I Am Here!

So... after a much nervously anticipated trip... I am sitting in the hostel about to go to the bar. So thats pretty awesome.

The Flight

The flight went really well with Virgin Atlantic. I online checked-in but didn't realize thats what the "DIY Line" was. So I wasted 30 minutes oh well. By the way, these keyboards swith the " and @ symbols. Funny. Once I got into the terminal I recognized a guy from the passport agency. He actually got a work visa and is just moving to England for the summer. Doesn't have a job yet or a place to live. That is balls ladies and gents. Also met his friend David who is doing the normal 2 week backpacking trip. By this time I wasn't nervous because I had settled myself. Psyche... Moms gave me a Xanex to take cause I was freaking out all day. Haha.

Once we boarded all things went off as planned. After fifteen minute I got an Orange Juice and a small bag of pretzels. My ticket said no meal so I was psyched! I went to sleep at this point. I woke up an hour later cause of some noise and low and behold... they served a full meal. I got Beef, mashed potatoes, carrots, peppers, a side salad with ranch dressing, bread and butter, cheese and crackers, a water, and... a heineken. Like five minutes later they were offering everyone tea and coffee. Another five after that they were offering refills. So this was pretty good for a "no meal" ticket. Went back to sleep for like 4 hours. Woke up around 10am local time and they were serving breakfast. Got some more OJ, water, and a breakfast bar. They pampered us lower economy class flyers. I can't imagine what the upper class got :p

The Arrival

Got off the plane and went through that passport check thing. The guy asked my permanent UK address, I said the road, he laughed, and let me through. Good thing they like Americans. So now time for baggage check. First thing I see is my bike. Assholes ripped my seat and ripped the handle bar tape on my handle bars (if these two cause irritation in either two of those areas they affect... angry Frank!). Ok whatever whatever whatever I can deal with it... it made it... it was shifting ok... thats what matters most. Wait. Where's my box? You know... the thing that has my panniers, tent, and sleeping bag mat. Hm. Not here. Go to baggage claims. "Oh we found it!" They say as a guy comes carrying a box that can be barely called a box anymore. Completely destroyed. One of the panniers had a small rip. But I hooked it all up. Done.

The Initial Bike Ride

Went outside and started riding towards where my directions said to. Luckily 2 miles down the road I stopped cause I wanted to adjust some stuff and needed my keys to get in my bag. Where are my keys? Crap. I left them on the counter at baggage claims. Biked back. Got them. Back onto the road. It was funny. I would up on a road us Americans would look @ as Interstate 95. Which is probably why I was the only bike. And why all the trucks honked. But whatever. It was only for like 9 miles. And I kept a good speed @ 20-25mph. And there was a big shoulder. Luckily that was the bulk of the ride. Because once I got into the city I got lost immediately. I figured this 14 mile trip would take 3 hours :p When all was said and done I turned the 14 mile 1 hour trip into a 22 mile 3 hour trip full of asking people for directions and getting sent back and forth.

The Hostel and the Search for $ -> £

Got to the hostel and even though I put my deposit with a credit card... now I needed cash. Fine, cash machine (ATM) down at the petro station right down the road. Jump on my bike to go get some. Starts raining. A heavy rain. But not a heavy thick rain. A heavy soft rain. It was actually pleasant :) But the petro stations cash machine would not give me cash. Nor would the grocery stores. Or the post offices. I eventually found a bank after wandering and they were able to do a cash advance on my credit card by calling the bank. So now I got some £ (pounds you silly Americans!). Took an hour nap, wrote in the awesome journal someone gave me, and now here I am letting people know I am alive!

I look forward to Greg getting here tomorrow. Hopefully he can do better than 3 hours :P And then we will also have a camera!

Hope this alleviates a bunch of your peoples stress to see I am alive! Will be thinking of you all :)

Frank