Pre-Departure Day, August 8th 2008
We both had today off which was very handy and we deliberated a lot about what to do. Initially we were going to check in for our flight online, take Jack to the Cattery and then head straight down to Heathrow, leave the car at the hotel and head into London on the tube but we decided against it. In the end we decided to check in, take Jack and then travel down at our leisure and go and see a film in High Wycombe and then have a TGI's for tea (American food just before you go to America, clever). We saw Wall-E which was very good, had tea and then made our way to the Crowne Plaza at Heathrow. Traffic was horrendous on the M25 getting to High Wycombe, and also getting down to Heathrow leaving the M40 but it was rush hour and we wished we'd have been an hour earlier getting to the hotel and we might have missed it. Check in at the Crowne Plaza was easy and we also managed to find a parking spot at the front of the car park, so no need to park on the field over the back of the hotel which we were expecting. I paid just £69 for this hotel with 15 nights car parking included and it was an absolute steal. Rated number 1 on Tripadvisor it looks like an old 70's hotel from the front but inside it is very plush and although our room was on the ground floor, it was up to the standard you would expect from a Crowne Plaza. Kel did some swimming in the pool whilst I had a good read, and then we went into the Irish bar for a pint before retiring to bed, we had an early start the next day (5am) and really needed a good nights sleep.
Departure Day, August 9th 2008
After a reasonable nights sleep (never that great knowing you have to get up so early) we checked out of the hotel and waited for the Hoppa Bus to take us to Heathrow. Despite being propositioned a few times by taxi drivers waiting in the Crowne Plaza car park (is this allowed?) we stood firm and stuck with the Hoppa plan. Fortunately it was only a few minutes wait and we boarded and bought two return tickets for £16, not cheap, but cheaper than two taxis.
At this time of the morning it was a breeze getting to Heathrow and after discussing with the driver that we were flying from Terminal 4 (not served directly by the Hoppa) we got off at Terminal 1 and then followed the signs to board an underground train to Terminal 4 departures, which was a bit of a pain but once again with it being so early, it was just us and another couple in the whole train station. The train arrived quite quickly and soon we were on our way to the Terminal.
It started to go a bit wrong at this point. We hadn't eaten at this point and were starving (TGI's had been mid afternoon yesterday) but we decided to do bag drop at the Continental desk prior to finding a restaurant. I don't know what it is about this bag drop system but both BA, Virgin and now Continental have not got it right. The queue for the standard check in was going quicker than the bag drop queue, and then a member of staff decided to have a break. We stood in the bag drop queue for 45mins and watched as people who had just turned up without boarding passes just checked in and beat us through. Not good.
All checked in and with our bags out of sight we then hit Travelex to pick up our currency. Now, I swear by Travelex particularly with their price promise which will beat any other currency deal, but in Heathrow they are rubbish. Travelex at Gatwick is a breeze, you hand over the confirmation and the currency is already bagged and ready for you. In Heathrow, they don't have it ready and you have to wait as they allocate travellers cheques and document numbers etc etc. To say the girl was incompetent would be an understatement, so much so that I actually felt really sorry for her. She just didn't know what she had to do with the confirmation and therefore called a manager to come down and help. Fortunately another colleague came back sooner than that and tried to help, but she also couldn't do anything. Is it so hard, just give me what it states on the confirmation? In all we were there 40mins, people had queued up behind us and given up and gone elsewhere and guess what? We were told to go through security and pick it up airside as they were having problems figuring it out!!!! DOH!!! Anyway we made our way through security and a very helpful member of staff assisted us within a few minutes and we had our currency. What a joke, I really am considering not using Travelex in the future especially at Heathrow.
At this stage time was getting on and we didn't have time for a sit down breakfast and had to make do with a muffin and drink from a vendor near the boarding gate. Once again, just like last September, we had not stopped for one minute upon arriving at Heathrow and boarding our plane, which can either be seen as a good thing (do you want to be hanging around too long?) or a bad thing if you like time to chill. We got on the Continental plane and left just about on time en route to Houston. Configuration was 2-3-2 which we knew already so it was just each other to annoy!!!!
To be honest the flight went very quickly and I was very impressed with Continental. The staff were very friendly and the food was some of the best I have ever had on an airline. Arriving in Houston we were glad to be early, which meant the worries of catching our connecting flight to Albuquerque were less severe. Initially we had only been given a connection time of 75mins, but we had a little under 2 hours before the flight departed (thanks to Continental and very effiicient Houston immigration) so we sat down and had some Texas BBQ before heading over to the gate for our on time departure to Albuquerque.
It was at this point we saw on the TV screens that the actor Bernie Mac had died which seemed very strange especially as we had just watched both Oceans 11 & 13 in readiness for the Vegas portion of our holiday. Very sad.
As the tannoy annoucement went off looking for two people to give up their seats on the flight to Albuquerque in exchange for financial gain we were sorely tempted. There was a further two flights that night to Albuquerque and to be honest all we were likely to do tonight was check in, have some food and then hit the bed. When we heard however the deal included credits on future Continental flights instead of hard cash we decided against it. No doubt we would fly Continental again but we were unsure when, and I guess they would expire at some point, so we stuck to our plan and took off at 2.25pm from sunny Houston to hopefully even sunnier Albuquerque.
Arriving in Albuquerque after a thunderstorm it was clear it was very hot, as most of the roads had dried up already. We got off the plane, picked up our bags and headed to the car rental depot on a shuttle bus. We had booked in the UK direct with Hertz and they were very efficient, giving us our first choice Ford Focus and not doing the hard sell on any additional insurances or upgrades. Very impressed.
With Albuquerque Sunport being literally next door to the I25 it was very easy to navigate our way to our hotel which was the Howard Johnson Express Inn North, which we had paid the princely sum of $60 a night for. To be honest Ho Jo's are not high on our list of preferred hotels in the USA but this one was rated 6 in Albuquerque and in a city with so many hotels, we thought it had to be good. It was a short 15min drive north on the I25 to the hotel which we found the 2nd time after missing it initially. DOH!! Check in was smooth if not a little brusque, but we were glad to find our room on the 2nd floor (of 3) was very nice, spotlessly clean and with a huge and very comfortable king bed.
We unpacked and had a nice and very welcome shower before heading out in the car for somewhere to eat. We went up and down a few streets which were mainly littered with chain restaurants and opted for the Texas Roadhouse, a restaurant we have seen in other USA cities but have never ventured into. Sure it wasn't New Mexican food, but there was ample time to have that. As it was a Saturday night (something that dawned on us as we tried to find a parking spot) there was a long wait, 40 mins in total, which was not ideal especially after a transatlantic flight but at the same time, we were aware we could have the same problem elsewhere so we agreed to sit and wait, which was very nice in the cooling evening with the last rays of the New Mexican sun beating down on us.
Wait time was about spot on and we went in, the place was huge and was obviously very popular. We had a great server (one of many in New Mexico) and the food was delicious, I had Chicken with country gravy and fries, Kel had BBQ chicken and sweet potato. It was very filling and there was no room for dessert, the bill came to just $27. Impressed we left, and it was nice to just get into the car and head back up the I25 to the hotel. We got back to the room, and after a bit of TV, we just fell asleep. The end of a very long and very tiring travelling day, but we had arrived and we knew we would wake up raring to go the next morning.
More to follow over the weekend.....
