The beginning of the adventure.....
We left our home at around 7 or so in the morning for the airport... one of our friends picked us up after we quadruple checked our bags.
We headed to Salt Lake International Airport (fighting the traffic) and got there rather early... but there was a HUGE line! It turned out that there were 17,000 people leaving at the same time because of the rotary club convention. also, there were a couple of young who fans (15 and 17) who were also headed to the UK for a People to People student ambassadorship (what I went through to go to italy in 2005). They were so bummed to find out that the Who was playing Wembley while they were there but that they couldn't go. We then made our way to our gate and waited for the lane to board.. we shoud've been alarmed when boarding took longer than usual due to the flight being overbooked because the original plane ad a mechanical failure so we had to be moved to another one...
However, Keith lost his seat due to the whole rearranging and desperate measures had to be taken...
While in the air, I took alot of cloud pictures... very nice. Also, my mom made the stewardesses believe that the man sitting next to us was a chef on the show "made to order"... the guy actually did a good job of keepig up the masquerade...
Then we flew over new york... and kept flying over the ocean... this worried me (I don't like flying that much and I also don't like the thought of the plane plummeting into the ocean whilst on my way to a Who concert). We were told there was a medical emergency and one of the runways had to shut down so we had to wait to land. we finally touched down at 5:15 PM (I took this as a good omen)... and then we waited... and waited... and waited... and we finally pulled up to the ramp.... and pretty much watched our scheduled flight take off.
We were then sent to the next gate to get on flight one... but the sign said to go to another gate... we were passed back and forth in this fashion... along with he pilots who didn't know which gate they were going to... then we were told we were on the standby list... but not exactly high priority... and the only flight out was at 6:00 AM the next morning.. I was panicked as was my mom (she spent a great deal of money and to miss two days of the vacation was enough to earn our travel agent numbnut of the year award as she scheduled us to only have an hour layover... which we spent in our first plane trying to land and get to a ramp.
This was when my mom pushed me to te front of the line saying that the ticket agent was black and I am black so he would help me... and sure enough, he did! not only were we on the flight BUT we got two tickets together! as my mom said... most people use the heart to trump the deck but this time she used the spade...
Then, as we got settled on the plane... lightning struck and it began to rain... HARD....
During this time, the people to people delegation (god, we just couldn't escape them!) decided that this was the best time to sing "Bohemian Rhapsody" VERY loudly and OFF KEY! I wanted to strangle each and every one of them... it was getting very late (or early as I had set my watch to GMT... which I later learned was still an hour off ) and by this time I was praying to God, Jesus, Allah, Buddah, Vishnu, L. Ron Hubbard... anyone who would listen... and then the plane began to move... only this was so that other planes could park... Soon, the Flying Spaghetti Monster was included in my prayers that we could make it out of there and make it out safely (cause I wasn't sure how I woud explain to Dan (my friend who I was meeting) if the plane was plummeting into the ocean that we couldn't make it to Richmond... seriously, the thought crossed my mind)... at 10:43 PM, the pilot announced that we had been given the all clear but were in a long line of planes.
finally, we took off (after three scrubs episodes lol) and once we hit 10,000 feet, I put on my ipod... and began to listen to my usual flying across the atlantic playlist... Happy Jack, My Generation, Who Are You, Magic Bus, Barbara Ann, Bell Boy, Cobwebs and Strange, Fiddle About, and Dogs... I got to eat a dinner on the plane, it was pasta that I then traded with my mom for her "Chicken in Chipolte Sauce with Sweet Potatoes" (the pasta was starting to make me sick and my mom, being the smartest out of the two of us, gave me the chicken.. which I then realized was made of the same stuff as those yummy pork rib TV Dinners.. mmm.... but I digress). Then, I put in the splitter jack for my headphones and my mom and I fell asleep listening to Quadrophenia (5:15 was first because I put it on at 5:15... then I started it at the beginning).
I woke up bit later.. and the ipod battery had died... but by this time it was starting to get light...
When we landed, we made our way to... grr... can't remember what it's called... immigration maybe? anyhow, we then went to the baggae reclaim... and were shocked to find both of our bags had made the transfer! (probably cause it was Roger and John on the tags... if it had been Keith and Roger... one of them wouldn't have made it.. Pete and Roger, they would've gone their separate ways... John and Keith, we'd never see them again...) We then made our way to the train to Victoria station.. I texted Dan, got a call from him, we made arrangements... A good time was had by all... he is a real good looking boy, but for privacy reasons, I will not post his picture here...
-KM
