We've arrived!

We set off from Worksop at 5.15am and had a steady procession over the Woodhead Pass and on into Manchester.

It was staggering to see the various traffic jams on the Manchester motorways as we headed for the security park and all this before 6am!

The airport was fairly quiet and the departures board surprisingly thin, so we grabbed a bacon sandwich and a coffee and then took up residence by the departure gate.

We were able to check in straightaway and we did finally get through security after Graeme was thoroughly frisked with hands and sensors - and that was after going through the cubicle where you have to stand feet apart and with your hands above your head - while Elizabeth had her cabin bag totally taken apart!

We had reserved seats in row 27 but were bumped to row 45 - to even out the weight on the flight as the aircraft was barely half full!  Trouble is we wanted to be as far to the front as possible to avoid engine noise and we ended up with engine noise!

We moved off the stand on time, but then spent 40 minutes taxiing and waiting at the end of the runway before we were able to get away.

Taking off was interesting with Storm Caroline having its final say and slewing us across the runway as soon as we were airborne! The flight did seem long and there was a lot of turbulence at times, but the cabin crew served an almost continuous round of food and drink and, with the on-board entertainment plus what we were able to watch from our tablets made the time pass.  The length of flight wasn't helped though by the fact that we seemd to be flying at 475mph rather than the usual 550mph, even when the jet stream can't have been affecting us.

In-flight offering on our outward journey

So we landed 30 minutes late and headed for immigration.  Yes, there was a long queue, but now they have automated machines to let you in so we jumped through that new US immigration hoop and moved on - only to join another very long queue to then go through the normal old-style immigration process!  The only difference when we saw the immigration officer was that only Graeme had his photo and fingerprints taken for the second time, but all passports were stamped and, after 90 minutes since we had left the plane, we had finally arrived in the US!

 We caught the airport rail shuttle to collect our bags and headed off through the terminal building to pick up our rental car.  We upgraded to a Hyundai Santa Fe - home from home car-wise! - and headed off along the Bee Line to the US192 - the good old Irlo Bronson Memorial Highway - who was he, I really must find out this time - and also John Young, who also has a main highway named after him.

The driving as as easy as ever and we found the house without too much trouble. Local houses are decked out with Christmas lights and our house is in a very quiet area.