Arrival in the UK

Well...I finally made it here after several hours on a plane and LOTS of drilling at Customs!!!

My trip started on the 16th at 6:10AM! The early part of the day was spent driving to the cities and having lunch with some friends!! It was fun. I arrived at the airport around 1:15 but we realized we were in the wrong terminal...we darted back to the car and headed for the other terminal. When we found where I was going however, we realized the check in counter didn't open for yet another hour!! So I said goodbye to my friends and settled in for a bit!! I tried to read but I was far too distracted and preoccupied!! I started to get my ticket information and passport ready when I noticed the counter opened early...I headed over for check in but this is when it started gettin' dicey!!

I made my way to the counter where the gentleman looked at my passport and started to put my luggage tickets on. He asked me about my return flight...to which I replied, "I won't have a return ticket till I get there". (Can I please have credit for honesty)
"Well", he informs me, "that's a problem!" Lovely I'm thinking..just what I need...a PROBLEM and I haven't even left the US yet. He said that all summer they have had to tell people unless they can prove they are leaving they won't be allowed in the country. I went in to immediate panic mode and started to pray. The clerk went and got his boss. When he arrived they pulled up their handy-dandy information on the computer..."Guess they changed the rule" he declared! "It says here we're supposed to let them go ahead and they decide over there whether or not to let them in!!"
I wiped the sweat from my brow, thanked God, handed off my luggage and hit the escalator!!

My flight was pretty long...I had a flight first to ICELAND, (5 1/2 hours) where my layover was. It was NOT covered in ice yet, and I got a few pictures I'll post soon!! The Airline was nice, and the seats were comfortable. Complete with monitors in the head rests. The down side: you had to buy headphones to watch anything...oh well.. I needed sleep. Once we got to Iceland, it was back thru security and customs for my first passport stamp and then on to England. By the time they have you thru security and customs you're ready for your next flight almost literally..I think I had 7 minutes to use the restroom and board my next plane!! The toilets P.S. are triangular in the airport there and have a push button on top to flush...

Anyway...the flight to London was not near as long! (A little over 2 hours)It was the customs agent I got that took forever!! When I got to the counter finally after being in line almost a half hour she asked me when I was returning to the US which I of course had to try and explain the best I could...I informed her I didn't buy a return ticket as we were waiting on the birth of my new nephew etc...she didn't like what I had to say and couldn't believe I would have any desire to fly across the globe to be with my family...she was not nice...and by the way NOT A NATIVE!!! I wanted to ask her what process she needed to go thru to get to where she was...but I didn't! After asking me all sorts of personal questions, including how much money I had and what was my brother's phone number...she finally stamped me in to the UK!!!! I made my way thru and got my luggage then headed for the EXIT!! Once I hit the doors..I saw Megan's lovely face greeting me!!! It was so nice after all of that drilling!! Tom and William then walked up, as they had gone to another counter to see if I was somewhere in the building needing assistance!! :)

The end of my day was pretty laid back...they took me to McDonalds (yes there's a McD's!) and then we headed to the house!! I had in my mind for some reason that the drive was shorter than it was to which came my first disappointment as my rear end was quite sore from sitting so much!! But the day ended good..Tom and I went for a run and I was surprisingly not as tired as I had thought I would be. I did hit the sack early tho so we could venture out on Friday...I have a feeling I will have lots to write about as the days go on so stay connected...it should be a great adventure!!