Rank Has Its Privileges-July 1-2

Flying first class is an experience that truly says, "I'm on vacation." As we boarded the airplane in Dallas after our layover, I couldn't stop grinning. We have flown first class before, but it's been a long time. Each seat, and by seat I mean Lazyboy, has it's own cubicle. There's an ottoman-type seat as a footrest. When you want to sleep, you can recline your Lazyboy flat and that combines with the ottoman to form a bed. You have your own individual screen that you can choose from an array of about 30 movies. They bring you Bose noise canceling headphones. Before you even lift off the ground, they've served beverages with a promise of a cup of warm nuts in just a few minutes. Dinner is several courses---cheese, salad, dinner, ice cream sundae for dessert all served on a placemat with real silverware and plates. I could get used to this. When we checked our luggage in San Jose, they placed "Premium" stickers on the baggage tags and in London, ours were the first to arrive. Upon deplaning in London we were give a special folder for our declarations tag which allowed us to go to a special (speedier) line at customs. Everything went very smoothly and we were quite refreshed after our flight, having been able to sleep off and on for about 5 hours. Did I mention the little first class kits they give, complete with earplugs, eye masks, toothbrush and toothpaste?We grabbed our luggage and headed to another terminal to check in and catch our flight to Manchester. Arriving in Manchester we hit our first snag. Our rental car was not there, so we had to cool our heels in the airport for about an hour. When we finally left the airport around 4:30 pm, we headed for Lyme Park. For the uninitiated, this is Pemberly in the BBC version (the only TRUE version) of Pride and Prejudice. Think Colin Firth dripping wet. Mark was a trooper to drive through rush hour traffic so that I could pay a pilgrimage. We got lost numerous times, it took longer than anticipated and the house and gardens were closed for the day when we finally arrived. But at least I got to see it and get some pictures! Can't you just see Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy strolling down this:Getting back on the road and heading for York proved to be challenging as well, but after a diet coke and a few wrong turns, we were on our way and able to stay awake and alert until we made it to our little B&B in York.