Final USA post and return to UK

So moving out of the house on the Wednesday and living on the Woodruff Road for 9 days was not how we wanted to spend our last few days in America.  I wanted to go to the beach.  We initially booked Hilton Head, but this was very expensive.  So we cancelled and got a Groupon to Myrtle Beach instead.

By the time our container was packed on the Friday, we didn't end up leaving Simpsonville till 4 pm, much later than we would normally for a weekend away.  We still hit the coast by 8pm, had a quick snack and went to bed.

Our resort was not the most upmarket.  In fact, I would say it was a dump in places.  But it was right on the beach, with 5+ pools.....

                                   

The beach was awesome.  Yes, it was busy, but not as busy as it would have been on the main area (we were south of the main strip).  We spent 2 days just lounging around the beach, the pools and the hotels.  We only left the resort to go and play mini golf.

       

We did get the joyous news from the vet on the Saturday morning that the cats documents to be counter signed by the state vet needed to be hand delivered.  I thought they would fax a copy to the state vet, and I could pick them upon the way back from Myrtle beach.  But no.  Our vets signature needed to be in blue ink.  Ball ache.  We decided to just leave super early on Monday, so I could pick up the documents and drive down to Columbia.

On with the vacation! More time in the pool, on the beach and more cocktails

                                   

I was able to carry out Monday's day of driving with no issue.  Documents all ready and correct for the border patrol and customs.

Tuesday paul went out with some work mates for drinks.  The boys and I went for dinner at Christys house.  The boys had not seen Edmund in about 9 months. They played beautifully for 4 hours.  They ate dinner.  Then we had to say 'see you later', but they knew it would be a long time till they saw each other again.  Both Isaac and Edmund were in tears, which really did not help Christy and I (welling up as I write this)

                                  

Thursday morning, paul and I both dropped a small fortune at Krispy Kreme donuts.  Paul for work colleagues, me for Sebastian's daycare.  Saying good bye to that school was very hard.  They have done such great things for Sebastian, and listened to me rant when something else has happened.  They are amazingly accommodating.  One of the staff from Oliver's school has started working there recently, so the older 2 got to say goodbye to her also.  Hard, hard goodbyes......

Friday morning.  We left the hotel by 4.30, and said our good byes to Greenville.  We got to the cargo area to drop the cat at about 5.45.  Good job too.  Her crate was too small by United's standards.  Luckily they had one I could purchase. Processing her paper work took nearly an hour!.

Then it was off to drop the car hire, then check in.  As we were traveling business class, we were able to check in with a person rather than a machine, and they took the luggage through.  Then on to security.  Friday before 4th July.  Airport was really busy.  Through security in under 30 minutes, even with me having a pat down.  Amazingly efficient service (as always) at Charlotte airport.

See that box in the photo?

        

That's the cat........ Making it on to our first airplane.  Bother our planes sat on Tarmac for a while.  At our layover in Chicago we made good use of the business lounge.  It was just easier than sitting out in the terminal with the boys.  We did make sure that they had some food at the terminal, as we thought they would not eat on the plane (we were right).

The second plane sat on Tarmac for about 45 minutes.  At least this pilot communicated to us what was happening: technical issues.  By now the boys were safely in their seats, and comfortable as anything.

       

Once we were on the air, it was a pretty uneventful flight, other than the staff rushing through the dinner service.  It wasn't very nice, but at least I had an unlimited, free, supply of craft beer.  We even managed to get some sleep, and it was some good sleep for once.  The lie down seats seem to have improved in business class since the last time we flew.

The pilot took us around London as he was taxiing to land.  Absolutely stunning views.  We landed 30 minutes late. Rounding up our luggage was easy, another perk of flying business class.

                                     

We got through customs very quick.  And Paul's dad was there to greet us.  It was great to see him, and a huge help.  Paul went off to get the hire car, his dad and I went for a coffee then took the boys out side to play in the huge pedestrian area at the bottom of Heathrow Terminal 2.

It wasn't even a hire car, more of a hire van.  We loaded the van, and headed to get the cat.  The animal collection area was just a short drive from the terminal.  And she was already there.  They let the animals out, offer them food, water and use of toilet.  I had to wait and out 20 minutes for her paperwork to be checked, and she was released to me.  An amazingly efficient service, with awesome staff.  Then we were on the road, down to Chichester.  

Nothing like the M25 on a Saturday morning......

 

Goslings Go West - Las Vegas

The excitement was palpable in our house.  We left with plenty of time to get to the airport.  Check in was a breeze, if a little busy.  This was out first time going through security with me having my insulin pump and continuous glucose (CGM).  My diabetic nurse sent me a letter in the post to explain my devices.  It was even a notarized legal letter with no expiry date on it.  I was able to get a pat down with my devices in my hands, rather than risk having them go through the scanning machines.  The security were really good about it.  

The boys were also very patient. We had a snack type early lunch at the Stockcar cafe at Charlotte airport.  It was just what we needed.

        

The plane ride was rather uneventful. We had chosen our seats so we had a row of three, with two behind.  I sat in the 3 with Oliver one side, and Seb the other.  The boys played their kindles most of the time, though Oliver did do some school work (we have pulled him out of school for this vacation, as his spring break was 4 weeks ago.  Darn private school).

Flying over America is awesome.  Fields and snow capped mountains everywhere.  As you get further west, the terrain becomes more desert like, and we started to notice some gaping holes in the ground. 

                                    

Sorting car hire was a bit of a pain.  We booked this trip back in December.  We did not factor in spring break and March Madness (basketball tournament) taking place in Las Vegas the week we flew in.  We had booked a full size SUV, like a Chevrolet Tahoe.  But the car rental had very little cars left.  We ended up with a mid size people carrier, a Mazda 5.  The rental company deducted the price, which made it a little bit more reasonable.

We made it to the hotel a little early, and our room was not ready, so we headed to the pool for some drinks and food.

We were in Vegas, baby!

We have never stayed at a Marriot Grand Vacation hotel before, but I think we will again.  Our room was a 2 bed suite and was very spacious.  It did not look out over the strip, but we could see the mountains and some of the other hotels.  The kids were still on eastern time (3 hours ahead) so we went out for an early dinner at Hard Rock Cafe.  It wasn't great, felt like a processing place.  Out hotel was just off the strip, so we were able to escape the craziness.  Thank goodness, cos Vegas is crazy.....

Having kids on eastern time meant for a very early wake up the next day.  But we decided to make the most of it.  We headed down to the lobby, and drove out of the city to Red Rock Canyon State Park.  Here we were able to see the sun rise.  It was beautiful 

                                    

Even if the kids were stupid tired and grumpy, it was well worth seeing.

      

We stopped at an IHOP on the outskirts of the desert for some breakfast.  Probably one of the nicest IHOPs we have been to! 

We drove back in to Vegas, and decided to dump the car back at the hotels and go for a walk up the strip.  We had driven in from the south the previous day, so walking north made perfect sense.

Given it was only about 11am, the city was just starting to wake up.  We were able to walk a good part of the strip, past Caesars Palace, the Bellagio, the Paros Casino and Ballys casino. 

       

Walking around Vegas is fairly easy, they have Sky bridges over most of the intersections.  We didn't deive much more after our morning outing. Traffic is terrible (this will be a running theme over the next few blogs).  Everyone was pretty tired after our little excursions, so we decided to spend a couple of hours by the pool to refresh.  And have the most expensive cocktails known to man.......

For our last evening in Vegas (I say evening, we had kids with jet lag so it was really 4 in the afternoon), we all wanted to visit M&M's World.  4 floors of blatant chocolate consumerism.  Thanks.  We started at the top.  That's where the M&M's Racing Team was, and where we were able to get a photo with the the 18 NASCAR. 

       

We had a delightfully relaxed dinner at the Rainforest Cafe, just near our hotel, then headed down to the Bellagio to watch the fountains. This was well worth the little walk through the crowds.  Very entertaining, free show.  Even the kids enjoyed it. We returned through the large crowds back to the hotel.  We had found a cut through earlier, through a shopping centre, which avoided the crazy streets.  A good thing in the early evening, as the crazies were starting to come out! Plus we were able to pick up some souvenirs.  We returned to the hotel, and the kids were all in bed and asleep by 8pm.  We enjoyed a couple of beers before falling in to bed our selves.

                                  

All in, Las Vegas is crazy.  Especially with kids.  The kids had jet lag, which to be honest was a bit of a blessing.  We were able to be up and about before most people woke up.  This enabled us to see a sunrise, and see some of the sights of Vegas without having to go through crowds of drunk partying people.  Homelessness is a problem, but we saw a fair amount of it this trip.  The kids are young enough to not see the seedy, partying side.  Thank goodness. I can completely see why people go to Las Vegas.  Not sure if we will go back again.  

On to the next stop: the Grand Canyon