"...And it's goodnight from him".

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Trip Start Oct 06, 2006 Previous
Entry Trip End Dec 06, 2006

  Bideford, United Kingdom
Friday, December 8, 2006

Weds, 6th Dec
Today's the day. From the word go the atmosphere was very sombre. During the morning I did a final bit of laundry and tried to recover some of the many pairs of socks that seem to have disappeared into the ether.
After 1pm, Taylor appeared to say goodbye and soon afterwards his mum came around too. After they left I checked the status of my flight online and realised that I had been reading my eticket wrong for the last couple of days and that my flight is in fact at 5pm and not 10pm as I'd thought! It was now 3pm and I should be checking in! In fact the flight was delayed by a couple of hours but a call to Continental confirmed that I should still make my way to the airport in case things change. While I rushed around, Laura called John Egg who we were going to meet up with later and told him about my error. I spoke to him briefly and apologised for my boundless stupidity promising that I'll be back soon to make up for it.
Laura went to pick up Ryan from school and while she did that, I finished packing and remembered to pick up my passport just before going outside to wait for her arrival. Soon we were speeding towards the airport.
Baggage checked in, we went for a coke and wandered around looking like we were on our way to a funeral. After a couple of hours of this, I went for a final cigarette before going through security as Laura and Ryan made their way home. At this point I felt dreadful and knew I was going to miss them both terribly. Laura and I have been like two peas in a pod during the majority of my time here and separation is going to take a lot of getting used to.
As it was, we could have spent more time being miserable together as the flight ended up being 2½ hours late.
Once onboard, I was glad to see I was in the first row as I would have to run like mad to catch the connecting flight. I also had a fantastic view of the night-time Manhattan skyline as I landed at Newark. As the passengers disembarked, I dashed through the jetway and was met by the sight of one of those golf-trolley type vehicles complete with driver and Jenn standing resplendent in her red blazer with a broad grin on her face. She whisked me into the vehicle and we were off through the terminal speeding towards my gate. I felt like I was in a scene from an airport-based episode of 'The Dukes of Hazzard'. Yee-Harrr!!!
With about 10 minutes to spare I got some extra food to take onboard, we chatted about our respective lives/adventures and I realised that I couldn't find my boarding pass after the rush to get off the last plane! I needn't have worried; my hero ran off another copy and saw me onto the jetway. Big hugs and clumsy attempts to thank Jenn (I could NEVER thank her enough for all she's done for me....yeah, I know: "It's what I do"), and I was sitting on another seat with plenty of leg room.
As we took off, the plane banked around heading north and I was blessed with an even better view of Manhattan than last time. The lights on the ground gave me an instantly recognisable view of the Rockaway penensula, Jamaica Bay, etc. It was a sight to behold Manhattan crowned by the green light at the top of the Empire State Building.
As the lights gave way to the blackness of the Atlantic Ocean I felt like I really was on my way home and the last two months seemed to have gone by in three weeks. As I left the USA blinking behind me, I just felt sadness at heading east again. I have things to sort out in England before I get on with the rest of my life but I have a resolve to jump onboard a US-bound plane as soon as possible. The last few years have ground me down and I now feel like I am emotionally back on my feet again and can pretty much face anything, so thanks to the USA, thanks to those who have been following this - you have all helped to create this monster in your own way, thanks to Jenn for helping me to rediscover the beautiful madness of spontaneity, thanks to everyone I met during my trip and most of all thanks to Laura for her love and companionship. Don't fret babes, I'll soon be re-arranging your house and putting your laundry away in the wrong drawers again!

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