UK arrival

We left Gualala on Monday, March 31, and spent the night at our daughter Cathleen's house in San Jose. She drove us to SFO the next afternoon. Security was amazingly fast and the crowd was sparse. Maybe because our plane was the red-eye, leaving at 4:50 PM. Because we'll be gone for four months, we had maximum luggage. British Air allows 70 lbs per bag maximum and I was a few kilos over (it's amazing what books and electronics weigh!). That caused some quick shifting items between bags to get the balance right. The flight itself was uneventful, but long. We landed at Heathrow in the late morning. Immigration was a bit of a hassle when we told them how long we'd be in the UK. The agent thought that was awfully long and quizzed us extensively. We then breezed right through customs; nobody even looked at us. We were apprehensive about getting our luggage as we came in through the new Terminal 5, which has been open only a week, and has been having horrendous problems. Fortunately, our luck held.

We were met by our driver, Bill Pound, who helped us with our bags and then drove us to our cottage. We stopped in Henley-on-Thames at an ATM to get cash. The half hour ride only cost a paltry 49 pounds!

The house is named Cherry Cottage and we're renting it from our friends Bob & Mary. It is located in Catslip, which is outside the hamlet of Nettlebed, which is a few miles northwest of Henley-on-Thames (of the regatta fame). Henley is about an hours drive west of London.

It is a 500 year old cottage for which an addition was built a few years ago. The old part of the house has very low ceilings (I've banged my head several times and my 6'5" son would really have a problem). The kitchen is small but quite serviceable. The addition has higher ceilings. The setting is very rural. We are on an unpaved lane in a small neighborhood with a few neighbors. The back yard abuts a large field and grazing land with a view of rolling hills (and the cluster of houses called Crocker End).

We are still suffering jet lag, so we're taking it slow and easy. We've driven into Henley several times for some sight seeing and shopping. We also drove to the small town of Watlington for shopping. Driving on the left, with right hand drive, and a manual shift on the left hand, is quite an adventure. I've only had two close calls and I'm getting into the hang of it.

There are a lot of good walking paths available and we plan on exploring all of them. We walk into Nettlebed every morning, about a ten minute walk, for a newspaper (very little US news). Nettlebed also has a pub, the White Hart, where we had lunch once; it's quite good.

Everything is EXPENSIVE! The exchange rate of the pound against the dollar is horrible.