Interesting Adventure to England

Monday morning we were up bright and early to head to Frankfurt Hahn to catch our Ryan Air flight to London for Deaner's business trip. When we got up at 6:00am it really was BRIGHT as the sun was actually shining in full force! Such a nice change from the rain! Don't worry, it didn't last long! By the time we drove the 55 minute drive to Frankfurt Hahn Airport, the sky was looking a little ominous. I crossed my fingers that we would at least get up in the air on our way to England before the weather got bad. When it came time to board the plane it was definitely raining but not too bad. Deaner and I were in the front of the line so we were two of the lucky few who made it out the door, sprinted through the driving rain, and made it onto the airplane. As we settled into our seats there was a giant clap of thunder and a flash of lightening and I realized that THIS was what it looked like outside! I took the above picture about 5 minutes after we got onto the plane. Shortly afterwards I noticed that no one else was getting on the plane! The weather had gotten so bad that they had to stop boarding! Remember, Ryan Air isn't nice enough to have a boarding tunnel to the plane! You actually have to walk out on the tarmac to get to your plane! We sat on the mostly empty plane for a solid hour before they even resumed boarding. Once everyone was boarded (were were lucky enough to have a row to ourselves!) the weather got really bad again. It was thundering and lightening like crazy and I only started to feel nervous when the pilot came over the loud speaker and said this.......

"Ladies and Gentleman, as you can all see, the weather outside is very bad right now. I would like to suggest that we continue to wait a bit before trying to take off".

WHAT? It was almost like a question! I was surprised when he didn't come back on and said something like "We will now be taking a poll to see who wants to take off now and who would prefer to wait"!!! It was a little disturbing but OBVIOUSLY we had to wait. For another hour! UGH. Once we were able to take off the flight was pretty bumpy all the way to London-Stanstead. I was not sorry to get off the plane. Customs didn't take nearly as long this time as it did last time and I was happy about that. Deaner and I made our way to Avis Car Rental and were pleasantly surprised that we were giving a 2010 brand spanking new VW Passat as our rental car! Geez! High style! We even managed to get to Lakenheath without Deaner killing us! I was a little apprehensive to say the least about his left hand side of the road driving skills! I only had to tell him a few times that he was about to ram the side of the road with his tires on the passenger side. I'd say that it was very successful.

Last time we were in Lakenheath our room left a lot to be desired. I was feeling very lucky that our room in Wiesbaden was so much nicer. Now, I am ticked about our room in Wiesbaden. Apparently last time we were in the oldest most decrepit building left at the "Liberty Lodge Lakenheath" and this time we are living in luxury! We have a "family suite" and it is great. Again, I'm quite aware that this is no Ritz Carlton but for military lodging it is great. We are in a 3 room suite with a full kitchen, living room, bedroom, and bathroom complete with double sinks! I took some pictures of course!SO, luckily Deaner didn't have to work yesterday. We got checked into the hotel, went to the gym (also got stuck in a bad HAIL storm), and then headed to our favorite restaurant here, The Plough Inn. I remembered my camera this time and actually took a picture.The food here is SO good. I had a steak and the best mushrooms I have ever eaten. On the way home from dinner we stopped at the Shopette to get some drinks for the room. I saw this car and could not stop laughing. Deaner said that if I am not on my best behavior that this is the car he might buy for me while we are in Germany! You aren't seeing things incorrectly! It only has THREE WHEELS!! Who has ever heard of such a thing!?!Anyways, now Deaner just walked through the door and we are going to run and get lunch. Then we will decide what to do with the rest of our day! I think that a trip to Cambridge might be in order! I'll keep everyone posted. Don't forget to read my TWO other posts from today. It feels good to be caught up!!