June 22--Homeward Bound

Wow we can't believe its time to head home.  It seems like the time has just flown, but at the same time it seems we've been here quite a while.  We ate breakfast down the street from our hotel--I had the English breakfast and Betsy had scones.  I really did enjoy the midafternoon tea's we had--probably the cakes.  Back to the hotel room to once again try and get all the stuff we'd purchased into the suitcases.  During our walks around the hotel we'd discovered a Tube Station that was mostly downhill which helped with the luggage.  Headed down there to buy our tickets to Heathrow Terminal 3.  I saw a station helper and he showed me where we could switch trains at a much smaller terminal which would make our trip much less hectic and he was right on.  Our final Tube trip was uneventful.  We arrived at Terminal 3 with plenty of time to spare, checked our luggage, went through security, did a little shopping, had a bite to eat, and sat down to wait for them to announce our gate number.  We sat next to a couple from New Zealand who were going home after a 5 week trip.  We compared our adventures driving in the UK, although he had the advantage of driving on the left at home.  Had a couple of laughs at the situations we'd run into along the way.  They finally announced our gate so we headed that way for boarding.  Flight was scheduled as 10 hours, but we were almost an hour late taking off.  The pilot said not to worry as the 747 was a fast plane and he'd push it so that we'd be no more than 20 or 30 minutes late, and he was spot on.  We went through the Border Check, and flew through Customs (I don't know why they have you fill out those forms showing what you'd purchased when out of the country, as they've never even glanced at them). Jeff and Betsy talked and we decided on a pick up point which worked out well.  It was about 6PM Phoenix time so we decided to stay at Jeff and Lisa's house for the night.  The gifts we brought were well received. Woke up the next morning, and headed home.  We had a wonderful time.  Betsy has enough inspiration to paint for years.  I was astounded at all the historical places we'd visited.  Everyone we've talked to has ask us what part of the UK we enjoyed the most and we totally agree that it was Cornwall.  Always just a few miles from the ocean, the weather is usually warmer there, the people were great, and the scenery was out of a storybook.  We've been talking about maybe going back to Cornwall for a couple of weeks in the near future.