This is the 31 May 2005 edition of this page
Chapter One
THE LONG HAUL TO THE START
(3 August 1995)
The effective 'start' for the Rockies trip is in Seattle in the State of Washington in the
North-West corner of the USA. That start is about 5000 miles from home (the way the
'Great Circle' flies) and involves a 'little effort' to get there.
My 'TOP CARS' taxi arrived at my home in Malvern in Worcestershire five minutes
earlier than expected - so I had to finish the last part of my breakfast rather quickly. The
driver, unilaterally, took it on his own initiative, this Thursday morning, to bypass the jammed
roadworks in our small town (really a large collection of villages). At Malvern Link Station,
I purchased a 'Saver Return' via Reading to Heathrow airport. If I had been returning on a
Thursday as well, I could have bought a 'Super Saver' ticket. Because my return date is on
a weekend, I cannot get the 'Super Saver' - and will have to get the 'Super-expensive' one
called a 'Saver ticket'. It was, Oh,-so-much-simpler in the days of British Rail!! This is what
privatisation does, I guess!
I'm on my way to catch the 'time-machine' to America. I call it this because we are
due to arrive in the North-West corner of the USA just 2hours later after a 5000 mile journey
from Heathrow (I suppose that I had better mention the 8-hour clock-shift that occurs on route!)
I will need to change at Oxford & Reading first, - these trains seeming to be blessed with
good air-conditionning systems, even in our extended heat-wave. However, we are 10 minutes
late all the way along - but that delay evaporated at the Oxford-interchange. We departed
Oxford at 9.04am. with two carriage exits blocked in true Safety Hazard fashion by a number of
push-bikes that decided to travel in the same coach as their owners.
On arrival at Reading, in order to change from the train to a "rail-air-link" coach, there
was a longer walk than there used to be. They have created entirely new offices and transfer
lounges since my previous use of the facility. In their Rail-Air Loung, I had just a quarter-
hour wait.
Departing from there a 10.15am on the coach, we essentially used the A4 plus the M4
to Heathrow, - the jammed roads appearing as Heathrow got closer. Arrival was supposed to
be 10.50am (we were still in 'jams' then!) but the coach arrived at Terminal One at 11am -
and the 'internal jams' were then worse and delayed my arrival at Terminal Four until
11.30am.. A queue and very slow processing meant that I could check-in at 12noon (Or 'High
Noon' - since the USA is our intended destination for this 'leg' of the journey!)
One bright guy (with very little social conscience, I found later) got each one of his
entourage in a separate checkin-queue and visited them from time to time (over the next
20minutes or so). As luck would have it, the very small lad in our queue was 'served' first.
Well, although I say that the lad was 'served first' - his father (or guardian) moved all his
brothers, sisters, parents, aunties, grannies etc into OUR queue - complete with several
consignments of luggage - each consignment being sufficient to furnish a small house!!! It
may have bee 'bright', but no-one in our queue had 'good feelings' for their activities. Mind
you, about 30% of the queue-pushers did say thank-you and smiled nicely. I don't know who
they thought that they should say thank you to - nobody invited them. Methinks 'sorry' would
be more in order!!
Having reached the front of the queue at 'checkin', I then progressed through a series
of channels, gates, sign-posts until I reached a seating area serving multiple gates. The view
overlooked the bulk of the airport from our position on the Southern part of it. I was glad of
the 'eats and drinks' for refreshment that I had packed last night. I completed the Visa-waiver
form and then got my personal records up-to-date. This seating area covered gates 9 to 28,
and my gate (for a 12.45hrs boarding time) will be 'gate 9'. The time is now 12.30 and I'll
try this journey without travel-sickness pills - but a toilet visit would be well-worth-while!!
So I do!!
Actual boarding time was 1pm - and the takeoff at approximately 2pm. Nice and
comfortable and 'roomy' in this '747' and I got seated in 28J (a long way back!). I was seated
between a lady (in her 'seventies'?) on my left and a girl (25 - ish!) to my right!
The old lady was from Seattle and the younger woman was German. I got absolutely
no window-view from this central position, and it wasn't helped by the massive wing being in the
way anyway!! The German girl was by the window.
Lunch, expected when we arrived 'at altitude', was by London timing excrutiatingly
late - at about 4.40pm. I pondered, privately, at what time 'tea' would be. Perhaps lunch had
been served at a time appropriate to midway between London aand Seattle!!
'Tea' (in the form of sandwiches etc) arrived at 9.30pm and at 22.25hrs I put my
watch back to 14.25hrs. Touchdown, on local-time, was at 15.00hrs - and then I commenced
a 'double baggage reclaim' followed by a 'double customs check'.
I was now in Seattle!!