Tuesday, October 30, 2007

Day Thirteen, 10-30-07

Woke to a sunny but rainy day at the same time! Big rain Bow in the back yard over the town. I didn't have enough time to photograph it.
This is my last morning here in Totnes. I'm looking forward to have the traveling part of my trip behind me. I have had a wonderful vacation but don't look forward to dealing with the airport and such. I just now finished with packing the bike. It all fit together nicely. Heavy, but tight. Im going tie up loose ends here and then head out for a walk and take the stereo camera to do a roll. I want to be to the station around 12.55 so as to not have to rush things. I'm not sure what track the train goes out on ,etc.

The stay on the farm has been great. It worked out very well to be in one spot and ride from here. I liked having a home to come to at the end of the day instead of not knowing where Im going and having to carry all my stuff. Learning a new country, I felt is best done slowly. Having the time to learn the town has made the trip fun and restful and exactly the vacation I needed. Things have gone very smoothly today. I made it down town and finished my color film. Made it to the cafe for emails and back to the top of the hill to finish packing and be on time for the cab. I had A nice final chat with Janet. She wants me to write here when I get to Dover, Will do Janet!

Janet Hooper

The high speed train

Boxed bike and bag

The cab came on time. I got to the train station nice and early and had enough time to rest and get ready for the next step.

Im on the train now. I have a seat with a table at it. Nice. I have chosen the side so Im facing forward. The food on the train is expensive. I was expecting a cheeseburger, but found that they only had breakfast sandwich's The train is due to Reading at 3:55. That's perfect. Enough time to get a cab and get to the room. I will go out tonight and check out the town for a bit and be ready for the trip to Heathrow in the morning.

This part of the trip is not my favorite, but necessary. Passing through the tunnels on the train makes your ears pop. The pressure of the train going at speed through a small space causes the air pressure to rise and as so the cabin. Its intense at times. Its such a beautiful day today, very sunny. I'm still looking forward to being home. It will be nice to get back to it. The train travels an just over 100 mph. I turned on my GPS and the adv. Speed is 99.8. Its no wonder your ears pop in the tunnels. I should not complain. Things have ben great and this has been a fantastic vacation, but I have always felt that nothing is perfect and that when things get tough, the story's get good.
I got the cab from the station and made it to the Oakhurst hotel in Reading. Total dump. I thought, how lucky I am that my first stay at the Great Court Farm was so nice. It could have been like this for two weeks at the price I'm paying. 44 pounds The room smells like smoke, and I'm thinking of sleeping in my rain suit! Bad Joke, but, you know. I checked in and headed out for a walk to get things for the room. After about an hour and a half I found a bunch of stores owned and run by Indian and Pakistani's This a collage town and loaded with cute girls. I got back to the room and had a little snack and watched the Simpson's. Not bad. I'm sure I will be fine. Breakfast is at 7:00. The desk said they will call a cab. I'm about 3 miles from the bus station and more than enough time to make my flight at 1;00. Not a bad day, I got done what was needed to do. It doesn't really get better then that.

No comments:

Post a Comment