Wednesday finally came, and we had to fly home. Our flight was supposed to be at 9:10, so I wanted to be at the airport at about 6:00. That is pretty cautious, but it would have been quite a task (and probably expense) to get fifteen people home on a different flight. Sadly, our faithful DLR line did not start until 5:30, and the estimated time of using the Underground to get to Heathrow would have put us there at almost 7:00. So, on Monday morning, I had arranged for a sixteen-passenger minibus to pick us up at the hotel at 5:00 and to take us to Heathrow. It only cost about $150 more than taking the Tube would have, and the peace of mind was worth that. Also, it was raining, so we would not have to deal with luggage in the rain.

Mer and I checked on the students between 4:00 and 4:15 to make sure they were all up, and by 4:45 we were all assembled in the lobby. The minibus showed up, and we were underway a little before 5:00. It was interesting to look out through the windows as we wound our way through London – we got to see many of the downtown sights all lit up. We got smoothly to Heathrow by about 6:00 a.m., and after messing around with the auto-check-in machines for a few minutes, some Delta people saw we were a group and checked us in in person. That was helpful. We got through security pretty smoothly, and we were at our gate before 7:00. Better safe than sorry. That extra time gave our kids a chance to get some food, and they also used the time to fill out the London J-term journal and evaluation forms that Meredith had prepared. The feedback the students provided was helpful to us because we hope to do the same trip again in two years.

We boarded the plane right on time, but then we had to wait while they loaded cargo. Then, the pilot had some security concerns about two passengers, so the two passengers were asked to get off the plane and their luggage was unloaded. The ground crew then did a security sweep of the plane. The captain himself came and talked to each section of the plane to reassure everyone, and it seemed to work – no one complained. It did mean that we were well over two hours late in taking off, which meant we were probably going to miss our connecting flight in Detroit that was to take us to Pittsburgh. Mer and I discussed the possibility of getting picked up in Detroit, which is a three-hour drive from CVCA.

The flight went smoothly, and we did get into Detroit late. I called CVCA to let them know that we would probably need a bus to get us at Detroit. By the time we got through customs, our flight to Pittsburgh was scheduled to leave, and we had heard that Pittsburgh was getting hit with a huge snowstorm. We did not even try to find out about our flight or try to rebook – we just called CVCA and asked if they could come and get us, which they agreed to do.

The kids were very patient, especially considering we were in a lobby that only had a snack shop, so there was not real food available. We had eaten on the plane, but we had over three hours to wait. Still, the kids called home on their cell phones (and let me borrow one since our old cell phone could not get any signal). The bus finally arrived at about 7:30, and we had a smooth ride home. We got back to CVCA at about 10:15, and after everyone was picked up, Mer and I got home, and we were thrilled to discover our cat-sitters had shoveled our driveway (we had about a foot of snow in Ohio that day). So, we were able to pull into our garage and get to bed (after checking on the kitties). We were asleep by about 11:00, so it had been about a twenty-three-hour day.

It had been a really great trip!