October 28 dawned crisp and clear at a record low temperature of 26° F. Thankful for an extra hour of sleep from the Daylight Savings Time change, Joe and I got up early to play guitar and flute at both morning services in church. From our kitchen window I looked out back past red maple leaves to glimpse a frost-laden greenway—ah, a beautiful photo opportunity!—oh, I’m not finished getting ready and we need to leave in a few minutes... I’ll take a picture tomorrow; but since Charlotte’s normal low temperature is 46° F—we might not have frost!—grabbed the camera and darted outside to capture the special Sunday sunrise with a dozen quick snapshots. We were warming up with the choir when at 8:01 a.m. a sharp pitch punctuated the air. “Someone’s phone is ringing.” Guess what? Scheduling! I got London, ‘B’ position, departure at 1910. “I’m going to London today.” We continued with choir practice, 8:30 service, Sunday School, 11:00 service, reception for the confirmands, home, lunch, trip preparations, Roma’s retirement party at Mary Ann’s house, and then I was off to the airport.
Good crew, good trip. Great big crew, extra long trip. We landed 8:00 at London’s Gatwick Airport after an 8-hour night flight, 24 hours after switching to Eastern Standard Time. Our bodies told us it was 4:00 a.m. as we left the aircraft walking to our hotel rooms in the airport. I was up 24 hours; four hours later Stephen guided Cheryl, Meiko, and me to Horsham, one of England’s charming towns. We passed by the manor and park over picturesque streets to the mall. Stephen and Cheryl sought specific gifts, Meiko and I scouted for general deals. We girls left Stephen to continue shopping in Crawley. We all got what we wanted, including happy memories. Cheryl & I also rode over an hour & walked another hour to look 15 minutes at Westminster Abbey and Big Ben. At 5:27 a.m. in Charlotte our 9 hours 18 minutes flight time started 10:27 in London for our Airbus 330 crew with Don, Rick, Gina, both Janets and the other Rick, Linda, Carol, Brenda, Paula, Natalie, Ashley, Stephen, my classmate Meiko, Cheryl, and me. Cheryl asked, “Want to go back to London tomorrow?” And she did! [This was also the first working trip I photographed!]