Not A Casual Undertaking

I know--another Christmas post, but aren't we subsumed by The Season?  It's hard to get away from it and everything it dredges up.

Here's a Christmas card my cousin Marion sent from England:

Horseguards Parade

This card made me pine for England, and I began to cook up a plan to make a quick, family-only trip, in April. I called United Airlines, with whom we have frequent flyer miles, to find out about upgrades.  In so many words: forget it.  Try about a year in advance and you might be able to score a confirmed upgrade.  For $795 each, we could fly round-trip Economy in April, and for a mad moment--having many of them these days--I considered it.  But we're old, and we find  transatlantic hours in Economy to be physical torture. 

Is there any way to make a casual trip to England, the way we fly from here to LA or even to New York?  Of course, we'd have to make plans for staying overnight.  But where overnight?  London (expensive)?  With relatives (not a good houseguest)?  How would we get around (renting a car is out, too weenie for British roads)?  Are the passports up to date?  And what about the plug adapters I can't find?

After I spent a half hour at the computer,  the dream evaporated.  And yet all of my family, except for my sister and Jerry, live there.  I keep thinking of my mother, who kept a daily vigil at the mailbox, watching for the fluttery blue airmail letters from her family.

Pub lunch: Jerry and me with  three of my cousins and spouses

Family resemblance?  My cousin Marion and me, Yorkshire