On Tuesday, we decided to take it easy rather than go into downtown London and see Westminster Abbey. We were both tired from a month of touring, and we decided our time would be better spent taking it easy than rushing around for another day. So, we hung around the house, watched a couple movies, and ended the evening with a fabulous curry meal from a local Indian restaurant.
On Wednesday, we headed for the airport. Yannis was nice enough to give us a ride, so we had no trouble making our flight in time. Now, on the flight to London, we had the misfortune of sitting in the regular economy class of United�s plane. It seems they have two types of economy class � regular and plus (sounds to me like gasoline) � and they cost the same amount of money. But as far as I can figure, they never ask which section you want to be in. So the flight to Paris was not too pleasant for me. I was sitting in a seat designed for someone slightly shorter than Colleen.
The plus section, however was much better. The seats are the same width, but they have quite a bit more leg room. All we had to do was ask for the plus section when we got our seating assignments at the airport. Talk about a valuable question to ask. We had a wonderful flight (aside from the family with three kids in front of us, but that�s a whole different story) with plenty of room to stretch out and relax.
We hit the ground about an hour and a half late after the plane had computer difficulties on the ground in London, and my father met us at the airport. I have always enjoyed the experience of coming home on a plane. No matter where home is, no matter how much I have enjoyed the trip, getting off the plane at the end has always been sweet. My favorite, though, was getting off the plane in San Diego. There was always something about that first whiff of San Diego air that I cherished. They have a walkway that goes over the traffic and into the parking lot that is vented at the top, and San Diego has air that is instantly recognizable.
Well, we came back to the house after a nice dinner at my parents� local haunt and pretty much fell into bed. Our clocks were still on UK time, so we were pushing midnight. The danger, of course, is letting our bodies adjust to the time here. Since we�re going back on Sunday, we really can�t afford to live on Eastern Daylight Time. Otherwise we will be facing about 12 days of jet lag. So, as we went to bed, I set the alarm for 4 am.
Luckily, we were able to get up with the alarm and start our day in the darkness. Yesterday was spent running errands, one of which was an OB/GYN appointment for Colleen. The doctor had no problem finding the baby�s heartbeat, which was infinitely reassuring. I have to admit that every appointment is filled with stress for both of us. Understandable, I suppose, but no less heart-rending. Everything looked good, though, so we came out of the appointment feeling pretty good.
So it�s almost 7 am right now, and we have been up for 3 hours. We spend the time in the morning watching the baseball playoffs from the night before and sipping our coffee. Anything to keep from going back to sleep, although today is infinitely harder than yesterday was � our bodies want to change time zones. In just a few hours, we will have our sonogram appointment.
So I�ll be in touch later today and let you know what happened.
Paul and Colleen
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