Saturday June 8, 2019
After a very good flight with no turbulence we landed uneventfully at Gatwick airport. As usual everyone was on a mad dash to get off the plane to hurry up and wait at the luggage carousel.
Shelley and I wandered through passport control and our luggage arrived within minutes of us getting to the carousel.
We found our way through the crowds to the train station, where I needed to get the train pass (Two Together). I had filled out all the forms and we had the passport sized photos ready. Apparently, I had filled out the “on-line” form and had to fill out the “pink” form. Back to the back of the line, moving slowly forward while I filled out the exact same form only one was printed on regular printer paper and the other was on a “pink” form.
This time we went to a different person who was really nice and accommodating. The photos were too big. I told her they were passport photos as requested. That’s o.k. she said I think I might be able to trim them. That got rid of Shelley’s double chin and a bit of a haircut. The Two Together train pass gets us 30% of train tickets.
We got on the direct train to St. Pancreas Station and only had about half an hour to wait for our train to Derby. I had to contact Joy to let her know we were on the train. I tried “Face Time” with the free wi-fi, that didn’t work. I tried calling her on Skype – that didn’t work. Time to get on the train. We still hadn’t managed to get in touch with Joy.
Shelley being a great tourist asked a lovely fella if we could use his phone. He was really nice and we tried everything to leave a message on Joy’s, and Nikki’s phone. I couldn’t seem to get through. Eventually I got free wi-fi again and I sent everyone an email. Joy responded immediately and I knew we would have someone to pick us up from the train station in Derby.
I was able to relax and enjoy the scenery with Shelley. She is such fun to travel with.
Joy and Chris (my brother-in-law) were on the platform. Lots of hugs all around and we were in the car ‘hurtling’ through Derbyshire to Wendy’s place for a quick visit before getting to Nikki’s and Joy’s house. Nikki and Joy currently share a house.
We were fading fast but managed to stay awake until 10:00 p.m