Sunday 14 June 09 (the day that never ends)

As we all know, everyone made it to the airport in plenty of time, and all went well with checking in. Oh, except for Chris Thomas and his bionic collarbone. Fortunately, he had a card telling the TSA that he had a medical device (a metal plate) in his body. Unfortunately, the TSA didn't care one whit, and wanded and frisked him with glee (at least it looked like glee to me).

At any rate, we all made it to the gate where we found seats and got the good news that our flight was delayed - about 40 minutes in all - but don't worry, we'll catch all that time up en route.

Right.

We had a variety of neighbours on the flight, as we were somewhat spread out around the plane, and an amazing number of films and TV shows were viewed. Dinner was "fine" for the most part, and sunrise came surprisingly quickly after sunset.

Then we landed and went through immigration, baggage claim, and customs with simply no problems - even Alex got her luggage, so there's apparently no genetic trait involved there.

Our Johnsons Luxury Coach was waiting right where we expected it, Steve loaded the luggage aboard, and off we went for Stratford-upon-Avon, via Bourton-on-the-Water (the Venice of the Cotswolds).

We arrived at the Forget-Me-Not guesthouse (and a bit at the Royalyn next door) where we were greeted excitedly by Kate Morris - our friend and the proprietor, who actually remembers us and our previous groups, and was awaiting our arrival with great anticipation.

With everything stowed in rooms, the week's schedule gone over for meal times and such, and people oriented a bit, we set off to explore Stratford before dinner was served.

Please note that by this time, it was no longer Sunday - not by a long shot! This really was the day that never ended. A long Sunday (43 hours or so) with no real Monday as a companion. The thing that cemented this perception was the near-total lack of sleep accomplished by nearly every one of our travellers. Brilliant, but in an ironic kind of way.

Speaking of brilliant, the weather seemed to be in our favour for a change. England is not, by nature, a sunny clime, but whenever a Heritage Tour is in residence, that changes for the better.

Usually.

Acting on that knowledge, Heidi, Charlie, Megan, Emma, and Jaime set out to circumnavigate the Avon River. Once we were on the far side of the river, almost perfectly equidistant from all possible crossings, the heavens let loose. Oh, and not just with rain - we have learnt that Emma's hair looks quite nice with a dusting of hail. It was cold, to say the least.

Bravely struggling on through the English monsoon, your intrepid travellers managed finally to cross the river and find their way home. Again ironically, we passed a laundromat with a sign in the window extolling the virtues of their dryers.

Despite the weather, everyone made it back to their rooms on time, and settled in for some well-deserved sleep. And sleep they did (after a good game of euchre, of course).