h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

And now, 'twas Thing*! I would be meeting the Thingite Warlord (retired), and storing my luggage in his boot for the day. I may or may not have just made that connection just now

Anyway, I arose in Lofas Towers, and Mol, Kit, and I set out across England to Cambridge. Traveling east to west (or even west to east, which was our actual direction of travel) by train is much more complicated than north/south to south/north. What took us an hour of road time would've taken 2 or 3 by train, and the side trip to see the Eleanor Cross in Geddington wouldn't've happened. The ride, again, was pleasant, and this time, there was terrain change to observe, and a stretch that looked remarkably like the southern Willamette Valley (or at least, like *somewhere* on my family's route between Stayton and Bandon, Oregon). But that bit was *after* Geddington. The Cross was the oldest not-building outdoor thing I had ever seen, up to that point. I was quite impressed. While we were in Geddington, we also checked out the ford from the footbridge that paralleled it--and watched a car drive through it.

We met Clive the flying ostrich just outside Cambridge, and my luggage and myself were transferred into his care. While Mol was in remission, 'twas a fairly recent development, and she was still a bit tired from our trekking the day before. So goodbyes were exchanged again, and off Clive and I went to the parking space he'd reserved near the train station. After locking everything up tight, we were off to meet echomikeromeo for a punt tour of the Cam. The Cam was beautiful, and seeing the Backs of several Cambridge colleges was quite interesting. Would've been more interesting without the punting guide's *ahem* *focus* on the relative wealth of the various colleges but the stories and histories that snuck in around that were good. When we returned to the docks, we learned that the duckweed-choked water between the dock and the bank was roughly armpit-deep on a short woman--an older woman backing up to allow punt passengers to disembark backed up too far She was rescued quickly, and I think was alright--there were several people around her, so I couldn't see, but they didn't sound unduly alarmed...

We had arranged to meet 2legs and W at the Eagle pub, so Clive, EMR and I walked there. On the way, EMR and I discussed the silliness of 2 women from *this* side of the Atlantic meeting for the first time on *that* side of the Atlantic (I may have mentioned the paddle-boat-on-the-Thames thing, too).

Now, meeting 2legs was really the focus of the Cambridge trip. When I first starting planning, over a year ago now, 2legs was doing really very poorly, and no one really knew if he'd be up to going *anywhere* by the time I got there. The growth hormone injections have really made a huge difference, as has going to the gym (yet another bunch of info that's not exactly secret, given that his h2g2 journals give a lot of details). There was no way I was going to go to the UK and *not* meet 2legs--while technically Clive was one of the very first h2g2ers to talk to me (he told me to write something on my PS to open it up for the ACEs while I was changing from a number that I'd "never be able to remember" to my real name, "just 'til I think of something good" --so less than half an hour after I joined!), 2legs is the person that I've consistently talked to online for the longest, and the one that I've spoken with on the phone for the longest (and the most times)--heck, we've been joking about *him* coming to visit *me* since October of 2001! At times, he's been like a younger sibling to me. So not someone that I was going to let anything stop me from seeing. Meeting Clive, EMR, and W was a bonus.

Once we found 2legs and W at the pub, we ordered lunch and settled in to talk. About an hour or so in, EMR had to excuse herself to get to an important appointment. About 20-30 minutes after that, our food finally arrived... Yes, including hers. Which, being a pub, was already paid for...

The original plan after lunch was to go to a museum before going to collect my luggage from Clive's boot and catching the train to Manchester. There was rather less time than we'd counted on, so I wrangled an invitation to 2legs' and W's flat. I... may have just flat-out invited Clive and I to their flat We had a wonderful visit, and I did just manage to catch my train

After the lovely ride through the Peak District, Pastey picked me up at Manchester Piccadilly with the brewery's delivery van. No fear of he luggage not fitting in there I was going to be staying with him and Alabaster while I was in Manchester, and I'd been looking forward to seeing them again--I'd met them when they made their US trip a few years back. Of course, I'd known Pastey back when he and shazz were editing Once my things were in my room, I came back down and we all talked for a bit. I did head up fairly soonish, though, because I had some hiking to do the next day, and sleep would be a good thing...

*Thursday, to nonThingites.