Fighting our way out of London

Brent - When it became time to depart London, Steve and I left the hotel to walk to the tube station to take the subway to the Avis pick up point. The tube system that had been so easy the day before suddenly became much more complicated. It seems that most major maintenance on the subway system is performed on the weekend, and the entire line near the hotel was closed for repairs.
After checking with other folks at the station, we walked about mile or so to the next station, where we caught a bus that took us to yet another station where trains were actually running. Once on the train, after a short while, we alighted at Waterloo station, and proceeded to search for the Avis car rental office, which is located 'near the London Eye'. So far we are about an hour behind schedule.
After spotting the Avis office, more by accident than by design, we picked up the car and a GPS system, and started across London back to the Hotel to pick up Karrie and Barbara.
Traffic in London, even on Saturday morning, is a thing to behold. Steve did an excellent job of driving, while in the front passenger seat, it was my job to periodically scream, "Drive on the left side of the road, the LEFT side", and the ever popular, "BRACE FOR IMPACT!!!"
Arriving at the hotel, and kissing the ground, thankful that I was out of the car for a brief period, we stuffed our bags into the back, and followed the GPS on our route out of London. Now that Karrie and Barbara were with us in the back seat, we passed the time singing in 3 part harmony, "My God, My GOD, we are all going to DIE!!!" By the time we finally made it out of London, we were 3 hours behind schedule.
Once on the Motorway (British for Freeway), the hysteria now reduced to managable levels, we enjoyed traveling on a road way that was wide enough that our left hand side mirror no longer ticked against parked cars, while our right hand mirror simultaneously ticked against cars in the oncoming lane.
After several hours of driving, Steve and I swapped out, and I got a chance to experience the joys of driving in the UK, and it was Steve's turn to remind me to "drive on the left hand side of the road. The LEFT side of the road!!!"
Things went uneventfully until I inadvertently took a wrong turn off the motor way, causing us to have to make our way through narrow village roads trying to make our way back the Motor way, when I had to dodge to avoid an oncoming car and bumped into an obstruction, bending a tie rod in the suspension. We spent the next several hours in a charming Scottish pub named the Anchor, waiting for a tow truck. The people were VERY friendly, and VERY helpful. A local mechanic even took a look at our car and confirmed in his expert technical opinion, "Aye, she's knackered, all right." To be continued...