Homeward bound

---

We had to take our hire car back this morning. We drove it back to thecentre and phoned Erin who agreed to pick us up. We went to wait in Starbucks until she arrived. Starbucks was deceptively far away from where we left the car. I finally got my wish of actually walking somewhere in California, and suddenly realised why no-one in California walks anywhere. The pavement was baking hot and reflected the heat up at us even though it was still quite early in the day. The long straight road was actually a lot longer than it looked and it took us a while to reach Starbucks, not to mention the ridiculously wide roads we had to cross - fortunately they all had pelican crossings. It was nice to see Erin again and we chatted in Starbucks before driving back to the cottage. Erin left a short while later and Keely's friend Bonny came to give us a lift to the airport which was very kind of her.
I said all my 'good bye's and 'thank you's and then headed for the departure lounge. I bought a sandwich (not a cheese one obviously!) and some goldfish and then sat and read in the departure lounge. The flight home was ok although obviously Keely's night owl habits have worn off on me as when they switched the lights off I couldn't sleep. By the time I was ready to doze off the lights were back on and food was being brought round, not to mention I had a very friendly Italian man sitting next to me who'd been travelling with his daughter and was obviously extending his fatherly concern by making sure I ate properly and had someone to meet me in London. I finally made it home stumbled upstairs and was confronted with a door off it's hinges leaning in my doorway. Fortunately my door was still on its hinges so after removing the extra one I was able to dump my suitcase and go inside. Apparently our entire heating system is being replaced and all the doors have been off their hinges and all the radiators refitted.... just the calm relaxing atmosphere I was hoping to return to!!!

---