Onward!

First and most importantly, TJ and I are now safely in the US, back in the still-familiar city of Colorado Springs. Now, the getting here part was … less enjoyable.

Our final day and night in the UK was spent exactly how anyone would want to spend it, urgently cleaning as much of the flat as we could whilst the clearing company hauled away our stuff for the low, low price of £600. Then came the frantic re-juggling of weight in the luggage to try and keep BA from charing an over-weight fee. Then we blasted off to a hotel and collapsed, spending way to much on Room Service because neither of us could be arsed to actually leave the room or actually move very much.

Newcastle Airport was still much easier than a lot of places to fly out of, both in terms of check-in and security screening, though I did still manage to keep my streak of getting a pat-down because apparently the leggings I was wearing were not quite tight enough around my right ankle. Uh huh. Granted, both our bags also got security screenings, because there was a ‘dense object’ in mine (shockingly, yes, ceramics can be rather dense) and there was a ‘possible residue’ on the laptop in TJ’s bag.

The first leg of the trip was smooth. We left on time, had an easy ride, and got to Heathrow nearly 18 minutes early. Heathrow, on the other hand … We landed at a ‘bus gate’ which meant we got to walk off the plane to the tarmac, where a bus took us on what was apparently a sight-seeing tour of Heathrow before finally dropping us as Terminal 5. More precisely, Terminal 5A, which was of course immensely helpful for our departure from Terminal 5C.

I think the highlight of the Heathrow experience was getting invited to the pre-boarding call (sunflower lanyard), getting downstairs to the actual jetway, and then being told the flight was delayed because apparently they were missing one of the pilots. So we waited, for like, an hour, and when TJ asked to sit down in one of the wheelchairs that were right there they said no, we would have to go back upstairs. It was a classic mix of the courtesy and kindness I expect from Heathrow Airport and the high quality of British Airways.

But we made it. That’s the point. We made it. And in a very pleasant bit of surprise, at Denver International Airport (DIA) the sunflower lanyard was much more widely recognised, enough so that a shuttle that was transporting someone with mobility issues also offered TJ and I a ride because they were so shaky after the bumpy landing. US passport control was amazingly smooth and easy, and we reunited with our daughter after far too long.

And then what? Well, I took care of Didi-fying my Social Security number, had an amazingly friendly and helpful person at my bank finally get that name updated as well, and took and passed my driving permit test. The only annoyance so far (other than the general annoyance at evil orange monkey-man) is that while the US government recognises a Deed Poll for name changes, the state of Colorado does not. This just means that while my gender is correct on my driving permit, the name on it belongs to a dead guy until I can get a Colorado Court to validate my name.

We’re here. We’re more relaxed and happier than we have been in a long time, probably at least since when the Tories attacked the visa system in the UK at the end of 2023. New adventures await. ONWARD!