| Friday, July 11: Houston overnight flight |
| [Introductory Note: I have filled in basic data entries pre-trip so there will be a rough guide for quick real-time entry of daily travelogues.
I wonder how I'll do?! I've always taken daily notes and jotted down
expenses, but I'm infamous for starting and never finishing our trip
reports once we get back. I hope this will be a good fix.] Pre-trip data: We're set to take off from IAH at 4:05p on British Airways #2024 non-stop to London's Gatwick. Our good friend Duno has volunteered to drive us to the airport. (Once again, Duno and Monica have graciously agreed to serve as our reliable caretakers of all things while we're gone--they'll check on the house periodically, take care of our pet mice, Nutmeg and Magnolia, etc. Thanks, y'all!) I'm thinking of slipping Craig a tranquilizer (if only I had one!). To say he's not looking forward to 9 hours of "Bend, Fold & Mutilate" is an understatement. Normally, we would have booked our flight on our own and to our own specs--meaning we'd be flying Continental because Craig's FF privileges with CO would almost certainly have guaranteed him a biz class upgrade (damn the wife and kids!). As it is, we could never find reasonably-priced air for this trip. Post-9/11 and the War on Iraq (I know it is politically correct to say "the War in Iraq," but I'm writing non-fiction here...hey, it's my travelogue!), all carriers have pulled back on their equipment headed for Europe, causing short supply for better-than-expected demand; consequently, prices have held strong for trips across the pond this summer, and, of course, we are traveling in high season and have an unusual air itinerary, Houston-Europe going over, then Boston-Houston coming home. So...Royal Caribbean's air was such a good deal, we couldn't pass it up, even if we were assigned to British Airways. Craig reminds me how BA messed something up last time--and I remind him how he turned that into a biz-class upgrade for all of us (return flight--not when we needed it most, but pretty wonderful nonetheless). Oh well. We'll see how it goes. |
| Here's
what happened in real life:
|
| Daily Expenses: [Note: We like to see how much we spend. It's not the most economical time to go to Europe--the Euro is very strong against the dollar, and Ireland is hot. The tab's going to be high. The kids might be enjoying their inheritance early!] |
|
Date |
Category |
Description |
Amount |
|
July 11, 2003 |
AIR |
$699.18 pp open jaw
Houston-London and Boston-Houston, plus $75 pp deviation fee (air through
Royal Caribbean) |
3,096.72 |
|
|
INSURANCE |
CSA Gold |
240.40 |