Volcanic ash has caused chaos to flights and travellers across northern UK and Europe. What option to take if we get the choice. The check-in helpdesk were very helpful and the supervisor went off to see what the latest news was. The departure board still showed the LA - Newark/Glasgow flight as going ahead so it looked hopeful. Yep all ok. Seems the ash-cloud was not moving south and that Edinburgh and Glasgow should be fine.
The incoming flight was delayed from Ireland by 20 mins, but by the time we got boarded it was 1hr and 20 mins late. This was eating into the transfer time for us to get to our UK gate at Newark so we would not be hanging around much. We disembarked at gate C95 and had to get to C134, hmm not too far then ? Er well it was possibly about 15 mins smart walking, add a restroom stop and by the time we got to the gate they were loading. Another 10 mins and we were getting seated on the flight.
The pilot informed us the ash-cloud was safely to the north of the UK and our arrival time was 30 mins earlier than scheduled. We relaxed at last, having spent an uncertain few hours wondering if we would end up in London or Birmingham, but now we knew all was well.
The time passed quickly for me - a movie, an hour and half's kip, some sudoku and the never-ending supply of food and drink by the cabin staff soon made the journey pass. Thats it then, back to driving on the left and some time ahead to sort out the photos and reflect on a great tour of California.
A big Thank You to Alan and Chris Fair who organised the trip and booked the hotels and added the fine detail to Andy Hamiltons route which was the basis for everything. Again Andy for dealing with Eaglerider, booking the bikes and phoning around to find out if the ash-cloud was going to affect the home flight.
Also Steve (Chris' brother) for driving the backup wagon and keeping the tail-end-charlie rider in view.
Hope you enjoyed reading about it.
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