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Chapter 2
"Two Policemen, Two Tow Trucks and the Traumatized Twosome"
So here we were, two country girls fresh from our problem-free two days in what is probably the cleanest locale we have ever experienced, and presto plane-o....we are in London!!! Heathrow airport was not very welcoming that day for two inexperienced travelers such as ourselves. We were greeted by a woman who looked at the cards we were supposed to fill out on the plane and said forebodingly, "Go on up, but he's not going to like this!" Gulp!!!!
We made our way up to the customs official, who frowned down upon us after a short glance at our cards, and sternly asked us, "Why didn't you fill this out?" Well, the only thing we didn't fill out was the blank that asked for our address during our stay. Knowing we were going to be traveling to someplace new almost every night, we figured that question didn't apply to us. WRONG!!! We were so thankful that we had made that reservation for our first night in England...and this wasn't the last time we felt grateful for that decision before we got there, either. Anyway, the man was kind to let us just fill in the name of the B&B for that night. "Gone are the days of the backpacker mentality for travelers!!!" said he, in a most official voice. "We could make you sit in those chairs over there, young ladies, for a very long time for not filling this out correctly...because we don't care how long you sit there....it doesn't matter to us!" We thanked him for his kindness. "This is VERY serious!!!!" We understood. We thanked him again, and left...
Hello England, Sage and Tera have arrived!
After visiting with a Martian scientist (that is a scientist that studies Mars, just to clarify) at the
station, we caught our bus to Bath and were very thankful to leave what we saw as a dirty, intimidating, big city far
behind. We had our rental car pre-booked, and after our 3 hour bus ride were very ready to pick up the car and get to
our accommodations for that night. HA!!!
Little did we know that our adventures for the day had just begun...
We arrived at the bus station in Bath just after 5:15, and had until 6 to get to the rental agency. The driver of the bus that we transferred to assured us that he could get us to Brass Mill Lane in time, and away we went. Tera and I have had no real experience with public transportation, and only AFTER we passed the sign for Brass Mill Lane, did I realize that the driver wasn't calling out stops for us to know when to get off. I went and asked him if we had gone too far. "What?!?!?! Don't you know where you're going, then?!?!?!" I told him I hadn't a clue. So he, decidedly sympathetic and quite regretful, let us off as soon as he could pull over and we walked back - over a mile as quickly as we could manage with all of our luggage. Finally we found the car rental agency, and walked into the back of the shop at 6:02, red-faced, pathetic, and anxious to get the car. "Are we too late?" "Yes." I was sure he was joking. He wasn't. After a bit of pleading, and the realization that we had already booked online, he relented and rented us a car....a BEEEEAUUUUTiful silver VW Bora...a car I would be proud to own...so I thought!!! As soon as the paper work was all filled out, during which time "H" (we will call him that to protect the guilty) continually impressed upon us that this was a $30,000+ car that we would be responsible for if anything happened to it, they closed down the shop, gave us the keys, and we were on our own in England.
I started the car and pulled out onto the street. It died. I started it again and went about 5 feet. It died. Okay, so I wasn't used to the feel of the car or the clutch. Maybe I wasn't giving it enough gas or something. The next attempt took us up a little hill and onto a one lane bridge. It died. The car behind me started honking, and something around us was smoking and burning. With lots of prayer we made it off the bridge and onto the busy street we were forced to turn onto. Then suddenly something kicked in, things felt normal and we were off. Still looking for a place to pull over just to make sure everything was okay, we were cruising right up to....A RED LIGHT!!! Uh, oh....
We stopped, and when it was time to start again we used up the rest of the clutch just to get out of the intersection. Then we were stuck ~ and I mean STUCK! Broken down during rush hour on a busy street just outside of Bath, thousands of miles away from home or anyone that we knew, without a cell phone, only a mile away from the rental agency - which was closed now - and without a clue as to what to do. I don't think I have ever experienced quite that feeling before. Neither of us are sure how long we stood there praying, watching the cars go by, wondering what to do and running through 1,000,001 scenarios of what we SHOULD do, what we COULD do, and what could happen if we DID do any of that. I remember telling Tera, "I know that God hasn't forsaken us, but He sure does feel far away." And then we would pray some more.
FINALLY......
Never have I been so happy to see a police car pull up behind me!!!! Two very nice officers got out to help us, and boy, was their armor brilliant to behold!!! (Get it? Knights in shining armor!) They asked us to sit in their car while they tried to get the VW started, or figure out what was wrong, so we got in the back seat for a few minutes...did you know that the back doors don't open from the inside? After they let us out, we - Tera, one of the guys and I - pushed the car up and over a hill, then coasted to a parking area on the other side. Then those two gallant policemen got it all fixed up to have the car and us picked up and taken to our B&B (we were soooooo thankful for that reservation!!!) for the night. Officer Gavin was on the phone with this company and that one for quite some time, even when their fellow officers were calling to see why they weren't showing up for the scheduled operation they were supposed to have been participating in! Once again, their heroism didn't stop there. They gave us their card, told us where the nearest phone was and instructed us to call a certain number if the tow truck didn't show up before 9 o'clock that evening. They were incredibly sympathetic and encouraging, and tried to make us feel better about the whole incident, assuring us that it could not possibly be my fault, and that we wouldn't be liable for the car...which I needed to hear over and over for the next 15 hours!!! We will always be thankful for those two gentlemen and all they did for us.
Tera and I settled in for our two hour wait, praying that perhaps the tow truck would come sooner....and along came Wayne 30 minutes later!!! He had the car loaded up in no time, and Tera and I climbed into the front seat and were finally on our way to Tellisford...not quite how we expected to get there, but thankful to be headed there all the same. That half hour drive turned out to be really fun!!! Just sitting in the front seat of the tow truck was an experience not soon to be forgotten...and too, our first intimate experience of the narrow, winding and fast-paced English roads was exciting, to say the least!!! We were down-right scared several times by how close we felt we were to objects around us - signposts, houses, other cars, all zoomed by within inches and it seems that Wayne had us startled or laughing the entire ride. He told us that he should have been gone from work, but had one optional little thing to finish up when the call came in, and he decided to come get us rather than have us wait for the two hours it would have taken for the next nearest tow truck to get to us. Praise the Lord for that!!! When we asked him if he had other plans for the evening, since it was Friday night, he ruefully replied, "Yeah, drinking!!!" Poor Wayne...wonder if he will ever realize what an answer to prayer he was? I'd venture to say that we were the first people to show up at that B&B in a tow truck, and you should have seen the quiet little hamlet of Tellisford when we did arrive with engine roaring and lights flashing upon the silent stone walls. Our host came out and exclaimed, "The Americans have arrived!" And we had such intentions of never fitting in to the "loud American tourist" template!!! Oh, well!!!
Carol Sanderson and her husband were so concerned and caring, and when they realized that we hadn't
eaten anything since breakfast on the plane that morning, he immediately offered to take us down to the pub so we could
get some supper, but by that time we were worn out and completely frazzled and didn't want to go anywhere. Instead, they
showed us to our room and then told us to come down after we had settled in. When we did come downstairs, they shared
their gourmet meal of pork steak, salad, pasta and bread with us and we enjoyed visiting with Carol and her friend
Bella, who had the merriest laugh we've ever heard and told us quite a bit about the area around Tellisford. When we
went up to our perfectly lovely room, we made ourselves some tea, and tried to sort out the days adventures.
I didn't sleep well that night, even in our soft, comfortable bed, for in the back of my mind ~ and in the pit of my stomach ~
I was haunted by the feeling that I might be blamed for the Bora fiasco. I seriously considered suggesting we just go
right back to Heathrow the next day and catch the next available flight home. I'm not kidding, either.
I started wondering how I ever got the idea that we could do this traveling bit on our own, or drive on these crazy roads ourselves, or make it through this month, and I was completely unsure what to expect from "H" when we went in the next day. But I also saw that even when I felt "not quite forsaken by God" (oh, me of little faith!!!), He supplied beyond our every need, and completely took care of us - perhaps not the way we had expected, or in our timing, but still, He had not forsaken us at all, and He won't...EVER!
Since we arrived at The Granary when it was dark, we didn't see how beautiful the outside was till the morning of the 10th. WOW!!! For only one of our two "splurge" nights, we are so glad this was our choice. Every single thing about the place was fabulous...location, gardens, history, our room (the one with the balcony), Carol and her family...we just loved it, and I would recommend it to everyone. www.thegranaryuk.co.uk Tellisford was the absolutely idyllic English hamlet and everything seems straight out of a classic fairytale. Lovely, lovely, lovely!
We breakfasted with an archeologist from the Isle of Mann ~ good food, and very interesting conversation. ..if only I could have calmly enjoyed it!!! It was around 10:30 when our tow truck showed up to take us and the car back to the rental agency. That morning's driver was also very friendly, and we almost felt we were on a private tour as he pointed out spots of interest and historical significance on our way back to Bath. Another knight, he came into the office, and firmly informed "H" that no one could mess up a car like that for the short distance that we drove it. "H" grumbled something about having to check anyway, and when he satisfied himself that it was not driver error, rented us another car...this time an automatic...accused us of taking advantage of his "good nature", and told another customer that he thought we were doing this just so we could see him again. Tera replied, "Actually, we thought (meant hoped) we would never see you again!!!!" And thankfully, after that day...we didn't!!! By noon we were headed out of town in a car that wasn't as pretty, but never gave us any trouble in the 2500 miles that we drove it!
Chapter 3
Bed, Bath, Now Beyond
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