Oh crap.

Saturday, July 9^th, 2016

Hastings, UK / Salisbury, UK

It’s 11am BST and I am coming up on 12 hours of blissful sleep. My AirBnB flat is cool, dark, and quiet, three adjectives that do not describe my home in the midst of the LA summer. I’m on day 4 of a 3 week trip to the UK to catch up on recruiting for our office in Battle, UK. This is my first day to sleep in and I feel amazing.

Yesterday I booked a rental car for the weekend with the intention of driving to Stonehenge. I am supposed to pick up the car up at 11am, but I am enjoying sleeping so much that I decide to postpone. 

Around 12noon I finally drag myself out of bed and make a cup of coffee. I drink it black since Europe has yet to discover the joy of half and half. I take some time to watch a few videos on how to drive on roundabouts. I am scared but not willing to abandon my plan.

Before I head out I decide to give the rental company a quick call to let them know I running late. As the phone continues to ring I begin to get a sick feeling in my stomach. I quickly Google Enterprise Rent-a-Car in Bexhill and see that they close at 11am. Oh crap.

I call the main line at Enterprise and explain my situation. The girl in the call center is helpful and lets me know that they have a similar (but more expensive) car in Brighton. They will reserve it, but I have to pick it up by 3pm. Okay, no problem. I quickly Google how to get to Brighton and realize it’s 2 hours away. It's 1pm now. Oh crap.

I decided to make a run for it. I call the Hastings Cab company and beg them to drive me to Brighton, they say no and politely suggest that I take the train like any reasonable person would do in the UK. A very accommodating driver takes me to the train station where I buy a ticket to Brighton and hold my breath the entire ride. Eventually in Brighton, I blot off of the train and into another taxi, which begrudgingly drives me about half a block to Enterprise Rent-a-Car. I fly through the door at 3pm sharp.

The staff at the rental car company are very sweet. It may have something to do with the fact that I am renting an absurdly expensive vehicle (it’s the only car available with an automatic transmission). As it turns out, renting a car in the UK is actually easier than renting one in the US. I show the attendant my California driver's license, sign one form and I am shown to my diesel Mazda station wagon. Ah man, this is going to be fun.

I start off by attempting to get into the “wrong” side of the car. Next, it takes the attendant and me a full 5 minutes to find the ebrake release. She also helps me set up the GPS device.

Okay. I take a deep breath. It’s time to go.

Right out of the gate I turn left onto a one-way street. This is strange, but not terrible since I am also on the “wrong” side of the car. My next turn is underneath a small overpass. BANG. My passenger side mirror has slammed into the side of the bridge. I immediately turn left to get off the main road and pull over. I end up driving up a big hill and onto a narrow road into a residential area. Shit. I keep driving. Eventually I find an open spot and clumsily parallel park.

My passenger’s side mirror is pushed up against the car (it's okay though it has a mechanism to fold inwards when hit). I pull it back out with no harm done. Onto the next problem. The mirror is hanging out of the frame and has been bumping up against the side of the car. It’s hanging on by 2 small wires. I follow my instincts and attempt to push the mirror back into the frame using force. I can see that some plastic parts are broken but there is a lot exposed glue and it seems to be sticking. Thank goodness. I climb back into the car, shut the door, and CRASH. The mirror falls out of the frame again.

I climb back out. 

Upon closer examination I determine that the mirror won’t stick back in its original position. I see that the 2 wires connecting it to the frame are easily disconnected. I disconnect them and place the mirror in the glove box. I’m not sure what I’m going to do about this, but I am going to Stonehenge first. More determined than ever I climb back into the car.

I’m now at least twice as scared as I was this morning, but I am also twice as determined. I turn on the car and begin to drive according to the GPS directions. I am going slowly, but not hitting anything.

The roads in Brighton are narrow and scary but there are also a lot of cars so it’s easy to stay in the correct lane. Eventually I get out of town on onto a small farm road that is heading east. This seems easier. Maybe there won’t be very many roundabouts. Only a few minutes later I hit my first one.

I am ready for this. I enter the roundabout driving in a clockwise direction and stay in the outside lane. That lane automatically exits on the first exit, it's okay though, that’s where I wanted to go.

Whew. I can do this.

I continue down the road and hit a seemingly endless stream of roundabouts. For a lot of them I simply need to take the first exit, which is not a problem. However, for a few I need to take the 2nd or 3rd exit. I know that I am supposed to enter on the inside lane and then move to the outside lane when it's time to exit, but I can’t really bring myself to do this. Instead I continue to enter on the outside lane and exit on the first exit. From there I drive down the street, make a U turn, re-enter the roundabout on the outside, and then exit again on the first exit. It’s a time consuming way of making progress. But it’s progress.

I continue down various country roads. I am gripping the steering wheel with 2 hands and have the radio on silent. Stonehenge closes at 8pm and I should be there by 6pm.

Around 6:15pm I arrive at Stonehenge. I cannot believe that I made it. I go to check in and am surprised that the ticketing windows are closed. There is a sign on the outside stating that the last ticket is sold at 6pm. Crap.

Oh well, I am planning on staying in Salisbury and can see it tomorrow.

Soon I am on the road again. Salisbury is only about 30 minutes away and I have already booked a room at the Red Lion Inn. I spend a ridiculously long time trying to figure out where to park the car in Salisbury and eventually found an overnight lot on the outside of town. I spend another 20 minutes trying to figure out how to pay for parking. It turns out to be free.

I make a quick stop at a store on the way to the hotel. I purchase super glue. I am hoping to repair the car mirror before tomorrow evening. A situation that is still giving me great anxiety. 

Around 7:30pm I finally arrive at my hotel. I drop my bag in my room and immediately start looking for a dinner spot. There is a Nandos across the street and I really want to go there, but instead, I pick an old pub from the 1200s called Haunch of Venison. The pub is adorable and the server is unbelievably nice and charming. I sit quietly and read my book while I wait for my venison stew.

After dinner it is getting dark and the town is eerily empty. I decide to go back to my Inn / Pub for an English Guinness. I spend another hour or so working on my laptop and drinking Guinness on the patio. Around 9:30pm I head up to my room for bed.

The Inn is pretty old and even with my window open, it's terribly hot inside. I try my best to sleep. I have a big day planned for tomorrow. It will be Stonehenge Attempt #2.