So after a couple of years of waiting and 11 months since we booked the flights the trip was almost upon us. In the immediate days before the trip, I had been checking the phones I would be taking (we both have the urge to keep checking the internet) and this would be the first trip with the new GeoSIM rather than a dedicated AT&T GO SIM, as they changed the payment methods so it was no longer value for money to keep it topped up. At this point i found that the older phone was very slow and was not running any of the social apps (FB, Twitter, Foursquare) it did still run the GPS and could work as a phone. So a quick email to O2 a few days before travel to try and confirm if my current Galaxy S2 could be unblocked so that could be the US phone, with my O2 number being the older HTC.
Day 0 - The Day before travel.
Working in the public sector one of the better benefits is that I get a large amount of leave (33 days per year now) especially compared to my wife as such I decided to take the day before off, so that I could be relaxed and slowly get ready for the flight. The started with a quick trip into town to get a few final bits and pieces, then back home to start sorting out clothes that I would be taking. This was going to be a slightly different holiday in that it was longer than we normally go for and we expected different temperatures. (Warm, warmer and hot).
As the afternoon drifted into evening Celia came home and we headed off to the Gym for our last session before we left, on the walk home I got the email from O2 to state that my phone is unlocked so I could swap SIM cards when I got home, and after dinner thats what I did. BUT as I tried to restart the Galaxy S2 after putting in the new SIM, NOTHING, I got a splash screen but then NOTHING, now sometimes phones can take a while to start, so I left it for a few minutes, Still it just staid at the splash screen. PANTS, out came the battery and I swapped SIMs back. Still nothing. Now starting to panic out came the laptop and onto O2's website, were the Guru's still working, I found a Guru who suggested that It just needed to be recharged so I plugged it into the charge and was told to wait an hour, OK when does the Guru service stop I asked, 11pm I was told, ah it is 10:15 now so if I wait an hour you will have all gone, yes but this charge will work. Unconvinced I kept it plugged in and the chat window up and went to help Celia pack.
Minor problem number 2, we were struggling to get all the clothes and shoes we wanted to take into our normal 2 bags especially as we were taking 2 spare bags for the flight home, now the International flight was in First class so we could have up to 3 bags each, but we had a connecting flight from LAX to SFO on Virgin America and they only allow 1 free bag per passenger. Realizing that the luggage we wanted to take was not going to fit, I was back onto the laptop to see that Virgin America only charge $25 for a 2nd bag. So that made it easier out came 1 of the spare bags and in to it went the shoes and the other bag, we failed to travel light.
Back to the phone, still no luck it did not matter which SIM was in it, it just would not get past the Splash screen. Talking to another Guru I was told to take it into a store, well as the flight is at 9:30am the following morning and it was almost 11pm that was not going to happen until after the trip. Well time to get some sleep and hopefully work out a plan.
DAY 1 - Travel Day (16th May 2013)
So after just a couple of hours sleep, the alarms went off at 5am and after a shortened morning routine (no breakfast) the taxi had arrived and we were off to Heathrow. The only solution that had come to mind for the phone issue was to throw money at the problem and just buy a new phone, there are shops at T5 so that would have to be the plan, just hoping that I could find a reasonable one for no to much money.
With no traffic at 6am we were soon at Heathrow and heading for the more exclusive set of check in counters.
Bags checked and boarding cards issues, we were quickly through Fast Track security and turning right for the non descript of doors which is the gateway to the Concorde room.
Finding a nice place to sit (with power sockets as I knew they would be needed) I was off back into the main part of the terminal to find a phone. Pah, I am an Android user and the choice was pathetic I could only find 2 models, either a very old Sony or the Galaxy S4, both felt very overpriced, but I had noticed that you could get a 7" tablet for half the price of the phones on offer and the tablet did have 3G, now it does have a phone function but I only use the SIM for data not making calls, so that seemed the better option, so I was now the owner of a Asus Google Nexus 7. So back to the lounge for breakfast, charge the device and use the Wifi to download all my apps and data.
Setting up the Nexus I did find out that the SIM socket was for the smaller Micro SIM but the GeoSIM did have the break points to make it smaller so that was easy to do and I could see that it was even able to connect to 3G.
As we had arrived so early after breakfast and with a good charge in the Nexus we moved from the "inside" bit of the lounge to the terrace, where you have a nice view of the A and B gates, where we did see a British Airways plane in gold, any plane spotters on here know why?
Finally it was time to board and we were over in B gates, it was also Celia's birthday the following day and although I had a plan for the present being distracted the day before I had not got round to getting a card, so we quickly separated and I hunted for a Card, Nothing. So word of warning don't expect to get a birthday card in T5.
This was our first time in first and I must say it is a different experience, we were shown to our seats rather than just find them yourself, and the Steward and Stewardess introduced themselves, on my side of the Cabin it was Willow and Celia had Jorge looking after her. Willow asked me how I wanted to be addressed (Hayden is fine for me). We were offered Juice, Water or Champagne before takeoff, I had heard that you actually get a choice of champagne but as it was still only 9 am, OJ was fine. We got settled and after take off Willow came round with the Menu for lunch and we were told that this could be when ever we wanted, not being hungry I watched OZ the great and Powerful, which was a good flight movie and the screens in this First class were 15" so a good size to watch a movie on. After the movie was over we called Willow and asked to have lunch, after the rest of the cabin had already eaten as we had seen them be served, In fact Celia had told her steward that she would wait a couple of hours before lunch so when he came to see if she was ready I was still watching Oz so she waited for me.
Lunch on the plane was ordered, I went for the Buttered white and green asparagus with poached egg and chervil and truffle sauce followed by the Char-grilled fillet of British beef with Madeira and Bearnaise sauces, wild mushrooms, broccoli and chunky chips, which did get the additional question of how did I want my steak? On a plane, Medium rare would be nice....
The first course was lovely, to be picky I could say that the egg was over cooked (no runny yolk to dip the asparagus in.) The steak was just over cooked for Medium rare, probably more a medium, but was butter soft and melt in the mouth.
All this was served with wine, including a choice of 3 different Champagnes I tried the Bollinger Rose Brut NV.
To follow I went for the cheese course with a glass of the Beaulieu la Soucherie 2010 (a nice desert wine). The cheeses were interesting; Mull of Kintyre (a cheddar type hard cheese with salt crystals), Devon Blue (a creamy and not very strong blue), Chaource and Saint-Nectaire (2 french cheeses). One of the french ones was great but I wasn't sure which one so i did ask Willow, but she didn't know and the chef was now on his break, and I forgot to ask again later.
Even with the additional space and larger screen in first, LA is still a long long flight from the UK, so after some more podcasts, a play on my DS3. We were just a couple of hours from landing so we had the Afternoon tea service, Mini sandwiches and some very small cakes. Centre piece was a warm scone with jam (was also supposed to have clotted cream but that didn't arrive).
And finally after 11 hours or so we landed in LAX, we were let off the plane first but lots of other planes had just arrived so the immigration hall was crammed. Turning on the Nexus, if become obviously that the SIM was not working as it needed to be shifted into USA mode but LAX has free wifi so we could update our status to let people know we had arrived. I was going to have to move the SIM back into a phone, change the mode of the SIM and then move it back, but for that I needed to be seated as it was going to be fiddly.
After an hour we had finally been seen by immigration and were able to pick up our bags go through customs and walk from the International terminal to Terminal 3 at LAX where Virgin America are based. It was now 2:30pm and our flight was not due till 6, but we did know there was a 3:30 flight and hoped that we could be moved onto that one. We got to check in to see that all flights to San Francisco were delayed to even the 3:30 was not due till 4:30, so we queued to talk to someone, but they only lay on 1 check in attendant, encourgaging everyone to self check in, so it took a while but as we had booked Main Cabin select (extra leg room) she was not sure she could get us into that option, thats OK we said happy to go with any seats as long as we get on the earlier plane. Issued with standby boarding passes and dropped off our 3 bags we were back through security and the hour long wait.
It was a slight juxtaposition between the Concorde room we were using in heathrow T5 to the general waiting area at LAX T3, but we did find some seats and after a short while, the SIM had been changed, fruit and water had been consumed and the plane had finalled arrived, so I headed to the counter to see if we could board.
We could, we would be in the 2 middle seats in the same row half way back in the plane and could board first, which on domestic US flights is a god send and luggage space seems to be a premium so if you are last on, you carry on may become checked luggage or even follow on a later flight. Virgin America flights are wow, everything is on the screen, if you want a drink or a snack you order on the screen as soon as the flight takes off and the stewardesses bring them as the service, but what ever I tried I was told they had no stock. Oh well nothing for me then, till the Stewardesses actually came round where the nice lady sitting next to be explained that I had tried to order but they had no record, so I got a beer and a water. I have no idea if it was due to the class of ticket that these are free or if all food and drink is free. But the flight was short and my nice neighbour did explain a couple of bad routes that a GPS may offer for the drive to Yosemite, and that that Sunday morning was the Bay to Breakers run and that it was a great tradition including lots of fancy dress, and in the past no dress. Well that was a new plan for Sunday before heading to Yosemite.
Finally we came into land and after saying goodbye, we headed to bag collection, then the taxi rank to get a cab to our first hotel of this trip, the Argonaut, right down by Fisherman's Wharf. Traffic was not too bad and we arrived and checked in.
No wanting to stray to far on the first night and feeling very tired as it had been a long long day, we went to the hotel resturant. I tried the California Clam Chowder and Celia had Salmon. The food was OK, but nothing special after we were done I headed out to get some bottles of water (and a last chance to find a birthday card) then headed back to the hotel, showered and went to bed, tomorrow was Celia's birthday and we had plans to go to Alcatraz early before heading in to the Napa valley.
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