Day -2 LHR to ALT

All in all, I can’t really complain about today.

My mom and dad had had the pleasure of me being at home for a week with nothing to do, having finished work the week before.  In my previous wisdom I had thought I would need some time after finishing work to get any final things ready before I hit the trail, my current wisdom knows I’ve spent the last month doing and redoing all those things.  There really is only so many times you can repack a pack, and I did not really want to go on any long hikes due to the risk that I might fall over and break a leg or something else equally stupid (in hindsight a final shake down might have been a better idea).

We set off for Heathrow at about 9:00 a.m. and had a fairly relaxed drive.  The morning news had told us that crufts, the dog show, was on at the NEC so we had expected a lot of traffic that was not there.

At Heathrow we got some food at one of the landslide places and I have to be honest, it was some of the worst food any of us had eaten.  Oh well, what can you do about it, as choice is limited.

We waited for my flight to open, said our goodbyes, and off they went.  I was through security in about five mins, which was surprising, and before I knew it, I was in a bar with a pint of cider.

I experimented with Facebook Live, and I think I’ll probably just upload videos as I think FB Live videos are only live for 30 days? I’ll probably do this when I’m in town, just as a different way of checking in.  It defiantly won’t be an all singing all dancing vlog of me walking down the trail, as there are enough of these, but I thought a quick message once in a while might be fun.

The flight was nine hours, I read Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets and spoke to a lovely old dear who was from Edinburgh.  The poor love had missed her flight yesterday due to Fog!

At passport control the officer was actually ok.  In hindsight I think he was joking when he said he had never heard of the AT, as his last comment was “have you ever been here before (meaning Georgia)” followed by “and what did you say that trail was called again?”  As we waved me through, he laughed.

I got out the airport an called the hotel for a shuttle.  The receptionist could not really understand me, and I had no idea there was an international terminal and a domestic terminal.  Eventually I got the shuttle to the domestic terminal where I could get a shuttle to the hotel.

It was 21 degrees outside. I was shattered. I climbed into bed and… could I sleep? Nope. Nope I could not.  My mind is going ten to the dozen.  It’s going to be a long day.

Plan for the day is the tram to the end of the line, resupply at REI and some food and a pharmacy. a night in a different hotel, fingers crossed I sleep, and the morning after a shuttle to the start of the start!