April 29th - London and 'thank yous'

I have received a complaint from a reader of this blog, and he knows who that is, that I haven't finished the blog with a post from London!!

Well, to satisfy him, and anyone else who might be interested, we took off from Boston on Friday morning in a torrential downpour. How the weather changed over night! We considered ourselves lucky that we hadn't decided to stay another night in Boston, especially when we learnt that the temperature in London was in the mid seventies.

Our flight was a quick six hours and we landed at Heathrow at just after 7.30pm. Our taxi was waiting for us and we arrived back at our house in south-east London at 9.15pm. So, all in all, not a bad journey, though a sad one when we think of what a wonderful trip we have had and that it is now well and truly over.

The time has come to post our thanks to all those who have helped to make this such a fun trip, so  here goes, hopefully in the order of the tour, and apologies if I have left anyone, or anything, out I should have mentioned.

Firstly, to our son, Edward, in Malibu, who helped us so much before we arrived in the States, especially with arranging the collection and delivery of the cars after they arrived back from Panama in January. Thanks a million Ed. Next to Les and Barbara, in Malibu, for putting up with all my demands on them, before, during and now, after the trip. Then it's a huge thank you to Leejun and Jim Taylor for putting us up at their homes in Vail, Colorado and Mayfield, New York and how can I thank Jim for letting me loose driving three of his supercars! We are still hoping they might join us on the Tour of India. Even if you don't tour India please come and stay with us in the UK. That goes for all our American friends.

The thanks continue and this time to the aliens in Roswell, though I still don't believe they ever came!!
Then it has to be thank you to Kenny and DeeAnne Croucher, El Paso, Texas for welcoming us to their home, their hospitality and finally for scaring the living daylights out of me when Kenny let Bob fly his plane, with me as a passenger in the back! Also in El Paso a big thank you to Ernie Nelan for her fantastic salad.

Moving on in Texas, grateful thanks to Ahmad Fakhr, Lida and the two dogs (sorry I've forgotten their names) of San Antonio, Texas, for their hospitality, especially their wonderful Iranian cooking and then the guided tour of San Antonio.

It would be wrong not to thank the residents of New Orleans who have gone through hell with Hurricane Katrina and still managed to show us what a special place New Orleans is to visit. We will be back. Next it has to be the cop who let me off the speeding ticket near Syracuse, New York and then the chef and his staff at the Inn at Essex, Vermont for the best meal out we have ever had. Moving east, thanks to the Bush family for allowing a parking lay-by opposite their house so that curious tourists can stop and take photos!

Then thanks go to Herb from Mayfield/Gloversville, New York, for all the help he gave with the cars, and continues to give, and the lift to the airport.

The people of the United States who were always friendly, helpful and interested in the cars, our past tours and the tour of the States.

Finally, a very special thank you to Bob and Thelma who made the trip such fun for us. From the very first time I mentioned to them that we wanted to do this trip, their enthusiasm has never waned. They helped to make it 'another trip of a lifetime' for Wendy and me, thank you both. We can't wait for India!

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