P.S.

The following morning at the hotel there were several of us left and Richard Walsh from Ireland was actually continuing the ride for two more days to get down to Providence, Rhode Island, so we wished him all the best. I said goodbye to Sarge and he gave me the flag of Trinidad and Tobago that had flown on the back of his bike all the way across. Then a farewell to Al who was flying to Germany after another week in the US, then riding home to Munich from Hamburg. LA John and Gary were the next to go as they were in a different van to Alan, myself, Piet and Hetty because we were heading for the International Terminal in Boston. Finally a goodbye to Steve Foley who was going to spend a bit more time in the US before returning to Tasmania.
Christine and Gerrard drove us to the airport and after saying goodbye and a big thank you to them we set about getting the pedals off Hetty and Piet's bikes so they could pack them. Fortunately I happened to have a pedal spanner on me, as you do, so the job was done fairly easily. It was now about 8.30am and the flight to the UK for Alan and I was due to take off at 7.45pm, so we had a bit of time to spare, but also two large pieces of luggage each. It turned out that there was nowhere to leave luggage in the airport, but Alan being a resourceful chap, found that if we lugged the lot of it over to a nearby Hilton hotel we could leave it there for the day for a modest sum, take the hotel shuttle to the T (underground train) and get the T into town for a look around. So we did.
It was cool, overcast and the clouds were at times obscuring the tops of the high rise office blocks, but we looked at most things, followed the 'Freedom Trail' with its line of red bricks and in doing so saw a lot of historical sites. Also saw the amphibious 'duck' craft that do tours of the city both on land and in the bay. I was tempted to go on a tour, but the weather was poor so the photographs would not have been great and also it wasn't very warm, so out on the sea in that thing we could easily have got hypothermia. Instead we intrepid Brits went for a hot chocolate and a pastry.
After a bit more wandering about, lunch and a shower or two of rain we decided to get back to the airport in plenty of time for the flight. We needn't have rushed as the news when we did get back was not good. Due to the thunderstorm now raging around the airport our plane had bunked off to Hartford, Connecticut and was going to be delayed by around 3 hours. We found Hetty and Piet and said goodbye to them just before they boarded, but their flight was delayed a little while the 747 sat on the apron waiting for a 'window' in the weather, but they did at least get away.
Meanwhile we kept a close eye on the 'departures' screen and waited for announcements regarding the antics of our plane coming up from Hartford. Time stretched on and finally we were delayed over 5 hours, getting off just after mid-night. I was looking forward to getting home and seeing Diane and all the family, so a delay was the last thing I wanted.
At 'arrivals' Diane and Alan's wife had met up and it was good to see them. Alan and I said 'au revoir' as I feel there is a good chance we will be meeting up for more rides. Diane drove home, as my mind was still on the other side of the road, and then it really was all over.