The Scotland Experience....Part 9...The END!

It was with a sad heart I finished packing our suitcases for the journey home. I had SO enjoyed being with Amber and Mike….seeing how life in Aberdeen looked for myself…..being a PART of that life for nearly 3 weeks! Amber and I held hands as I told her how much this time had meant to me. I even tear up now….even though I have been home for days now! While I am thrilled they are able to enjoy this year in Scotland and travel excursions throughout Europe during this time…as a MOM I sure do miss her! But back to the USA we go! Jesse had listed us on a 6:30 am flight on Wednesday and this time my bags really were packed and the taxi was waiting! We left the flat at 4:45 so that’s a little early to get too emotional and that was a good thing! I checked us in at the kiosk and lo, and behold!! We were issued boarding passes then and there! Then we had to stand in a 45 minute line to ‘drop our bags!’ I have a knee replacement so when we go through security I require special attention. This time Louis Dean did, too!! Apparently his two heart stints set off the alarm so we BOTH were taking things off…..shoes, belts, sweaters…..and they looked through ALL our ‘stuff’ before we were cleared to gather our things and move on. Well, we were a bit discombobulated! In all the commotion we left a carry on bag behind, never even missing it till we deplaned in London! In the meantime, British Airways had already contacted my son, Jesse, as well as Amber. The call said I had left a ‘handbag’ and they were hoping and praying it was NOT my purse!! They knew it wasn’t when our names appeared on the stand by list at Heathrow!

Security was at 100% when we checked in for our flight! They only opened the gates 2 hours prior to departure time and we then went through yet ANOTHER security at the gate. Heathrow was SO big…we were really grateful we had stayed at Terminal 5 upon our arrival when we spent the night in the airport. Terminal 5 is more like a Love Field to us and therefore not as scary and BUSY! The waiting area was PACKED tight and no screens to show the stand by passengers and status. It’s a wonder we even HEARD the name ‘Chapman’ being called out! I was handed 2 boarding passes…2J and 3J….and I was thrilled! We were going HOME! These were FIRST class boarding passes but it did NOT register on us at all until the rows for first class and business were called! What a ride!

Louis Dean was especially grateful to be on First as he is a big man.

The food was excellent and we had so much fun!

 I set Louis Dean up to watch ‘Gone With the Wind’….the FIRST time he has seen it! He was a little boy selling newspapers when it came out but he has always been so ADD he could not sit still long enough to follow it. This time he had no choice! He was a captive audience and it served him well to pass 4 hours…HALF of his flight…..enjoying this movie classic!


We were so happy to arrive back home in the USA!! What an experience! It was a wonderful time and we enjoyed every minute of being with Amber and Mike! I don’t think I will be able to get Louis Dean out of the country again for awhile and certainly not for as long a time period. However, we are planning on a tour of New England in the fall and he said, “Perhaps we should take our passports JUST in case we want to go over into Canada!”