theDIBB - View Single Post - Let's go... to San Francisco March 2019

BONZO · 14 Apr 19, 05:15 PM

Tuesday 26th March 2019

Let�s go�to San Francisco
March 2019

Cast (it�s the usual one!)
Me: Shaun, 50�s, loves travelling, eating and drinking (not necessarily in that order!)
Alison: 50�s, ditto to the above!

Link to Index: Here

I had a good night's sleep despite Alison's alarm going off super early as her iPad was set to Cape Town time zone from our last trip so the alarm went off at 5.30am! We finally got up at 7.30 and after showering headed down to enjoy a lovely breakfast.

We chatted to some nice ladies and tried to explain in very basic terms why we were flying out of Inverness but I don�t think it really sunk in, on the face of it, it sounds ludicrous but trust me � it saves a shedload of money!

We packed and left and called into a local petrol and manged to squeeze 60p into the tank, just a bit paranoid about additional fuelling charges after dropping hire cars back. After a simple key drop we were back into the airport

and made our way through security easily enough as we were the only ones going through. The whole airport was ghostly quiet at this time in the morning.

We settled down in the Aspire Lounge, small but perfectly formed � that�s the lounge, not me!

I wandered out to see what was available in the shops here and all I found was a WH Smith�s (shut), Scotch Whiskey and a shop selling artisan air fresheners. I guess they don�t have much call for anything more significant.

Boarding was pretty painless and well organised as we settled down into Row 1 for the flight back to Heathrow. Lunch was served which ok but not really to my taste, I had the cold meat platter and Alison had the Goats cheese salad.

Somehow I managed to drop quite a bit of cutlery on the floor

but the crew spotted it and gave me some spares. Nothing whatsoever to do with the 2 gins and single tonic the cabin crew let me have.

We flew over central London, and did a virtual wave to DD Laura who works near the London Eye

After landing at Heathrow a bit early we had time to head up to the lounge for half an hour before wandering over to the C gates. We always use the underground walkway rather than the train � so few others do!

We were held at the gate area for a while; boarding didn�t start until nearly 3pm for the anticipated 3.30pm departure. Once we did start boarding we were the first into the club world upper deck forward cabin on this A380.

Alison and I were sitting separately, by choice I hasten to add! We each had window seats with lots of storage, as well as direct aisle access.

It was a light load � only 16 seats were taken out of 28 in this section. We were quite amused at the galley chatter � the cabin crew didn�t seem overly familiar with anything! We had pre take off drinks, and were given menus and amenity kits.

We took off about 30 mins late so not too bad � I�m always surprised by how slowly the huge A380 lumbers down the runway before getting airborne!

After take off, time for drinks and nuts

The flight was about 11 hours long and we had dinner (we had both pre ordered the vegetable Balti) followed by a light meal before landing (we both had a hot steak sandwich). The food was really quite good although Alison ended up with 2 starters as they got her order wrong!

The flight passed smoothly � Alison watched films (Bohemian Rhapsody and A Star is Born plus the first 3 episodes of the series The Informer, which she said was gripping). I watched Ready Player One which passed the time and I had a coffee and brandy before settling down for a snooze despite the noises from Mr. Sniff Cough behind me.

Alison had a coffee and Baileys.

We both had a steak sandwich as the light meal about an hour before landing.

We passed over Las Vegas

We landed a few minutes late and headed to the bank of Global Entry booths which were almost empty. We got our slips quickly and headed through to the luggage carousels. We didn�t have too long to wait for our bags and then walked through to the separate customs queue (or line I should say now that we are in the US!) which was empty! The other queue was huge although moving quickly.

It was quite warm outside as we waited for the hotel shuttle bus, the whole system was organised chaos but it seemed to work ok. I noticed that a lot of the buses here were either electric or shared. Overall we had a 10 minute wait before we were on the shuttle to the Crowne Plaza (pre-booked via Hotwire) which took some time to get out of the airport. So much traffic everywhere!

Finally we arrived at the hotel, checked in and in our room (1017) by about 9.30pm (so about 75 minutes since touch down so not too shabby).

We connected up to the Wi-Fi, had a quick shower and coffee and we crashed out � a long day�s travelling!

14 Apr 19, 05:15 PM	#1
	14 Apr 19, 05:15 PM BONZO Imagineer
BONZO Imagineer Join Date: Mar 02	Let's go... to San Francisco March 2019 - Day 3 (Inverness to Los Angeles) Tuesday 26th March 2019 Let�s go�to San Francisco March 2019 Cast (it�s the usual one!) Me: Shaun, 50�s, loves travelling, eating and drinking (not necessarily in that order!) Alison: 50�s, ditto to the above! Link to Index: Here I had a good night's sleep despite Alison's alarm going off super early as her iPad was set to Cape Town time zone from our last trip so the alarm went off at 5.30am! We finally got up at 7.30 and after showering headed down to enjoy a lovely breakfast. We chatted to some nice ladies and tried to explain in very basic terms why we were flying out of Inverness but I don�t think it really sunk in, on the face of it, it sounds ludicrous but trust me � it saves a shedload of money! We packed and left and called into a local petrol and manged to squeeze 60p into the tank, just a bit paranoid about additional fuelling charges after dropping hire cars back. After a simple key drop we were back into the airport and made our way through security easily enough as we were the only ones going through. The whole airport was ghostly quiet at this time in the morning. We settled down in the Aspire Lounge, small but perfectly formed � that�s the lounge, not me! I wandered out to see what was available in the shops here and all I found was a WH Smith�s (shut), Scotch Whiskey and a shop selling artisan air fresheners. I guess they don�t have much call for anything more significant. Boarding was pretty painless and well organised as we settled down into Row 1 for the flight back to Heathrow. Lunch was served which ok but not really to my taste, I had the cold meat platter and Alison had the Goats cheese salad. Somehow I managed to drop quite a bit of cutlery on the floor but the crew spotted it and gave me some spares. Nothing whatsoever to do with the 2 gins and single tonic the cabin crew let me have. We flew over central London, and did a virtual wave to DD Laura who works near the London Eye After landing at Heathrow a bit early we had time to head up to the lounge for half an hour before wandering over to the C gates. We always use the underground walkway rather than the train � so few others do! We were held at the gate area for a while; boarding didn�t start until nearly 3pm for the anticipated 3.30pm departure. Once we did start boarding we were the first into the club world upper deck forward cabin on this A380. Alison and I were sitting separately, by choice I hasten to add! We each had window seats with lots of storage, as well as direct aisle access. It was a light load � only 16 seats were taken out of 28 in this section. We were quite amused at the galley chatter � the cabin crew didn�t seem overly familiar with anything! We had pre take off drinks, and were given menus and amenity kits. We took off about 30 mins late so not too bad � I�m always surprised by how slowly the huge A380 lumbers down the runway before getting airborne! After take off, time for drinks and nuts The flight was about 11 hours long and we had dinner (we had both pre ordered the vegetable Balti) followed by a light meal before landing (we both had a hot steak sandwich). The food was really quite good although Alison ended up with 2 starters as they got her order wrong! The flight passed smoothly � Alison watched films (Bohemian Rhapsody and A Star is Born plus the first 3 episodes of the series The Informer, which she said was gripping). I watched Ready Player One which passed the time and I had a coffee and brandy before settling down for a snooze despite the noises from Mr. Sniff Cough behind me. Alison had a coffee and Baileys. We both had a steak sandwich as the light meal about an hour before landing. We passed over Las Vegas We landed a few minutes late and headed to the bank of Global Entry booths which were almost empty. We got our slips quickly and headed through to the luggage carousels. We didn�t have too long to wait for our bags and then walked through to the separate customs queue (or line I should say now that we are in the US!) which was empty! The other queue was huge although moving quickly. It was quite warm outside as we waited for the hotel shuttle bus, the whole system was organised chaos but it seemed to work ok. I noticed that a lot of the buses here were either electric or shared. Overall we had a 10 minute wait before we were on the shuttle to the Crowne Plaza (pre-booked via Hotwire) which took some time to get out of the airport. So much traffic everywhere! Finally we arrived at the hotel, checked in and in our room (1017) by about 9.30pm (so about 75 minutes since touch down so not too shabby). We connected up to the Wi-Fi, had a quick shower and coffee and we crashed out � a long day�s travelling! __________________ http://www.thedibb.co.uk/forums/sign...igpic534_1.gif 1988 ~ Contemporary ~ Honeymoon 1989 ~ Off site 1994 ~ EuroDisney ~ Santa Fe 1999 ~ Off site 2001 ~ CBR (Aruba) ~ Poly (Tahiti) 2003 ~ WL & HRH 2004 ~ Pop Century, RPH, CSR, PBH, Contemporary 2006 ~ DLP ~ Newport Bay 2007 ~ POR ~ HRH ~ GF 2008 ~ All star sports, BCV, RPH, Vero Beach, VWL 2010 ~ OKW ~ BCV ~ HRH ~POP Century ~ Vero Beach ~ VWL 2013 ~ AKL ~ HRH ~ BCV ~ Vero Beach ~ VWL Edited at 05:17 PM.