Part 1 - Edinburgh to Newark:
So, we'll set the alarm for 4.30am, get everything ready and leave the house at 5.30am to allow plenty of time to check in before our 9am flight. Yeah right! Jim, who was going to run us to the airport, phoned us at 6.10am to ask where we were and so the fastest preparation for departure ever ensued. Leaving for Edinburgh airport at 7am is not a smart move, especially since it was a frosty morning and there were dense pockets of fog en route. Also the morning rush hour traffic does not help. Anyway, we arrived at Edinburgh airport at 7.50am and got to the check in at 7.58am to be greeted by a frosty young lady who proceeded to give us a row like we were naughty schoolchildren. "Check in closes in two minutes, where have you been?" I was tempted to tell her that if it closes in 2 minutes then we are perfectly well on time but thought better of it. Now I do not recommend this method of frantic departure but I must say that it cut out a great deal of the hanging around associated with international air travel. We did have concerns as to whether our luggage would ever be seen again but, to our pleasant surprise, it was first off the carousel in Newark; all four pieces, intact and quickly retrieved. We filled in the customs form saying nothing to declare and no, we have not been on a farm ,so naturally we were the only people redirected through the Department of Food and Agriculture baggage check area. I suspect we were making up their daily quota since they did not seem very busy. On then to Immigration where, although I am officially regarded as a non resident alien, the authorities tolerate my presence in the returning US citizen line as I am accompanying 3 bona fide USC's - Immigration is good that way. You might think that processing me into the USA would take longer than the other 3 but no, not today. Another reason for not checking in with 2 minutes to spare reared it's ugly head when we discovered that Continental in Edinburgh had input Patty's details into the immigration computer using her maiden name. Luckily the officer granting us admission to the States could read her passport, unlike the fellow in Edinburgh, and eventually persuaded his computer to let us all into the country.
Part 2 - Newark to Houston:
Still with plently of time to catch our next flight we set off to the gate, confirmed the flight was running on time, arranged a toilet stop for the kids prior to boarding, and bought some fried chicken to eat because there is no meal on the 3.5 hour flight to Houston. (Newark is a nice clean airport with good clean toilet facilities, except for the "Companion toilet facility" I don't think much of the standard of cleanlieness associated with travelling companions in the Newark airport facility!)
... to be continued as I have been called away with an urgent request to visit Wal Mart.
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