The Voyage Home

We woke on Tuesday morning, sad to be leaving but looking forward to seeing Blighty and our nearest and dearest. After the team arrived at Bountiful Blessings, we loaded up the cars and made the journey to Bingampton, with a small detour via the Spot Diner. The Spot was the first place we visited in the US, so it was fitting to end our trip there. Four weeks had made a massive difference to the team - not only were we less jetlagged, but we easily tackled the meals and massive desserts that were offered to us.

Terry and Joe drove us up to the airport, where DG Sam and Ed from Oneonta Rotary joined us to wish us well (and possibly to make sure that we actually left). After passing through security which hampered our hopes for a dramatic exit (we felt daft waving goodbye and then joining a queue to have our shoes and jackets xrayed), we finally made it into the departure lounge.

I won't go into any great details with the flights or transfers (suffice it to say, the planes flew safely, the food was edible and we were all shattered on arrival at Heathrow), we made the final hop up to Newcastle. After sorting our cases and checking everything had arrived, we were greeted by Tony and Cynthia, Dave Sadler and a motley crew of assorted loved ones. And that was the end of our trip - a few tearful farewells and we all went our separate ways. Just for the moment of course, we'll be meeting in a matter of weeks to begin preparing for our conference presentations, and visiting a few clubs to practise.

Our thanks to everyone who's followed the blog, the clubs who sponsored us, and everyone who made the trip so memorable for us. I'd also ask for a special round of applause for James, who held off jetlag to update the blog on Wednesday.