Well, following our wonder flat tire experience in the countryside of Wales, we awoke Friday morning hoping to be on the road early. Our only option was to take the car to a local mechanic shop for a tire replacement. The rental company would not accept the car back with the spare on, so it was our responsibility to get it fixed. Luckily, it was not an expense to us.
I arrived at the shop when they opened, hoping for a quick repair and we would head on our way to Wales. In checking, the shop did not have the required size and type of tire and I was informed it would be Saturday morning before it would be in. As I explained our situation, the attendant made some calls and arranged for a tire to arrive in the afternoon, rather than the next day. At that point, our trip to Llanasa had to be cancelled. There was no way we could drive another 200+ miles on the little donut spare we had.
I arrived at the shop when they opened, hoping for a quick repair and we would head on our way to Wales. In checking, the shop did not have the required size and type of tire and I was informed it would be Saturday morning before it would be in. As I explained our situation, the attendant made some calls and arranged for a tire to arrive in the afternoon, rather than the next day. At that point, our trip to Llanasa had to be cancelled. There was no way we could drive another 200+ miles on the little donut spare we had.
Initially , I was upset about the whole situation, however, as the day progressed, the rains came.
Oh, did it rain! It didn’t take us long to realize that we were being watched out for. Had we left early for Wales, we would have spent the day driving in torrential rains. There is a saying that out of every difficulty comes opportunity. We are assured that our minor difficulty was the only way we would defer our trip to Wales, which could have turned out to be rather dangerous in the rain.
So the day was spent shopping in Birmingham. (From Annette’s perspective, there was the opportunity!) We enjoyed a nice, relaxed dinner in a restaurant next to our hotel. And returned to our room early enough to get packed and to bed relatively early.
So the day was spent shopping in Birmingham. (From Annette’s perspective, there was the opportunity!) We enjoyed a nice, relaxed dinner in a restaurant next to our hotel. And returned to our room early enough to get packed and to bed relatively early.
Saturday morning it was up at 5:00 to be ready to head for the air port and our long journey home.
We flew from Birmingham to Paris and had a 4 hour layover in Paris. Way too long to be enjoyable, but not near long enough to do anything other than sit and wait.
If you look real closely, you can see the Eiffel Tower in the distance.....
From Paris it was on to Atlanta and then home. We were happy to be on our way, but sad that our journey was coming to an end. We had a wonderful time in England and look forward to the opportunity to return again some day.
We made it to bed about 2:00 am Sunday morning. And slept until 6:30.... After all, it was 1:30 in the afternoon in Birmingham!
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