Day 2270 Excess baggage

31st October 2023

The streets of Bath were filled with young people, even at 3.00am.

Of course it must have been Halloween parties, that were turning out.

Nicola and Colin had driven up from Martock, encountering roadworks and the inevitable diversion, just to take me to Bath bus station so that I could catch the National Express coach to Heathrow, what an amazing thing to do.

At 4.00am the coach started the journey, just after 6.00am it pulled into the bus station at Heathrow. The driver struggled to remove my cases, but with a grunt and a drag he pulled them out of the storage hold and set them out on the pavement. I had to get some synchronicity going with the cases so that everything was moving in the right direction.

First I had to get in a lift to go down a level, not an easy task when other travellers wanted to do the same.

There was an endless corridor that led to another lift, this time up a level which exited outside terminal three.

I found my way to the American Airlines drop off counter, the lady looked at the weight displayed on the screen.

“ It’s a bit overweight, do you want to remove some items or pay?” She said seriously.

“I’ll pay” I replied, there was no point in moving things, as all my bags were stuffed full.

Then I was hit with the total, which was more than I anticipated, but I had no real alternative.

Having sorted that out I made my way to the security area, it was easier to move about, so I joined the queue.

For once I didn’t have to remove my shoes, just belt, watch and coat. I was taking two laptops which had to be placed in separate trays, so all this had to pass through the X-ray machine.

Then there was the scrabble to put everything back in place.

I had a good breakfast, well it was alright really, then the walk to the boarding gate.

I had expectations that being a Tuesday the plane would be empty, that was totally wrong, it was heaving.

Thank goodness the flight was smooth, I watched two films and tried to get a bit of sleep.

In Chicago, there have been major improvements made to the international terminal, the one everybody has to arrive at when entering the USA.

These improvements included a bloody long walk to the immigration hall.

This was the first time I was a green card holder, so I thought it would go smoothly. I was wrong, the customs officer stared at his screen, then asked me to stand aside to await for additional screening. After a ten minute wait, my documents were passed to another officer who led me to a side room, full of other poor souls requiring further scrutiny.

After a short uncomfortable wait, my passport and card was handed back. When I asked what the problem was, the officer handed me a sheet of paper that would explain everything.

It bloody didn’t, all it said was, the US have total authority to stop and detain anyone they want at any time.

I then walked to the carousel to collect the large case, and find my way to book my luggage on to the next flight.

There is a driverless train that moves between terminals, this is quick and easy, so within a few minutes I am entering terminal three.

I then have to endure another security check, removing belts, shoes, coats and laptops then walking through the scanners.

“Remove everything from your pockets” the officer bellowed.

I checked my pockets, all I had were some used tissues which I held firmly in my hand.

As I passed through the scanner I opened my hands to reveal the tissues to the checking officer and asking if he wanted to check them.

He did decline the offer, leaving me to redress and repack, I had made it into the domestic terminal.

The short flight to Grand Rapids, seemed to take ages. There was a flurry of snow when we landed, but it didn’t continue, so I was surprised when the captain announced that we would taxi to the de-icing station. By now all I wanted to do was get home, so I was frustrated by this delay.

Then it had to taxi to the take off runway, this took ages, at times I thought were were driving there. The plane was full again, and the eventual flight was very bumpy.

As we flew into Grand Rapids I could see the snow, Kelli had already sent me pictures showing our garden covered in the white stuff.

Seeing her in the arrivals area made the journey worthwhile, I was back, and glad it was all over.