Vermont visit - chapter 1 - the journey

I know the photos have hit Facebook already, but thought I'd re-ignite the blog for anyone interested in a little more context.

Three weeks ago Tuesday we loaded the 4 backpacks, 3 people and 2 overstuffed suitcases into 1 large minicab and headed off to Heathrow to kick off Camp Nana (and Poppy) 2010. And one week ago Tuesday, we hauled the same and more back to Planet Wulfagar, thanks in part to an incredibly surly black cab driver. (Surly, that is, until it was time to pay, and possibly tip...)

The next few entries cover those weeks in between. In excruciating detail. May even take me just as long to write as it did to experience...

We arrived at Heathrow to one of the longest queues I'd seen in a long while. Or maybe that's just American Airlines. Fortunately the queue gave us plenty of time to find someone to take a photograph. Less fortunately it also gave one little girl plenty of time to get antsy, squirmy, and any other condition that applies to toddlers who realise that standing in an incredibly slow line is not the most exciting way to spend a Tuesday morning, especially when there are gates to run through, luggage tags to grab, and long hallways to run down... This did not bode well for the enforced confines of the airplane.

Actually, given those confines, Paige was pretty good. Or maybe it's just hindsight telling me that. We'd not bought her a seat, and it was (surprise, surprise) a jam-packed flight, so take-off, landing, and any other seatbelt-on time equalled lap time equalled not very happy Paigey. [Note to self -- be prepared with food next time. That pretty much always works...]

Luckily, however, mandatory lap time was relatively brief, and as we had the bulkhead, we we able to rotate with one of us sitting on the floor some of the time, which provided more room than you'd think. In fact, I think Ashley quite liked it. And as long as she wasn't being made to sit somewhere not of her own choosing, Paige had a pretty good time as well. As well she might, given the fact she was being constantly entertained -- being walked around the aisles, sharing her books with a younger traveller she encountered.

And of course watching Dora. And more Dora. And more Dora. No, not on the plane entertainment system -- on my iPod. Phew, thank goodness I thought to download an episode. Yes, an episode. One. And with no headphones, that meant Mommy got to narrate the story. Given I'd never seen it, I think I did a pretty good job. Then again, each Dora does tend to follow a pretty predictable story arc. Map, Backpack, and vamanos!

And then three Doras and no nap later we landed at Logan, to face of course an incredibly long wait for immigration, despite having two Americans in our group, we still had to go through the 'foreign' line, if we wanted to stay together as a family. Yawn.

Fortunately our chaffeur and navigator (aka Poppy and Nana) were nice enough to wait, and -- after an uneventful, if squished, drive -- we concluded our journey to Woodstock, USA only about 15 hours after locking the flat door in Kew, UK.

And the rest of the trip will have to wait for the next post...