Here We Go

Not really knowing where to start with the fantastic holiday we had, I have decided to do it day by day over the next two weeks.

So

 Day 1, Saturday 31st March 2012 

We stayed over night at the Novotel, Heathrow so we would be ready for the 9.30 flight.  We were not able to book seats together for this one so with some trepidation we headed for check in.  The lady said they would try their best to sit us together when we got to the gate.  That was the best we could hope for.  The food choices were quite limited in the departure lounge and we were all a bit nervous so we just sat around and waited and waited and waited. Eventually our gate came up and we walked and rode the travellator to get there.  A lady took our boarding passes and a man came along and said "Williams party, I am waiting for you."  He allocated our seats and when we got on the plane we found we were all together in the front row of our cabin so we had extra legroom and adjustable screens! 

It was perfect, we settled in for our longest flight, Nine and a half hours.

Our arrival in Texas was slightly earlier than scheduled, we collected our luggage, cleared homeland security and settled down to wait for our connection.  This is where the time change kicked in and Martha fell asleep on the floor of the terminal because at home it was bedtime.  Meanwhile the boys, realizing it was only 2.30 in the afternoon had their first of many root beers and some BBQ fast food.

The flight to Phoenix was great, most of us slept most of the way but we did manage to look out though and see the desert below.

We collected our luggage and headed off on the bus for the car rental area.  Mini van collected we loaded up , set the satnav, and prayed for a safe journey as Calvin got to grips with driving in the USA again.

The satnav did its job and Sister Crandall ran out to greet her weary guests.  Grandpa was eagerly waiting to meet these British folks.  Linda had cooked tacos for us, Gareth was too tired for food but when he smelled the Tacos he was good to go again. 

We didn't stay up too much longer after that, just enough time to say hello and catch up on a little news.

It was so good to see those friendly faces after such a long journey and we were so excited about all the adventures planned for us.