Don't Stop - the Pocono mountains section COMPLETED About This Page:

[OhToodles!]

Well I only had 10 pages to catch up on, but I did it - and before the TR was finished! Yea me!

The snow was beautiful int he morning and that was quite the party. Once I got out of college I've been pretty much over New Year's Eve and I barely make it to nidnight. Maybe once the kids are older I'll get back into it again.
Can't wait to hear about the next morning!

[chezp]

Thanks for the reminder on this one - it had passed me by.... right back to work on it!

[chezp]

Friday 1 January – part one: people are up this early?

So when everyone goes to bed at 3.45, you wouldn’t expect them to be up that early the next day, would you? Wrong.... I started to hear noises at around 8.30 and Mark woke up not much after that. There were definitely a few voices, talking outside, so obviously there were a fair few people up, so we joined them and I think it’s fair to say that we were the most awake and alive people.

Comments around the breakfast table ranged from “keep it down” to “my head hurts”. Despite those comments, people did seem capable of at least getting coffee and food down them. I had some very nice crumb cake, although I had to pass on the lasagne, as it had meat in it.

Eventually people started to head out, especially as we had acquired a few extra people staying last night than had originally been planned. Finally, Dave and Laura headed off and it was just the four of us and Mike and Jess.


Even Cody felt tired today!

I checked us in for our flight in the morning, a unbelievably we would be flying home then. Sue kept saying to us that she couldn’t believe how quickly the week had gone by and she was right about that. Soon our adventure would be over.

Sue headed out to see her dad and we finished the last of the packing. Rather worryingly, it all fitted very easily and we didn’t seem to have any issues with weight either. Very unlike us...

Once we had finished doing that, Mark went to have a shower and everyone else went to have a nap. I was in our room, just looking outside at the beautiful snow outside and what did I see, but a couple waking in the woods, right outside the house. At first, I thought it was Mike and Jess, but no, they were still in the house, so we figured it must’ve been a couple staying at the Pocono Palace next door, as Steve had told us that sometimes they wander this way, figuring that Sue and Steve’s place is part of that.

Mark and I settled down to watch some really bad TV, including One Big Happy Family, which we oddly enjoyed, while everyone else slept.

Eventually Sue got back, having sorted everything out with her dad and we started to get our stuff together. We brought out our cases and the dogs lay on the floor, looking more miserable than we’ve seen them the whole time we’ve been here. It’s just like they knew that we were going. I said a very sad farewell to Belle, who really had stolen my heart. I loved her. As Steve said, she was just like Eeyore or a very docile cow.



Mike and Jess came up to say goodbye, with promises that they would find us on Facebook, which they duly did. It had been great to meet both of them.

We took our stuff out to the car and sadly loaded up. I had said earlier that I felt like I needed a little something to eat, as breakfast seemed like a while ago. Sue gave me the option of McDonald’s or Wendy’s and I opted for the latter. The poor guy taking the order had to wait ages for us to decide what we wanted, because we couldn’t read the sign they had out. When we got to the window to pay, Sue asked the guy if they could get that in bigger print. He told us that it had been, but it had been stolen a few years ago. No way!



We were soon back on the road and heading for Newark Airport. Although we would be saying goodbye to each other very soon, that didn’t stop the conversation. We talked pretty much the whole way there and I took lots of photos of the beautiful scenery as we want along. I was surprised by how much closer New York was to Sue and Steve’s than Philadelphia is. Now I can see why so many people move up to their area and then commute to New York every day.



Next: the saddest goodbye...

[KMB733]

Can't believe its almost over with!

[Minnie Lor]

I had to look Newark, Philly, and Sue's home up on a map. That is close! It just amazes me how close everything is located. Easy day trips. How wonderful it would be to have options when flying somewhere.

[Colexis Mom]

Great update! Sorry it's all coming to an end!

[clio]

I can't believe your trip is almost over.
Liz

[chezp]

Friday 1 January – part two: the saddest goodbye...

Soon, we were arriving at our hotel, although that was not without incident. Carmen took us a very odd back way, but got us there fine, except all we could see was the Sheraton and the Ramada Plaza. The road ended there, so we pulled into the Ramada Plaza and asked if this was the right place for the Holiday Inn and the woman on the gate told us yes. I guess they must be in the middle of undergoing a change of name to the Ramada Plaza then.

It was a very nice place, although I have to be honest, I have never come across such unfriendly staff at front desk before. The first words he said to me were “are you using that luggage cart?” and when I told him yes, he told me to ensure that we brought it straight back and not to leave it in our room. I guess the Crowne Plaza at the King of Prussia Mall must have told him about us then...

It was at this point that we had the sad task of saying goodbye to Sue and Steve. I really didn’t want to and if it wasn’t for the fact that Steve he still had a muzzy head (from last night, no doubt! ) I would have asked them to stay and have dinner with us. We had had such a good time with them and it was now so good to be able to say “see you next year”, as of course, it was 2010 and we would be cruising Alaska with them next August. That will be here before you know it!

Goodbyes said, we headed up to our room, which was fine, not as nice as the lobby, but for what I had paid for it, you can’t expect anything else.


The view from our room

We then took the luggage cart back down to the lobby, as instructed, before the luggage cart police came to get us. We were going to ask how the airport shuttle bus system works, but front desk was mad busy, so we headed back to the room.

It was about this time that Mark finally managed to figure out our wi-fi. Typical we get access to it just as we’re leaving, but at least it’s now done and set up.


Still working it out!

I suggested going to the airport, so we could work out where we were going in the morning and we headed downstairs. From what we could gather, the bus runs on the hour and half hour and sure enough, one arrived a couple of minutes after we got down there. We were the only ones on the bus and were quickly at P4, the link for ground transportation for the terminals. From there, it was upstairs to catch the monorail to terminal B. The train was interesting, it wasn’t one long carriage, as we’ve grown used to over the years with these things, but individual ones, with four seats in each and space for the luggage. It was quite cosy in there.



We got to terminal B and quickly found the Virgin Atlantic check-in desk and confirmed what time the Clubhouse would be open in the morning. We had a quick browse of the shops there and then headed back to the hotel.



When we walked back in, we looked at the restaurant menu and decided to eat at one of them. We went through to what we thought was the entrance, but just got directed back into the bar area. It turned out that both the bar menu and the restaurant menu were available there tonight, so we opted for the restaurant menu. I think, when we seated ourselves, we did mess up their system a bit, but then again, there was no-one available to seat us when we walked in, so what else could we do?


Studying the menu


We ordered a bottle of White Zinfandel between us and I got the stuffed mushrooms for appetiser, which were divine, while Mark went for the bruschetta. I will admit that there was more there than I had expected.



Then we got the salad as well, which we thought would be a side salad, not a salad on its own. It was very creamy, so Mark didn’t eat much of it and I couldn’t finish mine, there was far too much of it for me.



Finally, we got our entrees. Mine was the lobster ravioli, while Mark went for the grilled herb chicken. Mine was superb, but neither of us could finish what we had ordered, after being stuffed so well from everything else that had been served up already.



It turned out to be a great meal, with some very good service from our server Jose. My only complaint was that there was just too much going on in there, with music on, as well as the TV screens showing football. It was all competing with each other. Hardly conducive to a nice quiet meal and the food was much superior to the atmosphere.

Ramada Plaza restaurant:

Appetiser 9 8½
Entree 9 8½
Service 9½ 10
Atmosphere 7 9
Value for money 8 8½

Average score: 8.70

As we had an early start in the morning, it was back to the room and off to bed.

The weather today was dry with temperatures in the mid 20s.
The best thing today was dinner.
The worst thing today was saying goodbye to Sue and Steve.
The funniest thing today was the state of people first thing in the morning.
Today we tried driving to Newark Airport
And the result was it’s much closer to Sue and Steve’s than I thought it would be.

Next: what do you mean, shots fired?!

[Colexis Mom]

Looks like a nice hotel, and a great meal!

[Wendyismyname]

Fantastic updates!!! I hate goodbyes. Even c-ya laters tear me up and these were no exceptions............especially Belle's!

[KMB733]

I stayed at that same hotel coming home from England a few years ago. Glad to see the staff was as friendly as ever Goodbyes are always so sad, but at least you had a wonderful time.

[honeybee723]

Originally Posted by chezp

This has to be the cutest picture ever! What sad little faces. I guess the cats stayed hidden and didn't come out to see you off?

BTW, I didn't know you were on facebook. I may have to friend you so I can keep up with all of your photos.

[OhToodles!]

Glad you came back to finish the up! What a sad day!! The next installment doesn't sound so good. :

[chezp]

Originally Posted by honeybee723

This has to be the cutest picture ever! What sad little faces. I guess the cats stayed hidden and didn't come out to see you off?

BTW, I didn't know you were on facebook. I may have to friend you so I can keep up with all of your photos.

Please do!

[chezp]

Saturday 2 January – part one: what do you mean, shots fired?!

I think we were both awake well before the three wake-up calls that we had planned, using the alarm in our room and both our cell phones. Like I say, I think we have to resign ourselves to the fact that whenever we have an early morning flight, we are just not going to sleep well the night before.

We did really well. We were up and showered and ready in just 20 minutes and then it was down to the lobby, where there were already a heap of people waiting for the bus.

As we waited in the lobby, we noticed that there were four police officers there too. We heard some of their conversation and pieced more together with other people in the bus later. There had apparently been a call from a guy, who was suspected to be a little far gone, shall we say, to say that shots had been fired, but it was thought that this had happened over at the Sheraton, rather than our hotel. Let’s just say we were very glad when our bus pulled up and took us out of there.

Fortunately, most of the people waiting for the bus didn’t have much luggage with them, so we had no problem getting our cases on board, although we did have an issue with one girl, who was saving spaces for her friends. Fortunately, she gave up and let me sit down, although her friend did make a comment about it. If she had said anything else, I would’ve had no problem in telling her where to go, as I had more need than her.

Ironically, it turned out that they were on our flight, although not in Upper Class with us and we were ahead of them at every turn, as we knew exactly where to go, after having done this run last night, which came in really handy. For example, we didn’t have to look at where to check in, as we already knew that. We lined up and were quickly seen and given our boarding documents. All our cases were well under weight, even the weight for Premium Economy or Economy, so we did really well there.

We headed for the Clubhouse lounge and settled down in there. Breakfast wasn’t served until 6.00, so we just grabbed some drinks to keep us going until then. The spread included eggs, sausages, waffles, fruit, cereal and yoghurt and we were both very happy with the selection on offer.


Mark enjoying the lounge!

While we waited, I caught up on the boards on the complimentary computer there, so that I could save the laptop battery for the flight. Wendy called to say goodbye to us and wish us a safe flight, which was really nice. The best bit was again being able to say “see you next year”. April 2011 suddenly didn’t seem so far off...

We had a couple of hours in there and then we were called for boarding. We were straight through security with no problem and arrived and walked straight on to the plane with people still milling around, waiting to board. I love Upper Class, it’s so well put together with so many privileges, but then again, you do pay through the nose for it, so I guess it’s the least you can expect.

We settled down into our seats. This was a much bigger aircraft than we had flown out on, as you can see from these photos...



This time we were side by side, which worked out fine, with a girl behind us, who had been upgraded from Premium Economy, with her boyfriend and his parents, although they were all sitting elsewhere in Upper Class.

We had our glasses of Bucks Fizz and chatted to the steward about why there aren’t more day flights from the States back to the UK, as this works so much better for us in terms of jetlag. Basically, it’s down to the face that it’s cheaper to have a plane in the air than pay the fees to keep it at an airport overnight, which I guess makes sense.

We sat there for a while I heard people saying that everyone was on board and accounted for, so I thought it was a bit odd, when 15 minutes later, we were told that they were still checking that. I smelt a rat and I was right. About 20 minutes later, the captain, our first ever female captain on a flight we’ve been on, came on to say that there was a problem with a system on the plane and that engineering were sorting it out, but it could take up to an hour. At that point, I was very glad that we were in Upper Class and not in Premium Economy or Economy.

While we were sat there waiting, we overheard that the family who had been upgraded from Premium Economy to Upper Class that they would have to go back there, as the family that was originally due to fly in Upper Class had now turned up and, because of the delay, they could now take their seats. We both thought that was a bit off, as they weren’t there at the time we were due to fly and therefore shouldn’t be allowed to board. We felt so sorry for the family who’d been upgraded and now had to go back to Premium Economy, as they’d been loving the experience and taking lots and lots of photographs. I felt so sorry for them.

We sat there for a good couple of hours, with no power, which meant that the toilets weren’t flushing, so of course, no-one was using them, unless they were truly desperate. As soon as the power came back on, I was in there like a shot!

The other problem was that the front door was open while the work was carried out. I was very glad not to be at the front of the Upper Class cabin, as people up there were freezing, with some asking to move further back. Eventually, the cold came out way and I was glad of the extra sweater that I had with me and the Upper Class blanket that I was able to wrap myself in.

Fortunately, not long after I started to get really cold, we got word that the problem had been fixed. I heard a crew member use the magic words that “hot chocolate” and I went to investigate and managed to snag the last two on the plane, which to warm us up, just as the fasten seatbelt sign came on. I have to say that I have nothing but admiration for the cabin crew, dealing with Upper Class. Due to the doors being open for so long, nearly everyone had their blankets out and covered themselves and all of those had to be put away in the overhead lockers before we took off. They had a battle to get them in there and, in fact, Mark ended up with a bit of the blanket dangling down from above him. As he said, just as well there wasn’t a cat around anywhere.

Finally, only a mere three hours late, we were taking off. It hadn’t actually felt like that long and I don’t doubt part of that feeling was down to us flying in Upper Class.

Next: just keep filling those drinks up!