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May 24, 2015 - 10:35 p.m.
"the long trip home"

5/24/15 10:35pm EDT

Hey Journal!

Wow! What a long day it's been! I can't believe we're even still awake and it's not that late...HERE!

We woke up around 8:00am in London and started to get ready for the trip home. I took a shower and we finished packing up. We made sure we had everything we brought with us and we left the keys on the table inside and we carried our bags down the many flights of stairs and walked to the South Kensington Underground station.

We had to go to Heathrow Terminal 3 and we got on a train that went to Terminals 4 & 123. A couple of stops before Heathrow, they announced that the train would stop at Terminal 4 for 8 minutes so, if we wanted to save time, we could get off and board the next train that was headed for 123 & 5. We got off at Hatton Cross, waited about 4 minutes, and then the got back on the next one.

At the airport, the first thing we had to do was get on a line to get a refund of some taxes we had paid on clothes that we bought at the Westfield in London. They said we could get back almost $40 so it was kinda worth it. The line was long and moving really slowly but we waited.

While we were in line, there was a woman walking around helping everyone fill out their forms properly. All of a sudden this Australian woman starts screaming at her, "YOU ASKED ME FOR MY PASSPORT AND NOW IT'S GONE!" The woman was like, "I don't know where your passport is." and casually went back to helping other people. Then the irate woman starts screaming even louder..."YOU ASKED ME FOR MY PASSPORT AND NOW I DON'T HAVE IT!" And she repeated herself about 5 times. Everyone in the place was silent and the lady she was yelling at just completely ignored her. At one point she did suggest that it was in the woman's bag, but the woman swore that it was not. Now, not getting any reaction, she started rummaging through her bag again. SHE FINDS THE PASSPORT! "Oh.... Here it is. Sorry." And she scurries off! It was insane! Everyone in the line was laughing at what a crazy scene she had made and she had it the whole time!

Anyway, we got our stuff checked but didn't want to get the refund in Euros or USD because the Travelex place takes a percentage and it's a ripoff! Instead, we were told we could go inside to get GBP, but after getting upstairs, it turned out they took a fee, too. We had to go to customs to get our receipt stamped and then we were actually able to mail our receipt with a prepaid envelope to the company that actually handles these refunds and we are going to get it back on our credit card with no fee! Perfect! Much better then waiting in that long line and getting less!

Security at Heathrow is amazing. It's such a smooth and efficient process. The people are nice, they explain calmly and clearly what you have to do, and everything works so well.

Our flight was good.... Originally they had us sitting really far away from eachother on the plane but the woman at the check-in was able to move us closer. Then, we switched with a guy who was all by himself and sat next to eachother.

The flight was good and uneventful but I wasn't feeling well. I played some games on the TV screen and Dan watched movie. I slept a little and I also listened the the One Direction album, Four, FOUR TIMES! (Plus one more time on the way there...)

I haven't really ever listened to a full album like that before. I really liked it, though. So, when it was done, I did it all again!

When we got to New York, they have this new automated customs thing where you scan your passport and it takes a picture of your face but I don't really understand why because you STILL have to go do all the same stuff you always have. It really didn't speed up the process at all.

Meanwhile, there was a man FLIPPING OUT because he couldn't use the machines. He was screaming that he wasn't going to stand there forever and the machines were broken! First off, the machines have a green light on them when they are available to be used. As soon as you approach them and select your language, the green light goes off and you are prompted to scan your passport.

He was so impatient and didn't read anything. He just kept trying to stick his passport into the wrong slot and NEVER activated the machine by selecting a language!

Eventually, a woman who had already finished explained what he needed to do. While he was over listening to her, another old man walked up to the machine that he had been using and did his thing in about 30 seconds. It was amazing because the guy was in awe! He really thought the machine was the problem!

Anyway, once we had been readmitted to the country and collected our belongings, we went outside to the pickup area! We had landed at about 3:00 and we were outside at 3:45. Linda came to pick us up around 5:00! She pulled up and we loaded the car and then hit the road!

It was so nice to be home! And it was very nice seeing Linda, Connor, and Cameron. We hadn't seen them since our DC trip! We went to Panera for lunch and then went back to Linda's where my mom met up with us and picked us up.

Then, we were home at last! It was amazing to be back after such a long journey! We got our dirty clothes out and made a big pile. I sorted it out and then did a couple of loads of laundry! There's still another load ready for tomorrow.

We showered up and then watched a couple of shows. Shark Tank and Game of Thrones!

Unbelievably, we are still awake. I can't keep my eyes open, though! It's officially time for bed!

Until tomorrow...

Goodnight. :)