Wayfaring Day 185

NEW YEARS EVE

December 31, 2025 Wednesday

We were up at 3:30am and to our uber ride by 4:15. We arrive at the Dublin airport with plenty of time to navigate the Ryanair bag check area and then security. It was mostly an uneventful check in and we were in the terminal almost two hours before our departure.

We were, of course, at the last gate in the terminal which seems to happen to us a disproportionate percentage of our flights. Ryanair has no jetways here so it was a very cold walk to the plane. Riding Ryanair was like riding a bus in that no one really settled in but rather talked (somewhat loudly) and stayed active for the 34 minute flight to Liverpool. Even the flight attendants and pilots spoke quickly and made little effort to worry about our comfort or anything else that other flight attendants seem to be concerned about.

Our arrival at Liverpool was easy enough as it is a small airport and since few people check bags there were only a handful of us at the baggage claim. We headed for the signs that said customs and exit. We were surprised that we found ourselves in the terminal right in front of a door to the outside. It was odd to not have to show passports or be asked any questions upon entry into the UK. We walked outside about 200 yards to the car rental even though we knew we were early. The rental area is small and very simple. The ladies working the counter were both very friendly and helpful. They allowed us to leave our bags in the lobby area and took our phone number so they could call us to come back once there was an available car. They suggested we switch to a petrol powered car instead of the electric car we had reserved. That was fine with us since that is more familiar.

Next came the real adventure/challenge: driving in the UK. Amy navigated while David drove. We found that having someone help with directions and turns is most helpful. Two people helping would be even better. That way one person can do the job of watching the navigation. It is odd to drive on the left and it required a lot of concentration to make sure you not only turn into the correct lane but also to look for oncoming traffic from the wrong lane or direction. The more difficult part was having the steering wheel on the right. The fact that you are meeting traffic and must do so quite closely on the narrow streets is much different as is trying to not get to close to the curb on the left side. The freeway driving was much easier with all the traffic moving one direction and driving in wide lanes. The left hand exits a not unheard of in the states but they basically are all left here of course. The merging onto the freeway hasn’t been very difficult probably because UK drivers are much more the master of the merge. To make matters worse on the narrow streets, everyone parks on the street with some or sometimes all of their car in your lane. This means having to drive very close to these parked cars or possibly even stop to allow oncoming cars to pass first. This is where being a non local is the most problematic. Driver here are used to the tight quarters and having to look out for oncoming traffic that passes with inches of your mirrors. As of today we have not lost or destroyed a mirror but we have seen many that have been. Hitting the occasional curb is a different story.

We stopped at Dunham Massey an estate under the care of the National Trust. We toured the grounds, gardens and the exterior of the stables, house and mill. The pond here was icing over as was the fountain near the visitors center. It was quite cold so we were not too sad that we had a limited amount of time to wander the grounds. The costs was £20 and included parking. As cold as it was there were still many people there and many with their dogs.

The drive from Dunham Massey was picturesque as we crossed the Pennines and made one more stop in the small town of Marsden where we took a look at the canal tunnel ante local church. Then we continued our harrowing drive to Huddersfield.

We arrived at our hosts home around 3:00pm. They greeted us, introduced us to the pets and gave us a tour of the house. The rest of the evening we spent having our hosts explain procedures and details concerning the house and the pets. Our host made us a dinner of an English style stew which was very good indeed. She made mashed potatoes and Yorkshire pudding to go with the brothy beef stew. We talked until pretty late but none of us stayed up to see in the new year.