At San Bernardino RV Park we fell in amongst some really nice people. We have been able to negotiate to leave our trailer on a site for the month we are going to be back home, thus making our exit and re-entry that much easier as we do not have to move the trailer.
Having prepared the TT and T as best we could we entered our 'exit plan phase'.
Sunday Afternoon:
Drive to Ontario airport on Take Off (T) minus 25 hours, to pick up rental car (RC) for 24 hour period. Check
Return with both vehicles to Base (RTB).
Check In Online. Encountered first hurdle - They had changed the flight time, but didn't tell us! T would now be 19.15, not 18.00. Ramification being that landing would be at 14.10, not 12.35, making the connection for the 16.00 train at Kings Cross (KX) would be very difficult. We phone Customer Service, who apologise and suggest that we apply for any extra costs which they will possibly reimburse. Our choices are: rebook a later train (now a minumum of an additional £91, to get a train three hours later after the rush hour), go with the plan and hope that we can get to KX by 16.00. Customer Services suggest that the flight will land up to an hour early, so we go with the original plan.
Go for final meal out, as all surfaces and crockery are now clean - We choose Outback Prime Rib for me and Steak and Shrimp for Sally.
Monday:
Pack car, move trailer to a storage site.
T-7: Drive to LAX
T-4: Return rental car, shuttle to LAX
T-3.45: Bag Drop at Virgin, relax
T-3.30: Return to shuttle to retrieve Sally's Back rest, fortunately
T-0.75 Board plane
T-0: Take off on time!
T+9: Land 1 hour early (L): 1.00p.m. local time
L+45: Whizzed through Heathrow by Assistance, catch 1.48 Heathrow Express (15 min)
L+1: Arrive Paddington St.
L+1.30 Taxi to St Pancreas(SP) (20 min) (close to KX, but so much cleaner and better food, where you can sit civilized)
L+2.15: After relaxing in SP we stroll to KX and get Rail Assist to board East Coast Express (ECX) early.
L+3: ECX leaves on time at 4.00 p.m. local time: (2.22 min)
L+5.30: train 8 minutes late to Darlington. Surprisingly Assist is there to make sure we get connection: One man to get us off East Coast Express and push to other platform, 2 men waiting to board us on local train.
L+5.33: Local train to Middlesbrough (20 mins)
L+ 6: Helen and Stu meet us at Middlesbrough
L+6.10: Stop for Chinese Takeaway (CTA).
L+6.20: Reach home, relax. eat CTA and sleep.
Total journey time 22.5 hours.
We were so thankful that the plane managed to land an hour early, The Assistance was excellent and worked on every segment of the journey. It made it so much easier. We actually had an hour and a half extra to relax in St Pancras Station.
Trip 9 - California Dreamin'
On this trip we set out to immerse ourselves in the culture and the nature of California. To discover its textures and see some of its natural wonders. We discover that California is very big. It is not a state that you can just pass through, it is, more than any other place we have visited, more like another country. It is a land dominated by mountains, the spaces between and like nowhere else, water.
Our start in the heavily populated area to the East of Los Angeles, known as the Inland Empire, is crowded into the lowlands surrounded by magnificent mountains. The feeling is of a cauldron which is trying to boil over the mountains to the fresh air of the rest of the state.
To the South is a band of Desert, which is the buffer to Mexico, which we did not explore on this trip.
We travelled North through the mountains (everywhere in California you can see mountains) to the desert, and on again to the huge Central Valley, mile after mile of intensive agriculture. Culture here is dominated by food, flatness, low income and trying to impact on the 'sameness' of the flat lands through music and festival. It is the communication and administrative corridor that links all other areas of California.
To the East is the huge mountain chain of the Sierra Nevada which clearly demonstrates the magnificence of the natural world, both in its geology and nature, reflected in the pysche and pride of most Californians. It is Eldorado, dominated by Gold!
To the West of the Central Valley are the coastal mountains, San Francisco and the magnificent coast. More isolated cultures, from mixed resources, communities seperated by mountains.
To the North of the Central Valley more mountains and a culture which looks more North towards Oregon than South to Sacremento.
This blog details our journey through California, where we pick and choose, or just scratch the surface, of this diverse and beautiful state.
Our start in the heavily populated area to the East of Los Angeles, known as the Inland Empire, is crowded into the lowlands surrounded by magnificent mountains. The feeling is of a cauldron which is trying to boil over the mountains to the fresh air of the rest of the state.
To the South is a band of Desert, which is the buffer to Mexico, which we did not explore on this trip.
We travelled North through the mountains (everywhere in California you can see mountains) to the desert, and on again to the huge Central Valley, mile after mile of intensive agriculture. Culture here is dominated by food, flatness, low income and trying to impact on the 'sameness' of the flat lands through music and festival. It is the communication and administrative corridor that links all other areas of California.
To the East is the huge mountain chain of the Sierra Nevada which clearly demonstrates the magnificence of the natural world, both in its geology and nature, reflected in the pysche and pride of most Californians. It is Eldorado, dominated by Gold!
To the West of the Central Valley are the coastal mountains, San Francisco and the magnificent coast. More isolated cultures, from mixed resources, communities seperated by mountains.
To the North of the Central Valley more mountains and a culture which looks more North towards Oregon than South to Sacremento.
This blog details our journey through California, where we pick and choose, or just scratch the surface, of this diverse and beautiful state.
Thursday, December 8, 2011
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