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| Best Western Expo Inn - the hotel pool looking very inviting |
I left Newport on the 03:45 bus to Heathrow and Gatwick. I arrived at Heathrow Central Bus Station on time and breezed through the formalities. Security was the usual hassle of getting things off and into the trays etc. Travelex in the airside departure longe had my dollars ready for me.
I had plenty of time to kill. I had a cappuccino and some fruit and water, the latter was free with a Newspaper purchase. I completed the Telegraph crossword en-route. The flight was OK but the food provided was a meal early on and then a long wait until a roll, crisps and Twix about an hour from San Francisco. We had a bit of a wait on the tarmac before our gate was cleared but the connecting flight to Sacramento was late anyway. The size of the plane, it was a 36 seat prop plane meant we had to go down some stairs on to the tarmac, i.e. not through the advertised gate, that was a bit confusing. The flight to Sacramento was very quick when we got going, maybe 30 minutes – no time for refreshments for sure. Baggage reclaim was in the public area at SMF, the shuttle bus to the car hire centre operated from outside the terminal building and whisked me over to my Chevrolet Aveo.My trusty sat nav got me to my hotel quite comfortably. I was at the hotel before 7pm – so that was about 25 hours after I got up to start my journey in Newport. I went to an Outback Steakhouse across the road from the hotel (Best Western, Expo Inn) and had steak & jacket potato (dressed with bacon & chives only), side salad and unlimited diet coke (4 large glasses) I tipped $4 on a $19 bill. I then grabbed a few hours sleep.
