England 2017, Wednesday, 5/31/17

Chiddingfold, The Swan Inn;  up at 5:45 - our final day on this trip.  We shower and repack, cramming all our purchases into our two pieces of luggage, trying to keep our carry-on pieces as light as possible.  Perhaps the purchase of the two National Trust Walking sticks was a bit of a stretch, but we got them in - although both cases are in full expansion mode.

Down to breakfast, looking forward to our last full English.  Alas, it was not to be.  Only on offer was a continental breakfast, but we could soft boil our own egg.  Unfortunately, that experiment didn't turn out so well.  The toast was good, as was the ham and cheddar cheese.  The tea and coffee also hit the spot.

Off at 9:30 towards London and Heathrow Airport.  We arrived at the car rental agency by 10:30 and were at the terminal for check-in by 11:00.  We sailed through security, not withstanding DebC's metal leg, and then had 3 hours to kill waiting for our flight, time to recharge our phones, make our notes, have a cup of coffee and cappuccino, and get ready to fly.  Check-in to the flight was smooth, although the big red suitcase did tip the scales at 49 pounds; cutting it pretty close but still on the correct side of 50.

A quick trip through the shops for some last minute goodies and then onto the plane for the long flight to Chicago and headed to home.  The over the water flight was long, but the food was much better on the westward journey.  We and our luggage arrived in Chicago intact.  Whisking through Immigration and Customs, we deposited our luggage for the Omaha flight and then headed up to Chili's for a drink and some Nacho chips as we awaited for our last leg.  $48.00 for 3 wines, 1 beer and a large plate of taco chips, with salsa, quickly brought us down to reality.  We are now hostages in our own country!  We landed in Omaha 15 minutes early and Tim and DebD's daughter Kate was there to meet us.  Weary, and with one bag lost somewhere in the bowels of Chicago's O'Hare we headed home to crash and rest up.  

Overall impressions of England this trip?  The weather was very accommodating, May is definitely a stellar month for gardens and touring.  Without exception, every person we met was courteous, solicitous and seemed genuinely happy to visit and help on our trip.  There was no sense that we were resented, the current U.S. political environment notwithstanding.  It helps that the Brits are in the run-up to their own election, and are dealing with the same nationalistic and divisive issues that face us at home.

It was nice not to have to listen to the 24-hour news cycle but also disconcerting to see the antics of our "leader" who was also in Europe contemporaneous with our trip.  We made no apologies, only reminding those who asked that he didn't win the popular vote.

With great traveling partners who were up for anything and always up beat, weather that couldn't be topped, and the chance to spend some real quality time at our areas of interest instead of rushing through, this was one of our best trips ever.  We left with a sadness that our time was up, an anxiousness to get home to our own beds, and the certainty that we will return, sooner rather than later.