Goofyish
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Sep 10, 1999
- Messages
- 8,541
Saturday 9th August 2003
The Cast:
Me Tim, 39/40
DW Julie, 36/37
DD1 Nicola, 14
DD2 Jade, 9
We set off for Gatwick at 10am. All very excited and hoping for nice clear roads ahead.
Well, the M40 was lovely and clear until just short of junction 10. Luckily I had the traffic program thingy set on the car radio so heard that the motorway ahead was completely blocked!
So we jumped ship at junction 9 and did a detour through Banbury and down through some very nice villages and got back on the M40 at junction 12. (We later found out that a footballer had been killed in the accident that closed the motorway very sad).
We stopped at the Oxford services for some lunch and continued down to Gatwick on fairly clear roads even the M25 was moving very well. I think it was the first time Ive managed to get into 3rd gear on the M25!
After arriving at the Hilton at 3pm, we checked in and took the bags to the room. I took the car to the long stay car park (the Summer Special one its miles away, on the other side of the North Terminal!).
When I returned, we set off to twilight check-in. There was only a small line about 5 families, but it still took ages, as there were only 2 desks open. When we eventually got to a desk we were informed that we had the seats we booked (row 62, seats D,E,F & G).
One thing that struck us about Gatwick was how busy it was. The last time we were there was October 2001, 4 weeks after 9/11 and the airport was very quiet. But this time the main check-in area was solid. Also, there were fewer places to eat. Garfunkels has gone and the other outlets in the Gatwick Village area had also gone.
After grabbing some provisions for the room (crisps and drinks) we headed back to the hotel to chill out before dinner.
The vote for dinner location went to McDonalds. So we headed over to the terminal and had our first burger of the holiday. A quick look around the shops and we returned to the room for an early night.
The Cast:
Me Tim, 39/40
DW Julie, 36/37
DD1 Nicola, 14
DD2 Jade, 9
We set off for Gatwick at 10am. All very excited and hoping for nice clear roads ahead.
Well, the M40 was lovely and clear until just short of junction 10. Luckily I had the traffic program thingy set on the car radio so heard that the motorway ahead was completely blocked!
So we jumped ship at junction 9 and did a detour through Banbury and down through some very nice villages and got back on the M40 at junction 12. (We later found out that a footballer had been killed in the accident that closed the motorway very sad).
We stopped at the Oxford services for some lunch and continued down to Gatwick on fairly clear roads even the M25 was moving very well. I think it was the first time Ive managed to get into 3rd gear on the M25!
After arriving at the Hilton at 3pm, we checked in and took the bags to the room. I took the car to the long stay car park (the Summer Special one its miles away, on the other side of the North Terminal!).
When I returned, we set off to twilight check-in. There was only a small line about 5 families, but it still took ages, as there were only 2 desks open. When we eventually got to a desk we were informed that we had the seats we booked (row 62, seats D,E,F & G).
One thing that struck us about Gatwick was how busy it was. The last time we were there was October 2001, 4 weeks after 9/11 and the airport was very quiet. But this time the main check-in area was solid. Also, there were fewer places to eat. Garfunkels has gone and the other outlets in the Gatwick Village area had also gone.
After grabbing some provisions for the room (crisps and drinks) we headed back to the hotel to chill out before dinner.
The vote for dinner location went to McDonalds. So we headed over to the terminal and had our first burger of the holiday. A quick look around the shops and we returned to the room for an early night.
