Then we were off to baggage claim and finally to the "car park" to pick up the rental. We didn't realize we would be given a manual transmission. So, in addition to learning to drive on the left side of the road, Ron got learn to shift with his left hand. We exited the car park into rush hour traffic. I'd rate the London rush hour traffic right up there with Los Angeles or the SF Bay Area. Did I mention that by this time Ron hadn't slept in over 24 hours?
Our GPS system took us to a community southwest of London where there was lush green forest right along the roadside and beautiful brick and stone houses with white mullioned windows and slumped roofs. Unfortunately it was in the opposite direction to where we wanted to go. The plan was to visit Stonehenge on the way to Bath.
When we finally got turned around and headed in the right direction on the major highway, traffic just crept along for miles. Did I mention that Ron was shifting gears...with his left hand? At one point we literally stayed in one place for more than a half hour. It was so bad that some cars were just pulling to the side of the road. Some small children just couldn't hold it any longer and some cars presumably ran out of fuel. By this time it was starting to get dark and had begun to rain. Stonehenge would have to wait for another day.
We passed what had been the problem a few more miles down the road...a tow truck that had burned up completely. At 8:30 pm we pulled off the road to a Moto for a quick dinner. The Moto is similar to what they have on the east coast of the U.S. where there are gas stations and fast food options. At 10:30 we rolled into the Holiday Inn Express in Bath. It had been a very, very long day.
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