Here Come the Canadians - Traveling in Northeast England

By Dale Stubbart

This is the story of our trip from Seattle, WA to Billingham, UK and back again. We went to Celebrate Christmas with friends whom we hadn't seen for several years. We went to Celebrate Christmas. We went expecting to rejoice in the reunion. We very much looked forward to the experience, partly just for the experience itself. We spent almost two weeks in Northeast England. Many things worked out well. Some things worked out not so well. Nevertheless, we prevailed and enjoyed ourselves in spite of those things.At one point on our trip, we were mistaken for Canadians or more specifically RCMP - Royal Canadian Mounted Police. So join us for our adventure as Here Come the Canadians! Rating G; Reading Level Very Easy 5th Grade; Longest Word: Geographically

• Language: English
• Publisher: Dale Stubbart
• Release date: Feb 23, 2022
• ISBN: 9798201758707

Book preview

Where in the World?!

A close up of a map Description automatically generated

THIS IS A HAND-DRAWN map of our trip. We flew from Seattle to London. Two weeks later we flew from London to Las Vegas and then on to Seattle.

After we arrived in London, we stayed there a couple of days. We wanted to let ourselves reset after that long flight. Then we took the train from London to Durham.

We rented a car for a few days to visit our friends in Billingham. We returned the rental car after a few days and used taxis to visit our friends for the remainder of our stay.

We took the bus from Durham to Billingham one day. And we took it from Billingham to Middlesbrough, which is very close, another day.

We also took the train from Billingham to Middlesbrough. Then we took another train to Saltburn.

Imperatives!

Disclaimer!

Where in the World?!

Imperatives!

Takeoff!

Hello-Welcome!

What’s There to See and Do?!

Hup-2!

P-2-P!

Head North!

Stay Left!

Round and Round She Goes!

Return to Vendor!

Have Faith!

Where Do You Live?

Out of the Way!

Stairway to Heaven!

Ho-Ho-Ho!

Here Come the Canadians!

Mind the Gap!

By-The-Sea!

Save the Earth!

I’m Famished!

Run For It!

Baby-on-Board!

I’m Dying!

Exit This Chapter!

That Was Different!

Are We There Yet?!

Home Again! Home Again!

Alternate Routes!

Who Wrote This Anyway?

Takeoff!

On day one of our Christmas Vacation, our friend, who is also our neighbor, took us to the airport. She has a Subaru. So it was no problem for me to get our large suitcases into her car, along with the three of us.

We arrived at the airport with time to spare. We wanted plenty of time check our luggage and to make it through the security lines.

We had TSA Precheck. So the security lines didn’t take long. Neither did checking our luggage.

Then we proceeded to the gates at the S (South) Terminal at Seatac (Seattle Airport) to wait for our flight. The S Terminal is now the International Terminal.

The fragrances from the perfumes which they sell in the Duty Free shop, make my wife Terry sick. In order to keep those fumes away from us, we spent our waiting time in the lounge. Since we were traveling First Class, we could use that lounge without having to pay extra for it.

We waited in the lounge until it was time to board. Then we got in line.

And we waited.

And we waited.

...

Finally the plane was delayed long enough that we were sent back to the lounge. Eventually, the Pilot and the Purser came to the lounge to explain the situation to us. We could only assume that they would also explain the situation to the rest of the passengers.

There was condensation in the plane. And they needed to find the source before we could leave.

A top level Mechanic made certain that the condensation had only been caused by the Pineapple Express rainstorm which we were having and not because the fuselage was coming apart. After that delay, we boarded our flight and headed from Seattle to Heathrow.

One Flight Attendant led me to my seat while another led Terry to hers. Wait a minute we had seats together.

What we didn’t realize before we boarded was that every seat in First Class is individual and private. We could open the divider between us and try to hold hands over the ledge.

We could also sit across a table from each other during supper, which we did. But other than that, we were each in our own private space.

I sat on Terry’s buddy seat during supper. That seat would later become the foot of her bed. I had to place a pillow behind my back because the buddy seats do not have back cushions.

Both of us about freaked out when the Flight Attendants asked us if we wanted a pair of pajamas. We were so flabbergasted that we both said, No. What kind of flight was this?

The food was excellent! And lying down during the flight was helpful, if a little strange.

The next time we won’t need seats in First Class. The seats still fold out in Second Class where we’ll be able to really sit together during the entire flight; well except for when one of us has to go to the Toilet (Little Person’s Room).

And I’ll be able to save some of my points for something else. Exactly what, I’m not sure.

We had thought perhaps that with such a long flight, they would make up time in the air. However, that was not the case. We left three hours late. And we arrived the next day in Heathrow three hours late.