A MAGICal Adventure WBTA / Day -1 Holiday Road - 04/09/2014

[NatsyNoo]

The day was finally here! When my alarm sounded at 6am, I didn't mind (for a change!). Life had been pretty hectic in the weeks leading up to this holiday, so it was much needed! However, before the fun could begin, we each had another day at work to get through.

IMG_4903 by nataliepope183, on Flickr

We ticked our way through the 'things to do' list, before we packed up the car and pulled out of the drive for the last time in two and a bit weeks at 7.40am. I dropped Matt off at the train station, before heading to work myself, via Starbucks for a cinnamon swirl at £2.35 (might as well start as you mean to go on!).

IMG_3369 by nataliepope183, on Flickr

Obviously, the first thing I did when I got to the office was check in for our flight tomorrow!

IMG_3368 by nataliepope183, on Flickr

The hours went by slowly, as expected (I started a new job at the beginning of August and I'm very much in training at the moment so they didn't want to invest too much time in me on this day given that I was clock watching and too excited! Lol), but eventually, 12pm arrived, and it was lunchtime! I had unfortunately chipped one of my toes following my pedicure the previous day, so I needed a touch up polish which I picked up from Boots. I then went to Tesco to get some Krispy Kremes for me and Matt to munch on in bed at the hotel after dinner (£4.35) and then I went to Subway for some lunch. I got a Subway Club (footlong...only ate half...greedy!), cookie (again, didn't eat it!) and drink which came to £5. All too soon, it was time to return to the office and watch the clock tick by. My boss actually said I could go at 1pm but there was nowhere to go to, as Matt was working til 5.15pm, so I stayed til 3.30pm before heading down to Southampton to pick Matt up.

I arrived in Southampton at 4.20pm via McDonalds for a smoothie (£2 ish). I popped in to say hi to Matt, and then popped into Argos to pick up a proper case for our DSLR camera that would fit our other lens and camcorder in too. It was £19.99 and we're really pleased with it!

Finally 5.15pm arrived and it was time to hit the Holiday Road! We played our new cruise playlist in the car and much dancing was done...Bob Marley, Copacabana, Madonna's Holiday...it was epic! We hit a bit of traffic coming off of the M25 but we arrived at the Copthorne Effingham Park (near Gatwick) at 7.10pm. We checked in and dropped our cases in our room, before driving down the road to The Duke's Head pub for dinner. We came here during our stay at the Copthorne in 2009 and had a thoroughly enjoyable meal so it was an obvious choice to return!

20140904_193153 by nataliepope183, on Flickr

IMG_3371 by nataliepope183, on Flickr

IMG_3372 by nataliepope183, on Flickr

We were seated at 7.50pm, and ordered 2 chicken & ham pies, a side order of twice cooked chips (too good to resist), a Pepsi for Matt and lime & soda for me, and it came to around £35. Again, it was a lovely meal and we'd recommend this place to anyone staying at the Copthorne.

We headed back to the hotel, and knocked to say hi to Victoria (my best friend), Scott (her boyfriend) and Parisa (her little girl and the flower girl at our wedding, 4), but as Parisa was getting over-excited, we left them soon enough, and headed back to our room to shower, prep for our early start tomorrow, and pack our new DSLR bag, before settling down at 10pm, after eating our donuts of course! Matt had a little incident and fell out of the shower (it was raised about a foot off the ground so a big drop when stepping out, and as he can't see without his glasses, he couldn't see what a drop it was!) but having confirmed that no bones were broken and the holiday could still go ahead, we quickly moved on.

It didn't take me long to fall asleep, though not for long, as our alarm was set for 4.15am!

[Guest]

Ah a lovely pre day! Glad Matt wasn't hurt!

[Jet]

Good start...looking forward to the rest

[Lisa29]

I read the two days the wrong way round, oops!

The day you travel to the airport is always so exciting!x

[NatsyNoo]

Originally Posted by princess_chazy

Ah a lovely pre day! Glad Matt wasn't hurt!

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Me too! I made it quite clear that I would be going anyway though!

Originally Posted by Jet

Good start...looking forward to the rest

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Thanks for reading!

Originally Posted by Lisa29

I read the two days the wrong way round, oops!

The day you travel to the airport is always so exciting!x

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Never mind! I'm just glad people want to read, so thank you! I love airport day! Thee's so much anticipation!

[mick]

Great start

Joan

[orlandosgr8]

A great start to your holiday, other than poor Matt tripping in the shower, glad he wasn't hurt too bad. Looking forward to reading more

[Chilly80]

What happened to the subway cookie that's what I want to know?

[NatsyNoo]

Originally Posted by mick

Great start

Joan

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Thanks for reading!

Originally Posted by orlandosgr8

A great start to your holiday, other than poor Matt tripping in the shower, glad he wasn't hurt too bad. Looking forward to reading more

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Poor Matt?! Dopey Matt! Lol, bless him, thankfully he was ok! He probably was a bit bruised but he kept quiet about it! He does something like this just before every holiday - my (least) favourite was when he broke his toe before a Florida trip, not so fun!
Thanks for reading!

Originally Posted by Chilly80

What happened to the subway cookie that's what I want to know?

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The cookie, I'm afraid, met an untimely demise...it travelled all the way to St Kitts before we bid the uneaten cookie farewell, I'm afraid

[juliab]

Fab start looking forward to reading the rest