Boulder to London

On Wednesday morning, I woke early to pack my bag before being picked up by the chauffer. The pickup was scheduled for 6:45, but I wasn’t sleeping that well so I got out of bed around 5:45. I was wishing that I had packed the night before, but how long can that actually take when you’re only going for a day? I pulled a suit out of the closet, a few shirts, a tie and my running gear. I’m always optimistic on trips like this about getting a workout in, but it rarely happens. There was no reason not to get a workout in on this trip. We arrived early enough to have dinner and get to bed early and the time zone change would have me up well before our 8AM meeting. I got my things ready, took a shower and was ready to go when the driver called.

My colleague Chris had already been picked up and was in the car when it pulled up. The drive to the airport was nice. We were flying Virgin Atlantic and part of their package is a ride to and from your destination. It is a great feature. They check you in for your flight from a handheld in the car and drop you off at a special entrance that lets you get through a priority security line without delay. We got up to the lounge about an hour before the flight. The lounge was different than most airport lounges I’d been in. It was decorated like a night club, complete with pool tables, a bar, TV’s, etc. They had a spa inside where you could make appointments for spa services, and I believe there was a workout center in there as well. These were all great features that seemed to be in line with the Virgin brand. The plane was no different. The seats laid out into a full bed, which was actually not that comfortable since it was too small for my 6’2 frame. Chris and I were on the upper deck, but there was a bar area where you could go and have a drink on the lower deck. Since it was a morning flight, I didn’t really sleep too much, but rather caught up on reading and watched a few movies. We made it across the pond safely and were at the hotel by 3:00 or so. The rest of the day was pretty uneventful. We had a quick teleconference, a few beers at the bar and dinner at a chain sort of place that was pretty mediocre. I was happy to be in bed early and woke up around 5AM as expected. I got up, went for a quick run and went downstairs to get a bite to eat.

The rest of the day was spent preparing for our meeting and presenting to our client. The meeting went pretty well, but we have some follow up work to do on a few items. We left their conference room around 4:00, went back to the hotel for our bags and a quick beer, and then headed back to the airport. The flight home was pretty easy as well. I put on my “sleep suit”, had some dinner, laid out the bed and woke up about an hour or so from London. I was back at my flat about 52 hours after I first left and have spent most of today catching up on a few things. Now I can spend the weekend relaxing with Melisse. She had her first week of classes this week and has absolutely loved it. I can’t wait to hear all about it!  Maybe she’ll post something this weekend about her experience!