Before I sum up our holiday let me jump back a step to finish off what happened yesterday.

Our chauffeur came to collect us and we had an uneventful trip to the airport. We’d been in the hotel all day and when we stepped outside wow, it was hot, hot, hot. 🌞🌞🌞Luckily the Tesla was lovely and cool.❄️

When we arrived at the terminal we had to wait 30 minutes for the Virgin Atlantic desks to open but we were first in the queue. When the young lady took our suitcases, Si told her to be careful as they were heavy and she replied that she didn’t think they were heavy at all! 🦾One case was 27kgs (59.5lbs) and the other one 29kgs (63.9lbs). We are actually allowed four suitcases each weighing 32kgs (70lbs) each. So I think we did okay. 👍

As we are flying Upper Class we get complimentary entry into the Lounge for eats and drinks. So at the moment we are very comfy.

We were not so laid-back 30 minutes ago though! There was no queue at Security so we were straight in, through the body scanner where the lady said she needed to pat down my left leg and whereupon she immediately patted down my right! Don’t know what she thought I had down my left trouser leg!! 🤔

From there we put our bags through the security scanner and immediately my carry-on bag went down the left channel!! Oh, oh, I thought, there’s trouble ahead!! I’ve seen what happens when the left lane is used!

Well, even though I knew I didn’t have anything I shouldn’t, I started to feel a little nervous and was trying to think what I had packed. The security guy asked me if I had anything dangerous inside and I said I didn’t. Then he asked me to open a box that had  a buffalo ornament in it. Then he ran a drugs paddle over it. I knew it was a drugs paddle because we’ve had our hands checked in the past. OMG I thought, what if someone who’s handled the box previously had been taking drugs, they would think I was responsible. I thought I could be arrested! 👮‍♀️🚓

I repacked the bag and then realised I couldn’t find my carry-on suitcase! That too had taken the left channel! My God I thought, what now? Another one of the security personnel asked me if I had any food in the case and of course, I did ………….. I’d put the huckleberry pancake mix in there! Sure enough, they opened the case and there was the offending item. He unwrapped it and pulled out the contents! Dear Lord, it looked just like a bag of either heroin or cocaine!! Now you may ask how do I know what those drugs look like? Well, I watch the airport security programmes don’t I! 🤷‍♀️Again, he took out the paddle and rubbed it all over the package which thankfully was clear. Well of course it was, I bought it from a store in Jackson for goodness sake. I’m thankful that I put the two items in my carry-on because if I’d packed them in one of the suitcases they would definitely have been opened.

He also remarked about the bag of blueberries in there too. I told him they were actually huckleberries but now I’m worried about Customs at Heathrow as I don’t think we are supposed to take fruit and veg into the country! When I purchased the pancake mix I didn’t notice that it had actual berries in the bag too. I guess they must be dried ones. 😱

Bail money may be required! 💷

Regular readers of the blog will know our history at airports. It’s usually Si who’s taken to one side and patted down, as you know he looks seriously suspicious, or nine times out of 10 our suitcases are opened by Security and everything gets thrown back in with a note saying they are not responsible so don’t even bother complaining and to read their leaflet on better packing!!!!!!

I’m just having a large hot chocolate to calm my nerves! 😂 ☕️

Once on board we settled into our seats. After dinner we had the seats changed into beds. I was surprised how comfy they are. The seat back comes forward to create a full-length padded bed, a mattress topper is added together with a duvet and pillow. It’s great to be able to stretch out.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So to sum up our holiday. We had a wonderful time even if there were a couple of hiccups. Covid being the biggest one of course.

We are both clear now, we took tests again yesterday just to be sure and both were negative, but that doesn’t mean we are back to how we were previously. Si in particular is finding himself very out of breath by just doing the simplest tasks. I guess it will just take time. We were both so lucky to have mild doses. Things could have been so much worse. 😔😷🩺🏥

One disappointing thing is that we couldn’t do as many hikes as we had hoped. Never mind, it’s a good excuse to come back again. As if we needed one. 😂

The second disappointment was the first car we collected from Avis. We had booked a SUV, Ford Edge or similar. They didn’t have a Ford available so gave us a Hyundai Sante Fe instead. We were told it was much more comfortable! It was very disappointing and with hindsight we should not have driven off in it but gone back in and asked for a different one. It didn’t have electric seat adjustment, and I couldn’t even make the seat higher, but we wanted to get on so just took it. It was quite dark when we picked it up but did notice it had not been cleaned very well and had a couple of dents but didn’t notice the large crack in the bumper or the hole in the carpet on the driver’s side. It also had 49,000 on the clock whereas most rentals would not have more than 20,000.

Since Covid a lot of rental companies have either sold off their stock or been keeping them for longer. It wasn’t until we got to Capitol Reef we noticed the tyres were practically bald and the windscreen wipers wouldn’t work properly!! We telephoned customer service and they told us to take it into the Avis rental at Jackson airport and get it changed. That’s what we did and they gave us ‘the tank’. A Toyota 4Runner meant for off-roading. That was much more our style.

We actually did some off-roading driving through deep water. that was scary. It got filthy, all covered in mud but luckily we had that rain on the drive from Jackson to Vegas so that gave it a much needed wash. ☔️

Covid also stopped us from doing horseback riding and river floating. Another two things to add to our list for next time.

We loved the Grand Tetons as we knew we would from previous holidays. It is such a beautiful place with lovely people. It’s very laid back and has lots of great restaurants and shops.

One sad thing that happened as we left Jackson, is that Yellowstone National Park has suffered the most horrendous flooding washing away houses, roads and bridges. The Park has been closed and at the moment it is not known when it will reopen. We met a lot of people in Jackson who were travelling on to Yellowstone so I just hope they are safe. This is a very busy time for Yellowstone and it seems that a lot of staff have had to be laid off. Lots of students work there in the summer months.

There are of course, all the animals too. It’s a very sad state of affairs. The severe flooding was caused by late season snowfall and then very high temperatures that caused the snow to melt quickly along with a day of torrential rain. It’s been blamed on global warming.

I’ve been meaning to post some a pic of our Dornan’s Cabin. Dornan’s also has its own well for water. Boy, it’s cold but tastes great.

Here too are some of the photos that didn’t get published earlier in the blog.

One thing we noticed on this trip was the changes in Vegas. In the old days it was a shady place, then there was a ‘family friendly’ period but sadly, now, it’s changing again to the point where it’s not necessarily a pleasure to walk down the Strip. There are quite a few homeless on the pavements and women walking along practically naked asking people if they would like their photographs taken with them and pay for the pleasure! We first noticed in 2019 that things were changing and it’s worse now. We were talking to a lady at Security and she said she felt happiest just staying in her hotel!

Our flight home was good and only took nine hours. When we arrived at Heathrow people were mainly using the automatic passport control gates but when it came to our turn, I went straight through but Si couldn’t get through and had to seek help! He was allowed in eventually and within 30 minutes we were on our way home. Wouldn’t be a holiday if Si didn’t have problems at airport security! 👮‍♀️

Seems strange to be back home and for life to be returning to normal. We haven’t watched a television in three weeks. 📺

The suitcases will have to wait until tomorrow to be unpacked. We feel very tired and will be having an early night. It was hot when we first arrived in the UK but it’s cooling down now so hopefully we should get a good night’s sleep! 🛌😴

Thank you to everyone who took the time to follow our adventures, leave comments and ‘likes’. Like a lot of people over the past couple of years, we waited a long time for this adventure but it was worth the wait.

So, it just remains for me to say ……….

arrivederci, adeus, hejdå, 再见, zoi geen, zai jian, tot ziens, au revoir, tschüss, shalom, ciao, じゃね, anyeonghi gasyeo, poka/Пока, adios, hejdå, tạm biệt, vΘleft, farvel, ya sas, tókša akhé,

and see you all on our next adventure. 😀 ✈️🚙