In the Starting Blocks

The team are now at the Travelodge at Terminal 5 Heathrow - be still my beating heart! This bastion of mediocrity (I'm being kind) is our launching pad for what may yet prove to be an even worse experience in Washington, but the odds are heavily stacked in our favour!! We have managed to clean the house, cut the grass, return all the library books and get everything packed in the car without killing each other, which in anyone's book must count as a result. The journey up only produced one set of roadworks and one tailback due to an accident - so a smooth run by UK motorway standards. Since we are directly under the flight path for aircraft taking off there is no danger of a good nights sleep and the alcohol offering was insufficient to ensure we would sleep through the the noise - so hopefully jetlag will be trumped by exhaustion when we finally get to our destination.

Poor picture (apologies) of the car packed ready to go