Trip to USA : The Long Trek Home

We returned to Gatlinburg for Scott to pick up his car and I made my farewells. Throughout my time in Tennessee, @sk43 made me more than welcome and took me under his wing, teaching me the ins and outs of American life. I think we have a lot in common, not least the love for Rhonda. Goodbyes made, @rhondak drove me to Knoxville airport along with @catherine813.

As she went to find somewhere to park the car, I had to speak to a United Airlines representative to get my tickets home. There was a slight problem in that on my trip in, I had forgone my flight from Washington to Knoxville as my flight out of Dublin was late, and Rhonda had offered to pick me up from Dulles. This threw the system into a panic, and it took half hour to sort my tickets back home.

The time was fast approaching to bid farewell to Rhonda and Catherine. Rhonda had already warned me how difficult it would be for her and, in a way, I was almost glad that as non-passengers, they could not go much further into the airport without a ticket. My allergies suddenly came on as we hugged for the last time and I watched as Rhonda and Catherine walked away to find somewhere close by to watch my plane leave.

Pulling myself together, I made my way once more through security, putting all of my electronics, cables, and chargers into a tray to be x-rayed, removing my glasses, belt and shoes to go through the scanner.

Convinced that I was no security threat, I was passed through and I reassembled my hand luggage and prepared for my first of three flights, this first one to Washington Dulles.

Having found my gate, I also found my plane being prepared for take off.

Within twenty minutes, we began to board.

As we boarded, I caught a glimpse of the captain.

Pretty soon our aircraft was pushed back and the engines whined into life. I kept in touch with Rhonda until the last moment, so that I could let her know when we were about to taxi down the runway and take off - she had told me that she wanted a video of me taking off.

With a roar, the plane sped down the runway and we were quickly in the air.

Rising over Knoxville, I took the opportunity to take some photos from the window.

The flight time was only about one and a half hours to Washington, and as the afternoon wore on, I caught some great shots of the sun setting as we came ever closer to our destination.

Soon, we began to descend over Washington DC.

With a screech of the tires, we landed. I enjoy flying for the most part, except for takeoffs and landings. If anything is to go wrong, these would be the worst times.

None the less, we taxied safely, before coming to a stop and disembarking.

According to my itinerary, I only had just under forty minutes to catch my connecting flight to Dublin, so after catching a bus to the terminal, I made my way swiftly to my departure gate. Along the way, I decided to buy a fresh t-shirt as the one I was wearing had been worn all day and, not thinking, I hadn't packed a fresh one in my hand luggage. Of course, being in Washington, I bought one that reflected the fact. I went to a restroom to freshen up and changed my top.

As seems usual when I travel, there was an issue with the plane back to Dublin: the toilets were not flushing. Originally we were told it would be a short delay of half an hour, but as that came and went it increased to around an hour and a half. United Airlines, however, was very accommodating and brought out trollies filled with drinks and snacks. Eventually, boarding started and as I use a walking stick, I was one of the first allowed on the plane.

I settled into my seat and checked all of the films on the personal TV in front of me. Unfortunately, I had seen any that I may have found interesting. This wasn't a problem though as my body told me it had had quite enough, thank you very much, and that it was time to get some rest. Shortly after takeoff, I got comfortable with my neck pillow and covered myself with a complimentary blanket before falling asleep. Halfway through the flight, I woke up just long enough to eat a meal I was offered, then swiftly dropped off again. My short stay in America was finally catching up with me. I finally woke back up when the air steward shook me to make sure my seat was upright and that I had my belt on - the seven-hour flight was coming to an end.

Ireland

My connecting flight back to Birmingham, England, was a short half hour away, so I quickly made my way to my next departure gate and boarded my Aer Lingus flight. Soon we were taxying once more and sunny skies welcomed our flight as we took off.

Flight time from Dublin to Birmingham was just under an hour. Despite the fun and enjoyment I'd had in Tennessee, it was good to see home again.

Once landed and quickly through security, I retrieved my luggage which, thankfully, was there this time. I then caught the monorail back to the station and caught a train bound for New Street Station.

From there I caught the first of two trains home.

Once I had finally reached my stop, my girlfriend was there to pick me up.

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Posted from my blog with SteemPress : http://www.muxxy.co.uk/2018/07/12/trip-to-usa-the-long-trek-home/

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