Oh the resistance of it all… I started packing two days before I had to leave for London, this may have been a mistake… Somehow it all piled up upon me… If you have ever seen me pack you would understand what I mean… I sit and consider what will go and where it will be placed in the bags for quite a while before making the decision of yes or no, and then putting it in the bag… This went on for two days, until about two hours before the taxi arrived to take me to the train station… I think this time there may have been a resistance to leaving that I had not noticed until the last week…
Happily I was transported to the train station and to London with little resistance once my bags were packed *which is saying something considering I was hauling 8 bags through London on the tube*… I left the space at the Art Center very tidy and thanked it for all that it had been for me, over the last five months… I had time with my peeps right up until the night before I left *which I sooooo needed*…
I arrived at the hotel grateful for a bit of time to myself before flying to the US… I love being with my family and friends, however the world I live in, in Portland is so different from the world I live in, in the UK… In the UK I get up when I wanna, and go where I wanna, and don’t if I don’t wanna… I eat and don’t eat what and when I wanna… In the US, I am in a group, and in groups of family and friends you all come to agreements together, this is lovely, though foreign to me over the last six months… Really the only agreement I would have to make was which coffee shop of six coffee shops were we gonna meet at??? In some cases I would visit four of them over the day *this is a great day*… My kids would never allow that kind of meandering through the day… *Deep Breath*
While in London, I reorganized all luggage to fit into three checked bags and the allowed carry on bags, and played on facebook…
The morning of my flight I was ready early *unusual*, and called down to have a trolley brought up to take my luggage to the Hotel Hopper… Here is where the fun begins… Are you sure you are going back to the US??? The lady at the front desk forgot to send me someone up, so I called again, explaining I had to catch the hopper in five minutes… She says no worries she will come and get the bags and they will hold the hopper for me… She did pick up the bags, however the the hopper stopped and left before they even noticed him, he did not come in as he was to do… She ended up calling me a cab…
I arrive at the airport about twenty minutes behind, and proceed to adjust all bags for checking… I get to the checking counter and he tells me I must pay for the bags again… I argue the point, and then to make my flight, I figure I will go for the refund at the other end… I can not of course pay the guy that I am checking my luggage with, I have to go to the other end of the airport to pay them and get my luggage checked in there… Of course this take quite a while, and while this lady is helping me, she is also coaching her co-workers through their customers… I express that I would like to make my flight, and she gets both bags checked and I watch them go into the baggage shoot together, and the lady tells me that I should run to make my flight *Really Ya Think???*… I arrive at my terminal as they are beginning the boarding of my plane *luckily for me they were ten minutes behind schedule*… Anyway, my complete gratitude that I am actually on the plane, the people I am sat with are lovely and easy to be sat next to *how does it get better than that???*…
I arrive nine hours later in Dallas, Texas for my four hour lay over *that should be plenty of time to get through customs and to my next flight right???*… I go to collect the bags I have to take through customs, and then recheck for last leg of my journey back to Portland… Apparently just because the bags were paid for together, and then put into the baggage conveyor together does not necessarily mean they will both be put on the plane together… After searching the bags on the baggage claim conveyor, of which none of my bags are on, I am told that they have been removing them and piling them up on the other side of the conveyor *why???*… I search and search for any of my three bags and finally locate one and then another *not together, yet there*… I go to the counter to see if I can get some assistance in finding them, when an assistant takes the tag number and goes off to see if he can find it… Nope, and then I am refferred to the customer service rep at the counter, I speak to the lady at the counter, and she checks her system, it was not even put onto the plane… Really how is that possible??? She says it shows a scan into Heathrow, and that it was not placed on any other planes, that it simply had been left behind… So not lost, just not put on the plane *hmmmm*… At this Point I am beginning to think the word for the day is Determination, do you really wish to go back??? Is someone trying to tell me something??? Does it really need to be this difficult??? What if I could just make this journey with ease??? I head towards the customs lines with a form to file in Portland upon my arrival… By the time I make it through customs, and the baggage dibacle, I have less than an hour to make my connection on the other end of the airport *seriously three hours for customs???*… Gratefully, I have ten minutes for a burger before boarding my next flight *which is also late*… Do you think the universe was trying to tell me something??? I made the plane and landed in Portland sixteen hours after leaving London that morning…
I am safe and slightly worn, I seriously didn’t even see Mark and Daniel waiting for me until I almost tripped over them… We collected my bags and headed for CPR, my favorite McMenamins restaurant… A great Burger and a Ruby Beer 😀 !!!
