Where a man’s a man and the children dance to the pipes of Pan  -Spinal Tap

I can’t sleep on red-eye flights, but was still feeling fine when we arrived in Reykjavik a while after sunrise.  Probably because it was only my usual bedtime EDT.  We boarded our London flight half an hour later.  That one I slept through fine thanks to the broad daylight, which makes me drowsy, combined with actually being tired.

Maybe being tired contributed to my humiliation at the Hertz Gold counter when, after I complained that my car seemed to be locked, the nice Hertz lady pointed out that I should try the driver’s side door on the right side of the car.  I was off to a smashing start driving to Bath.

When I mentioned to Ma how Felicity had been twice to Stonehenge and Harry once on previous drives to visit Laura and Nigel in Bath, her face lit up.  Turns out Ma hasn’t been to Europe since she was 19, and she was excited about the prospect of visiting this popular heritage site.  And so we did.  It’s strange to say a 4000+ year old monument changed a lot since my last visit 4 years ago, but it did.  (There’s a new car park and visitor center a shuttle’s ride away.)

Where most of the driving to Stonehenge was on major motorways, the drive to Bath was on small country roads.  Ma was oohing and ahhing at every old building in every little village we passed, and she didn’t stop the entire way.  We listened to old Air Supply tunes and just absorbed the new scenery around every turn, not to mention a few dozen roundabouts.

After a lovely visit including a walk near Solsbury Hill, sunset brews, a delicious vegetable lasagna, “pudding” with clotted cream, and Nigel’s fancy lattes, Laura and I talked each other’s ears off until after midnight, as we do.  Tomorrow Ma and I will join the rest of the Pebbles, and Laura will meet us circa Grosmont for the big finish!