and we’re off!

Booked taxi from Ronia cabs to get to Heathrow T1. Arrived in good time so at bag drop (already checked in online) at 09:40. All done, through passport control and security and looked for a bite to eat. The ideal solution was coffee and porridge with honey from Prêt a Manger; it was good porridge too.
Flight 729 from US Airways (Airbus A330) took off a little late at 1 P.M. but as the Captain said, in his thorough chat to the plane, ‘we are taking off to the West so should get a clear shot outta here’.  There had been some rain whilst waiting to board but this cleared and so I got good views of the M25, the reservoirs and the Savill Garden Building with its distinctive wooden roof. Soon after that however we headed into clouds and didn’t see much sign of land until our descent into Philadelphia. During the flight I made good use of the in flight entertainment via the personal screens. I squeezed in three films; Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland, typical Tim Burton style and imagination with Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter and a host of British actors playing characters or voices  (Barbara Windsor – Dormouse, Christopher Lee – Jabberwocky, Timothy Spall, Paul Whitehouse and Matt Lucas as Tweedledee and Tweedledum). Also, watched Pixar’s UP and the remake of Clash of the Titans which has a cheeky reference to the original Ray Harryhausen original.
Once at Philly it took 45 minutes to get through US immigration owing to the large numbers arriving together;. At least my bag was waiting for me at the reclaim once I got through. Dumped the bag straight back into the internal transfers area and checked in for the domestic flight to Seattle. This was another Airbus (A320) but did not have any in flight entertainment so stuck to reading, watching the Northern states pass underneath and eat the Turkey Pita I had bought at Philadelphia.  There were drinks provided on the flight but I think the two cups of coffee made any attempts to snooze nigh on impossible.
Landed at 9 P.M. local time and collected bag ( no passport control of course) then got the free shuttle to my accommodation for the next two nights, the Red Roof Inn. This is very close to the airport so an easy transfer, minimal unpacking and sleep in the enormous king size bed.