Meeting with friends and relatives and off to the US of A

Sunday 23rd November
Drove into Nottingham the next morning to see friends. Parked the car at Jenny's and walked up to The John Borelace Warren pub- if that's how you spell it. Jenny was her usual up beat cheery self and had helped organise a meet up with Barbara, Rob, Florrie and Steve. It was lovely to catch up with everyone. We all tucked into a Sunday lunch and a pint. Farewells were slightly sad knowing we would not be back before next August.

In the evening went over to Wendy and Dave's. It was a bit like coming full circle as we had left them last in September as we set out on our European leg. They once again were the perfect hosts cooking for us and providing the sort of homely comforts we had been without on our travels. Annie joined us for a good old natter. It was great to catch up.

24th November Monday
Woke up to a lovely morning. Dave and Wendy were keen to show us their new hens that had been rescued from their incarceration in the battery sheds. They were now happily producing eggs in a far more luxurious run and we enjoyed a full English breakfast with their lovely fresh eggs, before heading up to the Maze to pick up Gareth and Steph ready for the journey up north. The 4 hour drive gave me (Lin here) the chance to show off our photos and hear all the news from the Forest tavern and Maze (see:www.themazerocks.com)
We got to Carlisle around 3pm and met up with Alec. Had a fun meal together and caught up with some of Al's friends over a few pints. Before going to bed we enjoyed visiting the Bank gallery and Gary and the twins studios.

25th November Tuesday – Al's big day
Met up with Al before the ceremony in Carlisle cathedral. He looked great in the cap and gown and I was a really proud mum when he walked past in the procession of graduands. Mind you we did say what a bizarre system it all is... we'd rather have stood up for the graduates than for the Dean, or whoever he was...what a load of pomp!! After the event we enjoyed mulled wine and mince pies in the Crown and Mitre...a very -posh venue then it was off to the pub before very sad goodbyes.

Headed back to Cov and picked up Shirl and Bas so that we could all have tea together and we could hand over the car to them. Barb came over to say her goodbyes too.. shed quite a few tears today..,,,,,August seems such a long way off and I know I'll miss my boys, friends and family!!

26th November Wednesday – Brent here..
Jan gave us a lift to the bus station to start the next phase of our world trip. We were now minus the car and were carrying all our possessions. ( two large rucksacks 45 litres 9 pounds weight and 55 litres 12 pounds weight, two small rucksacks, and a little travel bag on wheels ). Today I was looking forward to meeting up with David in London. Our coach arrived at the expected time – much respect to the driver to negotiate the traffic in London and still get there on time. David met us at the coach station looking smart and cosmopolitan. He now has the assurance of a person familiar with the capital city as he negotiated the stations in the underground and we followed meekly along. Our first destination was to unburden ourselves of our bags so he kindly arranged to let us leave them at the Dune shop in Covent Garden. Unencumbered now we set off to Neales Yard and found one of the wholefood restaurants. Excellent food but London prices. I always some how think they should be cheaper but never are. After eating we wandered down to the National Portrait Gallery. Had just started looking around when the fire alarm went off and the building was evacuated. Walked across to St Stephens Church to see the newly renovated crypt. Found a little quiet alcove were we showed David some of our photos on the laptop. By the time we emerged darkness had descended but London was aglow with Christmas lights. We walked over to Carnaby Street where they had hung massive inflated snow men above the pavements and lit them in a way which reminded me of the Michelin man in Ghostbusters. Walked on down Regents Street to see the lights there looking like huge fishing nets hung out to dry above the traffic. By this time we were ready for food again. David took us to a fantastic chinese restaurant called Cha Cha Moon. It was down one of the backstreets. The smells on entering were very special – mixture of oriental spices and boiled vegetables. All the dishes were priced at £3.50 – my kind of place. We all had a mixture of strange sounding dishes and shared them. Delicious. The night was moving on a pace now so we had to fit in some of the hostelries around the capital. After collecting our bags we finished off our drinking at the Lamb and Flag. This was were the bartender was stopped by me in the process of ringing the bomb squad about the bags we had dumped in the corner. David kindly helped us with our bags on the underground as we caught the tube to Heathrow. A sad goodbye was said as his station came up and he departed. Thanks David for a lovely time. A proud but melancholy Dad continues his journey.
Finally found our hotel at Heathrow after almost walking in the opposite direction down the road as a result of some strange numbering system. Room was clean and tidy and allowed us to get some sleep before tomorrow's mammoth flight.

27th November Thursday.
Journey to the airport went well. Arrived in plenty of time to check in. Slightly anxious to know whether our tickets would appear out of the check in machine – but low and behold not only the San Francisco ones but also the Shanghai tickets were there. At airport security it is usually me that is stopped. This is usually because I am so anxious about what i might have left in my bag as it goes through the scanner that I look as though I am guilty of hiding something. This time though it was Linda – a pair of scissors had been left in a make up bag. Had just got to the final passport check thought I was in the clear and yes you guessed it – the contents of my bags were emptied out and I was frisked by a young security guard.
The plane journey was long but there were plentiful pauses for food and drinks and some distractions from the on board films – two of which were ones I had wanted to see at the cinema – the Iron Man and Wanted. Decided not to sleep on the ten hour flight but it went very quickly.
Arrived in San Francisco at 12.30pm. The weather was overcast. Caught a shuttle bus to the Lombard Motor Inn. Linda was very keen to show me Fishermans Wharf so we wandered down to the Piers. Had a very special atmosphere. Lots of families, a wide mix of ethnic groups, lots of sea food restaurants and coloured lights. Some parts were very commercial and reminded me of Blackpool. Went back to the hotel via the windy part of Lombard street which is always shown on the Hollywood films

Friday 28th Nov
Lin here.. well it was lovely to get back to San Francisco. It really is a favourite place of mine. Today we decided to head downtown and we managed to see North point area, China Town and the Yerba Buena park and galleries near Mission... lots of walking but it was worth is. I couldn't believe the weather... by midday we had clear blue skies and it was very warm! Do we still deserve this? We headed back to our room around 5.30 and meant to have a little nap before our evening meal...woke up at 8.45! Still managed to wander back to Fisherman's Wharf and eat a nice fishy meal. We also checked out some of the galleries down there, which are just amazing. Overheard one of the staff discussing bidding for a painting with a client... megabucks there. Stopped off at the Buena Vista Irish coffee bar....yummy!

Saturday 29th Nov
An absolutely beautiful day! Yippee. Just the day for a stroll along the sea front to the Golden Gate Bridge and a look at the Fine Arts Palace in the Presidio park. I was thrilled to bits when we spotted a pelican on one of the marshes...Brent's first one. We'd stopped off at Safeway and bought a lovely salad and some sandwiches and really enjoyed our picnic looking out to sea. This was a full day and we enjoyed looking at the Art Nouveau properties on the way back to the hotel. By this time my feet were killing me and I don't think I'd have made it back without a cup of Chai tea at Starbucks! Nevertheless after a short rest we headed off in search of the Hotel Utah, which had been recommended to us by an American guitarist I'd seen at the Maze. We took a street car to get there, which was fun and stopped at Mel's diner for a burger dinner. The place was buzzing and reminded us of the Maze in it's atmosphere... have a look at their website Gaz...www.hotelutah.com (I think). We enjoyed their weiss beer and managed to fit in another Irish coffee on the way back. Lovely! Now looking forward to Yosemite!