Planning is well under way; outbound and return flights booked, internal flights booked, Visa Waiver and ESTA Authorisation obtained, advanced passenger information supplied, senior railcards renewed, adaptor plugs purchased, the itinerary worked out and sites to visit en route identified, mileage between stops confirmed,accommodation and car hire booked. Birthday cards and gifts for family and friends with birthdays whilst away have been prepared, written and postage added, and a friend entrusted with posting at appropriate times. Son in law Steve, and friends coming to stay to keep the vehicles ticking over during our adventure and others staying or keeping an eye on the house and the plants.
However, the checklist is not complete [and seems to be getting bigger as we keep remembering and adding things]; waiting for the TSA approved locks to arrive for the suitcases, need to organise additional purchase of luggage for the internal flight [no hold luggage unless paid for] in advance because it is cheaper, and decide what we are going to wear for the diverse weather we will experience. We need to ensure that the suitcases we are taking can be accommodated in the boot [or is it'trunk'] of the lovely sports car we will be hiring for the intermediate leg of our journey from San Francisco to Los Angeles, amongst a range of other things.
We are delighted to have been able to take advantage of a worthy promotion on East Coast Trains to enable us to travel down to London first class for only £25 each. The email notification came through at 10.33 hrs and Diana immediately signed up so as not to miss the restricted number of tickets available. One of the best things we ever did was to sign up for East Coast Trains Rewards and their promotion emails; we have saved so much money.
We have also recently been able to take advantage of another promotion for our return tickets which we have purchased for £26 each. Vouchers for our hotels have arrived [paid for in advance] and we are continuing to scrutinise maps for good routes to take in the sites we wish to see,and work out what we really want to do when we get to Las Vegas, conflicting views here!
Just two weeks to go and the guest bedroom is covered with clothes and 'essential' accessories which change on a daily basis.
