Forestboy
LIFE MEMBER
The trials and tribulation of travel.
Hi Guys
What a great meet at Newark just watched the video sums it up **Brilliant**
We finally made it to Florida after a nightmare trip and the weather is blue skies sunny and 80+ degrees.
We set out for Gatwick with plenty of time to spare on Tuesday morning 5am. .At 7.30 20 miles from Gatwick a crash closed the M25, we did 1 mile in hour & half. At 9am we managed to exit M25 but had to find Gatwick with no sat nav and no maps, what followed was like something from the movies. We stopped at some traffic lights behind a taxi I made Jan jump out and ask the driver the way to the airport, he said he was going there so to follow him. He knew we were probably going to miss our flight so we were doing crazy speeds down narrow lanes to get there as quick as possible. We arrived at 9.40 flight to take off at 10.10 dumped the hire car empty of fuel
and ran to check in which was just closing then through customs and made the plane with minutes to spare. Then the plane had a problem and we sat on the pad for a hour and a half.
We got to Charlotte about 20 minutes late with 2 hours to get through immigration recheck our bags and catch the Tampa flight. Then we were taken to an interview room and made to wait for an hour with no explanation. When I dared to ask how long we would be kept after we'd been there 30 minutes I was told in no uncertain terms to get back in the room and wait or I would be on the next plane home. Eventually we were interviewed or interrogated by Hitlers mother I refused to answer some questions as they were far too personal and none of her business. She agreed to let us in but made it quite clear we are really not welcome and have spent too much time in America for her liking 12 weeks in the last 60 and will probably not be allowed back again, so we need to contact the American embassy when we return. This is a great country with very friendly people but entering is a nightmare and the officials are the most ignorant and obnoxious I've come across. Morocco was bad but at least you knew they were just trying to get a few euros off you, these guys are on a power trip. The strange thing was all the people being interviewed were middle age Brits most with families, not a Asian in site, hardly terrorist material. One guy got angry apparently he'd been there 2 hours with his wife and 2 small kids and they refused him entry his little boy was so upset he just kept asking "why can't I see Mickey Mouse" "Welcome To America" Anyway we ran through another airport and again made the flight with minutes to spare.
The car and RV were both booked in for service on Thursday, on the way to the garage the RV started to struggle and we could smell burning then the steering started to drag one way. I pulled over thinking we had a flat but didn't and as it was only 2 miles to go we carried on, coming up to a set of lights on red with stopped traffic in front and NO BRAKES Luckily the lights changed and we avoided a disaster, we crept into the garage with a very hot engine terrible steering and no brakes Relief.
The outcome was a caliper had seized on the front parts weren't available until the next day so a night in a hotel was needed as well. The final bill for RV and car was $2000 so not a good start but at least it happened here and we were able to sort it all out before we started on our journey.
So today we're gonna sit by the pool chill out have a few beers and a steak tonight and set off for Texas sometime tomorrow.
Keep you posted see you at the Americana :thumb:
Rory & Jan
Hi Guys
What a great meet at Newark just watched the video sums it up **Brilliant**
We finally made it to Florida after a nightmare trip and the weather is blue skies sunny and 80+ degrees.
We set out for Gatwick with plenty of time to spare on Tuesday morning 5am. .At 7.30 20 miles from Gatwick a crash closed the M25, we did 1 mile in hour & half. At 9am we managed to exit M25 but had to find Gatwick with no sat nav and no maps, what followed was like something from the movies. We stopped at some traffic lights behind a taxi I made Jan jump out and ask the driver the way to the airport, he said he was going there so to follow him. He knew we were probably going to miss our flight so we were doing crazy speeds down narrow lanes to get there as quick as possible. We arrived at 9.40 flight to take off at 10.10 dumped the hire car empty of fuel
and ran to check in which was just closing then through customs and made the plane with minutes to spare. Then the plane had a problem and we sat on the pad for a hour and a half. We got to Charlotte about 20 minutes late with 2 hours to get through immigration recheck our bags and catch the Tampa flight. Then we were taken to an interview room and made to wait for an hour with no explanation. When I dared to ask how long we would be kept after we'd been there 30 minutes I was told in no uncertain terms to get back in the room and wait or I would be on the next plane home. Eventually we were interviewed or interrogated by Hitlers mother I refused to answer some questions as they were far too personal and none of her business. She agreed to let us in but made it quite clear we are really not welcome and have spent too much time in America for her liking 12 weeks in the last 60 and will probably not be allowed back again, so we need to contact the American embassy when we return. This is a great country with very friendly people but entering is a nightmare and the officials are the most ignorant and obnoxious I've come across. Morocco was bad but at least you knew they were just trying to get a few euros off you, these guys are on a power trip. The strange thing was all the people being interviewed were middle age Brits most with families, not a Asian in site, hardly terrorist material. One guy got angry apparently he'd been there 2 hours with his wife and 2 small kids and they refused him entry his little boy was so upset he just kept asking "why can't I see Mickey Mouse" "Welcome To America" Anyway we ran through another airport and again made the flight with minutes to spare.
The car and RV were both booked in for service on Thursday, on the way to the garage the RV started to struggle and we could smell burning then the steering started to drag one way. I pulled over thinking we had a flat but didn't and as it was only 2 miles to go we carried on, coming up to a set of lights on red with stopped traffic in front and NO BRAKES
Luckily the lights changed and we avoided a disaster, we crept into the garage with a very hot engine terrible steering and no brakes Relief.The outcome was a caliper had seized on the front parts weren't available until the next day so a night in a hotel was needed as well. The final bill for RV and car was $2000 so not a good start but at least it happened here and we were able to sort it all out before we started on our journey.
So today we're gonna sit by the pool chill out have a few beers and a steak tonight and set off for Texas sometime tomorrow.
Keep you posted see you at the Americana :thumb:
Rory & Jan
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