I have decided to give Cheltenham another chance! And how glad am I that I did! The weather is just wonderful! I’ll be honest…my heart was not set on coming to the UK for Spring Break. I wanted to see Dave desperately but after the eh weather of the summer it was tough to pass up a trip to Florida to come spend time in a potentially very rainy, cold climate. But I have been proven wrong! Everyone said that last year April was the best month for weather in the UK. It was warm then, little rain, sunshine and flowers. Sure, great, but what about the summer…oh yes, that summer was the wettest, coolest summer in a long time. Wonderful. So here I am. Back in Cheltenham to try it for a second time (and yes, there will be a third! (July and August)) and what a change a few months make! It is b-e-a-utiful!!! I’ve taken so many pictures of tress and flowers it’s incredible! It’s very cool in the evenings still (getting down into the 30’s) but amazing in the daytime…I’d guess high 60s-mid 70s! I’d even venture to say that as I sat outside to write this I got a tad bit of color! Hehe! So I’m a little late with the daily updates that I was so on top of this past summer…so I’ll fill you all in briefly on my whirlwind few days thus far…
Saturday was the day that felt like it would never end. All I wanted to do was be on the plane but it took forever to get to take off time. Seeing that my flight was in the afternoon we left my parents house at 1:30…we were at O’Hare by 1:55 (it never takes that short of a time to get to the airport!!!) holy no traffic batman! I commented on how quickly we got to the airport and my mom said “just wait until we get to the terminal” (I was flying United which is out of Terminal 1). Well, I waited, and again…we pulled right up…in fact we really got our pick of where we wanted to put the car! There was NO ONE there! Since I didn’t have any baggage to check (HOLLA!!!) I was able to scan my passport, print my boarding pass and head to security. I talked to the men working the security line…made a couple jokes and some friendly conversation (again…there weren’t many people going through security) while waiting for the like 7 people before me to go through the body scanner. After I had put my things on the belt, asked about my blazer (you can keep those on) and my ring (you can keep those on too…I checked! And I told them if they made me take it off it was going in my mouth because I wasn’t letting it out of my sight! They actually laughed!) I was able just to walk through the detector…no body scan for this girl…this time at least!
As I made my way to the gate I noticed a large group of high schoolers all wearing the same shirt and listening to a man with a booming voice announce what time HIS watch said…and asked (well, really it wasn’t a request!) them to synchronize their watches to HIS time. Hmmm…I was curious! It turns out these 40 high school students would be on my plane! Oh joy I thought as I remembered the excitement I felt going to Italy the first time…couldn’t sleep, talked all night, giddy, etc. I was prepared for a slumber party kinda night. I found my seat on the plane and a nice young man wearing the matching tee took a seat next to me (I was seating in front of 2 of the chaperones). I struck up a conversation and asked what this group was (thinking a)foreign exchange b)social students group) and found out that they were all from Huntley High School and they were part of a Travel Club. This club fundraises for a year and then takes a big spring break trip (this year it was the UK and Ireland, last year it was Italy and Spain). What an awesome club! Well, the gentleman next to me was a very well behaved sophomore who quickly fell asleep and stayed that way expect to each or change the playlist on his iPhone. I’m thinking I should write a compliment letter to the school on how awesome these students were!
The plane ride was uneventful, expect for my lack of sleeping…I was just too excited! I navigated my way through Heathrow and found the station I needed for the coach (bus as it’s known to us). Got the correct ticket and waited until my bus was called. I slept for a while on the coach and arrived early to Cheltenham! ***SIDENOTE: my plane took off ON TIME and landed EARLY; the coach was ON TIME and got to Cheltenham EARLY…I had some awesome travel luck!!!*** I didn’t see Dave at the bus station so I started to walk…I knew the way…and then I saw the love of my life walking towards me!!! <3 <3 <3 Oh such a wonderful sight!!!!
We had just enough time to put my things in the flat, change, eat breakfast and head to the park for a fundraiser 5K. I told Dave we had to run my pace…not his! Later that evening he claimed his calves hurt from going so slow! It was worth it though! We finished those 3 miles with smiles on our faces…and I only snapped at him once! (Considering how tired I was…that’s pretty decent!)
Monday Dave was off to work so I went for a run around the College (high school) and hit the shops! They have wonderful linen skirts and jackets on sale right now so I picked up a few things. I also needed some clothing for the amazing weather! I was thinking about the temperature and climate of the summer and packed mostly long-sleeves and pants while I really needed tanks, tees and capris! Oh well! Now I have a few more things to leave here for this upcoming summer! Oh yes! I almost forgot…I also finally purchased the tall Hunter boots I’ve been eyeing for 2 years now! They were majorly on sale and cost much less than they would in the States (probably because they are a British brand).
Monday night Dave surprised me and told me he would go see the Hunger Games movie with me. Having not read the books I made sure to fill him in on some parts that weren’t really described as well. We both enjoyed the movie, as it was very action packed for a PG-13. I don’t know if I would have liked the movie as much if I hadn’t read the series but I personally can’t wait for the 2nd one…and Dave even said he would see it (just probably not in the theater…which is fine by me!). We had a lovely salmon and asparagus dinner with some candies and popcorn for dessert!
Tuesday I was once again left to my own devices. It was a nice leisurely run in the morning (well…maybe not leisurely as I ran one of my fastest paces) but it sure felt good (3-3 on running over Spring Break…not a bad record if you ask me!). Grabbed a quick shower in the box that the English believe is an acceptable amount of space to bathe in…HA! Then I headed out to do some grocery shopping. We are heading to London for the weekend so I picked up some extra sandwich fixings so we could bring some of our meals to save some $$$.
As I write this I am waiting for Dave to come home from work! We are headed to dinner with our friends Will and Vanessa (they have the cocker spaniel Charlie you may remember from last summer)! They recently got married so I am excited to hear how the wedding went and catch up as I haven’t seen them since August.
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