How can we be going home when it feels like we just arrived? These magical 30 day gave us so many core memories and so many more laughs. The UK and the Republic of Ireland is an amazing place filled with just salt of the earth people. It’s cliche, but I’m going home changed. Not just because I have a raging rash from COVID, but because I feel like a piece of my heart will remain here, specifically North Wales, but the UK nonetheless.
But, we have no time for long, sentimental goodbyes as we need to vacate the flat of 1000 steps by 10am! Our flight is not until 7pm, but considering the fragile health of the family we are going to Heathrow and relaxing there until it’s time to board. We have no energy to walk around outside with 5 suitcases and 4 backpacks. Our Airbnb host allowed us to leave our bags in the flat until 11 so we could get a bite to eat for breakfast before heading to LHR.
We found a super cute al fresco breakfast cafe and bakery. Mrs. Koog and the boys had baked goods and I had avocado and poached eggs or, avocado toast hold the toast. B-Koog and I had our last breakfast tea for 2 in London. Something we will always remember and miss until next time. After a brief walk and a stop for a giant macron (approximately 5 mins after finishing his 2 breakfast croissants) for E-Koog, we collected our bags, loaded into our Uber and headed for LHR to begin our long journey home to our dog Betsy at home in Maryland.
We arrived at LHR Terminal 2 around noon. Terminal 2 is an important detail, because that was the international ARRIVALS terminal. We needed the international DEPARTURES terminal. Getting to T3 required the airport version of planes, trains and automobiles. That version is titled Lifts, Rails and Moving Walkways. It took approximately 45 mins to get from T2 to T3 due to my inability to move faster than a caterpillar. Have I mentioned I hate COVID?!?! Anyway, there was no rush, we had a solid 6 hours before boarding!
The Family Koog and our 2 luggage carts made it to the Virgin Airways Premium Check-in and gladly handed over 5 heavy but within ounces of the weight limit bags for luggage check-in. We managed to get everything in the bags so as to keep our carry-on backpacks light-ish. It’s important to note that we got nearly everything in that checked baggage. We find out later, even things we needed to keep on our person!
Security at Heathrow is like a crazy Rube Goldberg machine. Bags for liquids, trash bins, announcements, queues, more kiosks, more queues, it’s a fascinating, seemingly disorganized organized mess. But it moved pretty quickly. E-Koog goes through Security and the metal detectors first and no issue. Both Me and Mrs. Koog got the extra scan and patted down. I also got my shoes swabbed for explosive powder? Whatever it takes to keep everyone safe. We have many hours to waste. We were waved through after the clean scans and swabs. B-Koog, poor B-Koog. Our innocent little guy got the trifecta! Extra scanning, wanded, explosive swab and, for added safety, a complete unpacking and scanning of almost every item in his backpack. Apparently, the neck pillow he uses has an unused battery area as it has a massage feature that has never worked. All of us had forgotten about this and didn’t put the pillow in the electronic bin with the other pieces of technology we carried. The security personnel were quite polite and once they inspected the pillow, we repacked and were on our way. We all appreciated their thoroughness to keep us all safe in the skies.
Once we hit the duty-free, it was like an episode of Supermarket Sweep for me and the boys. For Mrs. Koog, it was like the shopping version of Whack-A-Mole trying to keep the 3 of us in check! We escaped with a bottle of Welsh, about 30 lbs of chocolate, some biscuits and tea for B-Koog. I think we all left happy.
We were going to pay the extra fee to use the Airport Relax Luxury Lounge but at this point we were just a few hours from boarding and it didn’t seem like a good use of £350 for 4 hours. So, we found a pub and had a very leisurely lunch. After that, we headed to the seats while we waited for our flight gate to be posted.
Strangely, you don’t wait at the gates as we do in the states. All passengers are T3 until the gates are announced. You make your way to the gate and board. Not being a frequent flier and having never been in LHR, I was surprised by this process. It was quite efficient and the people watching was world class!
We found seats in the waiting area and relaxed while we waited. I opened my backpack and was about to take my anti-anxiety medicine in preparation for the flight. Except, remember how I mentioned we fit everything in our checked baggage? We did. We fit everything, including my anti-anxiety pills, in our checked baggage. Ho-ly F! I’m flying sober, y’all! To be honest, I was still pretty under the weather and didn’t have the energy to stress out about the flight. I had some extra Night Nurse and decided I would start taking that at 6 pm and then another dose 4 hours later. For reference, our flight left at 2pm eastern time and landed at IAD at 10:30pm eastern time (that’s 7pm to 3:30am British Time). No matter what, I needed to be able to sleep on that plane!
I am pretty proud of myself for not freaking out at any point on the flight. Takeoff is usually very stressful for me but between illness, probably a little O2 deprivation because of the mask and my trusty box of Night Nurse, I was pretty calm and tired. We did hit some turbulence and I did not enjoy that one bit, neither did Mrs. Koog as I tend to crush her hands in my panic. I was able to sleep once we were through the bumps. When I was not napping, I was glued to the altimeter and flight map.
As we got closer and began our descent, I was starting to exhale with relief. The flight was blissfully unremarkable and we landed safely at Dulles. But, we deplaned into the mobile lounge on the runway. How strange, right? Apparently, it’s the norm and we got on, found a seat and were taken to the Customs terminal. We all had to take a bio break. It was perfectly timed as we exited the rest rooms, there was not another soul in the customs line! We showed our passports, had nothing to declare and were welcomed back home by the nice agent.
Baggage claim was equally efficient and quick. By 11:10, we met our driver, he loaded the car and we were on our way home! By 12:30, we were home and being greeted by the happiest 130lb Great Dane in the world. Betsy was so happy to see her people and her people were happy to see her!
By 1:15, I was showered, NyQuil’d, Motrin’d and in bed. In MY bed. I said a silent thank you prayer for the amazing trip and safe return to Maryland.
I think we will all sleep well tonight, dreaming of our 30 day adventure and planning the next one!
Back to work tomorrow for me and back to school for E and B in 5 days.
Time sure does fly when you are having fun!
But, we have no time for long, sentimental goodbyes as we need to vacate the flat of 1000 steps by 10am! Our flight is not until 7pm, but considering the fragile health of the family we are going to Heathrow and relaxing there until it’s time to board. We have no energy to walk around outside with 5 suitcases and 4 backpacks. Our Airbnb host allowed us to leave our bags in the flat until 11 so we could get a bite to eat for breakfast before heading to LHR.
We found a super cute al fresco breakfast cafe and bakery. Mrs. Koog and the boys had baked goods and I had avocado and poached eggs or, avocado toast hold the toast. B-Koog and I had our last breakfast tea for 2 in London. Something we will always remember and miss until next time. After a brief walk and a stop for a giant macron (approximately 5 mins after finishing his 2 breakfast croissants) for E-Koog, we collected our bags, loaded into our Uber and headed for LHR to begin our long journey home to our dog Betsy at home in Maryland.
We arrived at LHR Terminal 2 around noon. Terminal 2 is an important detail, because that was the international ARRIVALS terminal. We needed the international DEPARTURES terminal. Getting to T3 required the airport version of planes, trains and automobiles. That version is titled Lifts, Rails and Moving Walkways. It took approximately 45 mins to get from T2 to T3 due to my inability to move faster than a caterpillar. Have I mentioned I hate COVID?!?! Anyway, there was no rush, we had a solid 6 hours before boarding!
The Family Koog and our 2 luggage carts made it to the Virgin Airways Premium Check-in and gladly handed over 5 heavy but within ounces of the weight limit bags for luggage check-in. We managed to get everything in the bags so as to keep our carry-on backpacks light-ish. It’s important to note that we got nearly everything in that checked baggage. We find out later, even things we needed to keep on our person!
Security at Heathrow is like a crazy Rube Goldberg machine. Bags for liquids, trash bins, announcements, queues, more kiosks, more queues, it’s a fascinating, seemingly disorganized organized mess. But it moved pretty quickly. E-Koog goes through Security and the metal detectors first and no issue. Both Me and Mrs. Koog got the extra scan and patted down. I also got my shoes swabbed for explosive powder? Whatever it takes to keep everyone safe. We have many hours to waste. We were waved through after the clean scans and swabs. B-Koog, poor B-Koog. Our innocent little guy got the trifecta! Extra scanning, wanded, explosive swab and, for added safety, a complete unpacking and scanning of almost every item in his backpack. Apparently, the neck pillow he uses has an unused battery area as it has a massage feature that has never worked. All of us had forgotten about this and didn’t put the pillow in the electronic bin with the other pieces of technology we carried. The security personnel were quite polite and once they inspected the pillow, we repacked and were on our way. We all appreciated their thoroughness to keep us all safe in the skies.
Once we hit the duty-free, it was like an episode of Supermarket Sweep for me and the boys. For Mrs. Koog, it was like the shopping version of Whack-A-Mole trying to keep the 3 of us in check! We escaped with a bottle of Welsh, about 30 lbs of chocolate, some biscuits and tea for B-Koog. I think we all left happy.
We were going to pay the extra fee to use the Airport Relax Luxury Lounge but at this point we were just a few hours from boarding and it didn’t seem like a good use of £350 for 4 hours. So, we found a pub and had a very leisurely lunch. After that, we headed to the seats while we waited for our flight gate to be posted.
Strangely, you don’t wait at the gates as we do in the states. All passengers are T3 until the gates are announced. You make your way to the gate and board. Not being a frequent flier and having never been in LHR, I was surprised by this process. It was quite efficient and the people watching was world class!
We found seats in the waiting area and relaxed while we waited. I opened my backpack and was about to take my anti-anxiety medicine in preparation for the flight. Except, remember how I mentioned we fit everything in our checked baggage? We did. We fit everything, including my anti-anxiety pills, in our checked baggage. Ho-ly F! I’m flying sober, y’all! To be honest, I was still pretty under the weather and didn’t have the energy to stress out about the flight. I had some extra Night Nurse and decided I would start taking that at 6 pm and then another dose 4 hours later. For reference, our flight left at 2pm eastern time and landed at IAD at 10:30pm eastern time (that’s 7pm to 3:30am British Time). No matter what, I needed to be able to sleep on that plane!
I am pretty proud of myself for not freaking out at any point on the flight. Takeoff is usually very stressful for me but between illness, probably a little O2 deprivation because of the mask and my trusty box of Night Nurse, I was pretty calm and tired. We did hit some turbulence and I did not enjoy that one bit, neither did Mrs. Koog as I tend to crush her hands in my panic. I was able to sleep once we were through the bumps. When I was not napping, I was glued to the altimeter and flight map.
As we got closer and began our descent, I was starting to exhale with relief. The flight was blissfully unremarkable and we landed safely at Dulles. But, we deplaned into the mobile lounge on the runway. How strange, right? Apparently, it’s the norm and we got on, found a seat and were taken to the Customs terminal. We all had to take a bio break. It was perfectly timed as we exited the rest rooms, there was not another soul in the customs line! We showed our passports, had nothing to declare and were welcomed back home by the nice agent.
Baggage claim was equally efficient and quick. By 11:10, we met our driver, he loaded the car and we were on our way home! By 12:30, we were home and being greeted by the happiest 130lb Great Dane in the world. Betsy was so happy to see her people and her people were happy to see her!
By 1:15, I was showered, NyQuil’d, Motrin’d and in bed. In MY bed. I said a silent thank you prayer for the amazing trip and safe return to Maryland.
I think we will all sleep well tonight, dreaming of our 30 day adventure and planning the next one!
Back to work tomorrow for me and back to school for E and B in 5 days.
Time sure does fly when you are having fun!
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