England: Goodbye, England, till Next Time

It's time to wrap up this series on our England trip. To be honest, I'm sorry to see it end -- I've had fun remembering our good times and friends old and new, discovering new places and seeing old favorites. (The posts from Paris/England 2018 are archived at the menu tab above.)

We awoke on our last day at Morgan's Forge to find that the temperatures had dropped and frost had settled over the hillside, like a thin dusting of powdered sugar over a beautiful cake.

The hills, so green the day before, were now a most pastel shade of green, almost as though a mist had settled upon them, as magical as Brigadoon.

If we hadn't known by looking outside the window, we'd certainly know it from looking at the window itself. This was the coldest day of the trip and the day we had to leave.

We finished our packing and headed off down the hill to wait for the bus. It was a bit brighter by the time we left. Not quite this bright -- this was the day before -- but we were happy to pass by the charming houses along the way.

I never did find out who Hazel was, though! I must have passed by this gate a half dozen times or more and always wondered!

We would be taking the bus from Bath to Gatwick Airport, outside London for our trip home. Our luggage included our overhead bags, a large bag of things that Rick had, his computer, and my wonderful Baggalini expandable carry-on. (It was $20 online and one of my best all-time purchases ever!)

Our bus ride was fairly long and mostly uneventful. I did get a good deal of Gerald Durrell's "My Family and Other Animals" read along the way, though, when I wasn't looking out the window.

I was thrilled to spot a rainbow. A good omen.

That night we stayed at a Premiere Inn, which is a chain of reasonably priced hotels. It may have been our worst evening and later, night's sleep. Above us was constant clomping. Back and forth, forth and back. Over and over and over and over. A visit from the manager calmed it down again but it started around 4 a.m. When we went down to breakfast the next day, we learned it had been a family of four that had the room above. When we spotted one such family, with a girl about four wearing little boots reminiscent of a go-go dancer or cowgirl clomping back and forth from her table to breakfast bar and everywhere else, we knew we'd found the culprit! I wouldn't want to be that kid's mom -- I don't have the energy or patience!

Early the next morning we boarded our WOW flight home. I was very sad to learn recently that WOW has suspended business. (It was a bad scene, leaving many stranded; only a few days before I got a promotional email for a $99 Europe ticket.)

We both loved the service and ease of the flight over and were hoping to take it again. What we had saved on flight tickets helped us get more convenient, nicer hotels, helping to make the trip more economical.

 Goodbye, WOW. Goodbye, England.

Home again. We had been gone three and a half weeks. Lizzie recognized us. Now I'm trying to figure out when I can go back.