English Summer #9 (Final) - London to Fayetteville to Home

I was fortunate to have one final great experience in ministry before departing the United Kingdom.



Carol-Jean and I traveled by a combination of car, train and subway (the Tube) from Maidenhead to Balham, where we spoke at the Rev. Dr. Patience Kudiabor's warm and cozy church, Unity South London.






After a great potluck dinner CJ & I raced by subway and taxi to make the last train northeast out of London. We had already prepositioned our baggage via rental car at the Guest House of the RAF/USAF Mildenhall Air Base, but the trip back to the base by train took several hours and involved expensive taxis at both ends.

Then we learned that the space available flight which we expected for the next morning (Monday) was actually scheduled for Tuesday. I don't know if Monday being labor Day had anything to do with it, but we had a day of foot-travel around the smallish base and to the nearby Bird-in-Hand Pub for meals.

Tuesday Morning we were required to be at the Terminal--baggage in hand--by 4 AM. (You did not read that wrong. 04:00 hours. O-dark-thirty, as we used to call it when I was active duty.)

We were told the flight to McConnell AFB Kansas was full. Sorry. There would be four other flights, but none to the Midwest, unless you count Fargo, North Dakota, and there weren't any seats on that one, either. So, we opted for Plan C--Carolina. There was a flight leaving shortly for Pope AFB, Fayetteville, NC. They had room. Instead of leaving us an easy day trip from McConnell (Wichita to KCMO), this hop would deposit us 896 miles from Unity Village. We took it anyway. (See picture for CJ's reaction to my strategic planning.)

OK...now I have good news and bad news. The good news is this plane was a lot more comfortable and less crowded. The bad news is that we had to rent a one-way-drop-off car and drive home. We crunched the numbers and found that the combination of taxi fares and add-on charges for same-day airfares made it less expensive to drive. Besides, it gave me two more days of vacation and a chance to decompress from a whirlwind tour.

Driving through the Great Smoky Mountains, I kept thinking that, like Dorothy, I'd left Kansas and gone over the rainbow to a magical land full of strange and wondrous sights, warm and friendly people, and no wicked witches. Now, just like the story, I am even more convinced that there's no place like home...
[Last photo from Online Source.]