Tuesday, October 8

 We are here at last! Tuesday was a day of mind-numbing travel. Gayle and I rose at 3 a.m. in Santa Cruz to get to the San Jose airport for a 6:30 a.m. flight to Minneapolis. We arrived at MSP at noon, met Ruth, and jumped into my SUV for a quick drive home, lunch of lentil soup and tomato and cheese sandwiches with Neal, a tour of the garden,  and a quick drive back. 

At MSP we met Carol, who had just flow in from Austin, TX. Boarding at 5 p.m., we were all seated in different parts of the plane, and Gayle had an aisle seat with no one beside her. The six-hour flight was a bit long and tedious, but some of us slept. Bedraggled and groggy, we whizzed through passport control at London Heathrow and boarded a bus for the Hertz rental car center.

Here we encountered our first problem: I had unknowingly rented an electric car, and we were hesitant to drive one, not knowing if there would be many recharging stations in rural Wales. So we upgraded to a regular car that uses gas. Also, I think I’ve left my American Express card at home, So I had to use a Visa. But after that, all was well.

Our rain-soaked little car. 

It got us smoothly all the way to Wales on half a tank of gas.

Except, of course, for the rain. It was sprinkling in London, but once we hit the M4, we drove through swathes of blinding rain, windshield wipers beating furiously, rivers of rain pooling on the road. Traffic moved quite well, though, and we arrived in Haverfordwest by 2:30 p.m (after two rest stops). 

Grocery shopping was a challenge. We’d made a list in the car, so when we arrived at Morrison’s in Haverfordwest, we went right to work. Here are the results of the shopping spree:

We had forgotten, however, how small our car was. And how hard it was raining. I would have gotten a photo of Carol and Gayle in the back seat, surrounded by meat and eggs and veg, and Ruth in the front with her lap full of bags and her knees against the dashboard, but it was raining too hard and everyone would have hated me. So you must just imagine it.

Fortunately, we were only 15 minutes from our Airbnb. Or would have been, except that we couldn’t find it. Ruth finally got it on her GPS, and then we searched for the key lockbox until (duh!) I thought to check my instructions. We burst into the house, unloaded the car, ate a quick dinner of roast chicken and salad and bread and butter, then sat around with dazed looks on our faces, sometimes falling asleep in mid-sentence. We chose bedrooms, changed into jammies, and crawled into bed. The sun was just setting:

The view from Ruth’s and my bedroom window.

The bedrooms are so elegant and comfortable! Each with a view.

This will be Teresa’s room.

Pictures of the house will follow tomorrow. It is lovely. Good night!