I got in the ticket line, and asked for a ticket to the Gatwick express...then started counting out change to make sure I had enough. (Stupid Tourist Moment #4). The kind lady behind the desk directed me to a cheaper ticket that would get me to the same place, only a little more slowly.
The train this time was more of a straight route (rather than backwards and forwards, with little tables, the way it had been getting to the hotel). Toward the end of the trip, a woman pushing a snack cart came up and down the aisles. It hadn't yet even occurred to me to pretend I was on the Hogwarts Express! I did that for a few minutes, but I was more interested just in reliving the convention. And seeing England! It is so beautiful...in a way that is unique to England. I was sorry to have to go.
I arrived at the airport in what I thought was plenty of time, so I looked around to find the correct gate rather than asking (Stupid Tourist Moment #5). When I finally got in line at the information desk for U.S. Airways, they informed me that although I had arrived at the Gatwick airport, my departure ticket was for the Heathrow airport. (Stupid Tourist Moment #...I'm not even going to bother keeping track anymore! There was this italicized line on my ticket printout saying that I was departing from a different airport than I was leaving from, but I'd been too excited to read it.) I asked how to get to the Heathrow airport, and the ticket lady said that they did have a flight to Philadelphia, and she could get me on it. And, she wouldn't charge because I didn't know. (Kudos to U.S. Airways.)
I had a very comfortable seat for the flight home. I still fell asleep for the first half, but since it was daytime my standards, I woke up for the second half. I spent a lot of time looking out the window and daydreaming, and a lot of time writing about the convention in my XOC notebook. I didn't charge my ipod battery the whole time I was in London because I couldn't, but the plane radio played some pretty (if repetitive) music, so I plugged my headphones into that for a little while. Getting back through customs took forever. People are so rude standing in line, too! One of the airport security machines died, and so they had to reroute a line, and the people ahead of me raised a huge stink about that. (I was too sleepy to care.) I charged my ipod in the airport, and then spent most of the flight from Philadelphia to Phoenix writing again. I listened to a Xena podcast while touching down, then got my bags and called Becky to pick me up at the curb. And that was it, I was home! I spent about an hour reading the email I'd accumulated, and then went back to bed. |
