New batteries fitted

36,974 air miles and we are back home in time for the partial eclipse of the sun. It may be the first day of spring but having spent two months in the sun it feels like winter! The mini definitely agrees as it reluctantly started yesterday and then refused to start at the shops so Sue had to bring the other car so we could jump start it. Bought a battery charger and charged all night but still no good. One new battery later and we are back working.

We are in Dallas just about to board our last flight of the trip, this is number 17! The flight from San Jose was on an MD80 which was first flown in 1980 and the plane feels that old. It is strange having 2 seats on one side and 3 on the other. Why does the plane not become unbalanced? The engines are attached to the tail rather than the wings, all in all a strange plane. The last two weeks staying with Vic and Jenny has been wonderful thanks to our great h...

Up early this morning for a game of golf with Steven Langford where experience prevailed over youth. In the afternoon we went to Cupertino to visit Wayne and Joan who cooked us a delicious dinner. Wayne and I worked on HP's first word processor in 1980 in Cupertino. The HP campus we worked on has now been sold to Apple who are build a huge headquarters for 15,000 people on the site. We had so much to catch up on that 6 hours flew by.

Today was the first of two HP reunion days. We drove along highway 49, the original gold country route to meet up with Graham, Cathy and Fran who were fellow Brits who came with us to California in 1980 and now live in California along with Vic and Jenny. It was great to catch up over a lovely lunch made by Cathy and look around their 5 acre property with 4 llamas, a sheep, two dogs and three cats!