few things to eat, check our email, and spend two hours in relative comfort.
When Delta started to board we walked to the gate and walked right into the aircraft. We had seats 4 A&B and as we settled in we noticed that there were going to be 5 KIDS (children) in Business Elite. We departed the gate on schedule at 1:45 PM and were in the air soon after.
The Delta staff was very accommodating and pleasant on this flight. They were very well aware that the children were not well behaved, ran up and down the isles and had loud voices. We had two good meals, had a chance to read and finish our books and rest a bit.
At the end of the flight, Gennie asked our flight attendant if it was common to have children in Business and Rose told us that it was very unusual. Soon after, we were approached by Rose and given a bottle of Champagne and thanks for flying Delta.
We were surprised! Gennie went back to talk to the flight attendants and thanked them and asked if they knew it was her birthday. They said, no and then wished her a very happy birthday. Today, Gennie will celebrate her special day for 31 hours (24 + 7 for the time zone change).
We arrived in Atlanta at 6:15, went through customs and immigration very quickly, repacked the bottle of champagne in our luggage and then went to Terminal A to await our flight to Denver. We entered the Crown Room, enjoyed the relative peace and quiet of the lounge, caught up with our emails, worked on the pictures, and wrote this journal.
At 9 PM we went to A16 and found our flight had been delayed about 30 minutes. We sat in the waiting area and then Delta offered to upgrade people to Business Class. On a lark, Gennie went to speak to one of their representatives and after many smiles and laughs; she walked back to our seats with two Business Class tickets. Delta was overbooked in Coach so they were willing to give us two seats. When we entered the aircraft we saw that Business had 24 seats with only 8 people.
The flight home was uneventful but very bumpy. Gennie and I slept through most of the three hour flight arrived in Denver at 11:15. We did have a very long wait at the luggage carousel before we were able to get our pieces, take the Pikes Peak shuttle to get our car and begin our drive home.
Early on Sunday morning, the route home was very easy to drive. We stopped at a King Soopers in Castle Rock and got milk and some fruit and then drove home. We drove into our driveway at 1:30 and were greet by our two irate Siamese cats - how dare we go on vacation and leave them at home? We had decided to leave our jobs to the next morning and went to bed thankful for a great trip to
England and Scotland and to once again return home safely.
HOME! - - - Meals: B
If you wish to travel with OAT Click Here.
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A CD OF EACH TRIP IS AVAILABLE.
These CDs are compilations of slide presentations of each day (pictures of the events during the day) accompanied by music reflective of the nation and day.
On most CDs there are presentations on the people of the country, people traveling with the group, flowers, and panoramas.
On more recent trips, short videos have been included on the web pages and these videos are also available in the CD.
The CD is available for $20 US. Shipping and handling is included for US addresses. Slightly higher for overseas shipping.
To view an example of the presentations Click Here
As it is an 8:13 presentation, give yourself time to see it in its entirety.
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