After working hard to get everything done before I left, I managed to get a few hours of sleep and get up and out of the house in time to catch the Kalamazoo Metro Bus to the train station.
The night before, we had a wicked storm blow through. My house was unscathed.
It was probably a good thing that I had the extra branches removed after the ice storm in 2023. I mean, I lost some branches off the trees in front of my house that were the size of small trees. I was lucky, though. Other than my bank account, the only damage was a dented gutter.
I had nothing to deal with as a result of this storm.
The house down the street from me was not as lucky.
I continued down to the corner to catch the bus. I was a few minutes early, and the other rider assured me that it was a few minutes late, so we just chit chatted and watched the workers from Consumers Energy work on the lines at the corner.
While we waited, I had her take my picture. In spite of my practice walking with a loaded backpack in the run up to this trip, it still felt pretty heavy. Oh, well. I am on my way. No turning back now! 
Here comes the bus!
We rolled into the transit center exactly on time. If I had wanted to risk the bus being late and the train being on time, I could have taken the next bus. But it worked out just fine.
The train station was air conditioned and I had an iced coffee I made at home to sip on while I waited.
The train arrived. All Aboard!
I sat next to a lovely woman named Sandy, who was a retired teacher from the U.P. – that’s the Upper Peninsula, to those of you who might not know. We had a lovely chat all the way to Union Station in Chicago.
I managed to get myself to the Blue Line and get on the train with my luggage. I had my first experience with tapping my credit card to get transportation. In this case, I had to get a ticket and use that to get to the train.
The plane and the CTA train are both headed in the same direction. I must be getting closer to O’Hare!
I got off the train, managed to get myself to where I had to check my luggage. In all the examination and comparison of fares, I didn’t realize that I had booked a seat that didn’t allow a carry on bag. I could only have one small bag that would fit under the seat in front of me.
Luckily, I discovered that while I was still at home, so I could pay the extra fee ($75) and get my meds moved into my carry on bag and take some things out of the carry on and move them to the checked bag.
My lunch did make it into the carry on bag. After all, a girl has got to eat! I didn’t want to find out how much airport food cost these days. I will never forget when my brother, Craig, picked me up at the old Buffalo International Terminal back in the ‘90’s and gestured toward the new terminal being built and proclaimed it “new home of the $7 hotdog.” At that time, I couldn’t conceive of such an expensive hotdog. I wouldn’t be too surprised if that’s not out of the ballpark these days.
Ah, but I digress.
Oh, what kind of sandwich? Peanut butter and jelly topped with potato chips.
I had arrived plenty early. Way too early. But I managed to while away the hours and soon enough it was time to board.
I always enjoy watching the map showing the progress. Here we are, starting out in Chicago.
The time passed. They served dinner. I chose chicken, although the pasta smelled good. I ate a few bites. I watched a few shows and the movie, The Boys in the Boat, which I truly enjoyed. I got up and walked a bit to exercise my knees a bit, chatted with the flight attendant and tried to sleep. Eventually they turned on the lights and gave us breakfast.
And then we were landing in London!
Somehow, I figured out the Underground and got to a station somewhere in the vicinity of the hostel. I sat down at a Dunkin’ Donut to have a restorative coffee and figure out my next steps.
When an iconic red double decker bus rolled up in front of me. I considered that a good omen and I set out for the hostel.
I have arrived!