I took a last look at the persimmon tree in our back yard before we left to drive to SFO, and it’s starting to show fruit. I wonder what it’ll look like when we get home?

Right now, we’re in the BA lounge, waiting for our flight to Heathrow. They say it’s going to be an uncrowded flight – we were the only people on the TSA PreCheck line, which is a good sign (Diane still got tagged for a “random search”, but I think it’s because they were bored).

The lounge is fairly empty, too – we’ve had more BA people actively helping us than I’ve experienced before. I asked about the Matlow candy that they have and one of the senior people found out where they source it (Nassau Candy Company) and that it was easy for civilians to order in small quantities from Wal-Mart. She said that the cherry candies vanish quickly once the lounge opened and brought me a handful to take with me!

AmaWaterways usually sends out a pre-trip kit with documents, luggage tags, a book about the area of the cruise, and a bag or two. We didn’t get one before our Douro River cruise (and I really didn’t miss it). But we were promised one for our Africa trip – and promised and promised and promised….

Last night, FedEx said they’d be delivering the package by Priority Overnight mail and it came just before lunch. Not only did they include the documents I expected, yet more luggage tags, a book about southern Africa, and a couple of bags, but it also had the first details I’d seen about our intra-Africa flights – it’s comforting to know where we’ll be going!

Packing took longer than I expected, even allowing for the usual problems. I discovered I had run out of intradental toothbrushes, so I drove over to the nearby CVS to pick up a package.

They were out. So was Walgreens. And Target. I finally found them at Walmart, but by the time I’d gotten there, I’d spent an hour driving and shopping. At least I got to catch up on my tech podcasts while I was searching!