Saturday 31st October - Time for home.
An early morning for all as we had to get out of the villa and to DTD for check in.
All of our bags - 14 of them in total - were below the weight so we were pleased about that. In fact some of ours were only 12kg or so.
We got the seats we wanted, in the mini cabin just behind PE, and were told to be at the airport for about 8pm as boarding would begin at 9.05pm and security could be busy.
After grabbing some breakfast we went off to DTD to do a last bit of shopping, while SIS, BIL, DS, Jack and Grandma went to DQ. We all met up again after a couple of hours with a plan to go to I-Drive and get some go-karting and other fun stuff done.
As we were all getting a bit hungry now we headed off to Friendlys as we had had good meals there previously and today didn't disappoint. They do a deal where you can choose a meal, a drink and an ice-cream all for under $10 which is exceptional value for what you get. I can't remember everything we had but here are a couple of pics anyway.
Deluxe Cheeseburger 'Set Up'
Create Your Own Chicken Basket
Grilled Cheese
Time was now ticking on and we had to have the cars back by 6pm so we decided to head off to the airport. The cars were handed over with no dramas and we were soon inside the airport and getting changed and freshened up. It was at this point that we noticed the information board and that our flight was showing scheduled, on time, at 8.40pm - much earlier than the 9.55pm time we had been given.
DW checked with the information desk and they confirmed an 8.40pm departure time so we picked up the pace to get through security and to the gate.
Once at the gate the boards there said the same and that boarding would begin at 7.50pm.
This time came and went with no sign of any of the Virgin staff. It was mildy amusing watching all the people rushing up to the desk with a sweat on as they thought they had missed their flight only to discover that it hadn't even started boarding yet. When Virgin staff finally arrived they made an announcement that the airport screens were wrong and that had no control over them, and that the time we had been given at DTD was the correct one.
And so at 8.45pm we started boarding and by 9.55pm were in the air and on the way home.
We all tried to sleep - with varying degrees of success - and ended up landing early at 8.55am as opposed to 9.40am.
This suited us perfectly as the first train out of Manchester for us was at 10.45am. We were through immigration and in the baggage hall by 9.15am giving us an hour and a half before our train. Loads of time you would think - but then we hadn't banked on the usual British way of doing things.
Time ticked on and our carousel stood empty - while other flights after ours were coming down the steps from immigration, straight to their bags and away.
Announcements were made giving some excuse about our flight arriving early so they weren't ready for us but this began to wear thin after an hour. Eventually some bags did start to appear, but they were 20 or so at a time and then nothing for 5 or 10 minutes. It really did feel like someone was taking the mick and patience was running out - not just with me of course but everyone else waiting.
Finally when all our bags had arrived our train had long gone - so we were now resigned to waiting until 12.55 for the next one, some 2 hours after we had expected to leave. Not ideal considering the tired nature of everyone and I personally blame Manchester airport. Nothing - in my mind - can justify making people wait nearly 2 hours for bags from a plane that had been sat on the tarmac for that long. Rant over - for now.
The train journey home was uneventful - though was a bit rushed at the begining as we struggled to get 14 bags on the train while some jobsworth on the platform was telling us to 'hurry, you must speed up as the train is already late and you are delaying it further, come on, hurry hurry, quick get on before the doors shut and it goes without you' only for it to sit on the platform for at least another 2 minutes after the doors shut while we sat and watched this little ***** gather up the pound coins from our 6 trolleys and walk away whistling a happy little tune. Bless his cotton socks.
Anyway we eventually got home to all the usual unpacking and jetlag - the details of which I will not bore you with.
We have had a fantastic holiday - with many more memories built for us all to treasure.
Sis, BIL and Jack seemed to enjoy their first trip and I wouldn't be surprised if we saw them making plans to go back as soon as they can.
Grandma also enjoyed herself - even more so because she had hired a mobility
scooter so the usual aches and pains were kept at bay and she could keep up with the pace of things even more.
Photopass has nearly 500 pics for us to go through and I will share some of those once we get them delivered - but for now I would like to thank those of you who stook with me to the end, and a special thank you for those who took the time to post comments and replies.
It makes it worth while when you know that people appreciate the time it takes to put one of these together - as many of you have done in the past.