Jennifer and I successfully navigated our 14' Uhaul across 2300 miles of land in the good ol' U.S. of A and have arrived safely in Indiana. We've been here about a week now and have settled into a routine of relaxing, satellite TV watching and general laziness. It's a good we're only Indiana a month otherwise we'd soon end up too fat for Asian trekking.

Our roadtrip from Portland to Indiana went without a hitch, but wasn't as exciting as our initial trip out to Portland four long years ago. Since we were in a Uhaul (which we quickly realized was much like a giant sailboat blowing across lanes of I80) and hauling Peema Kat tucked in between us, we decided to pass up on all the quirky roadside attractions we worked hard to visit on the first trip. The boyhood home of that Depression-era idol President Hoover will just have to wait until next time.

Although I can't say Peema enjoyed the trip as much as us, she did develop a certain affection for sneaking ninja-style into hotels and claiming one of the double beds for herself. While on the road she quickly adopted a technique of glaring straight ahead and thinking vile thoughts about us. It's a good thing she can't talk because I think she probably has a mouth like a drunken pirate.

Thus far in Indiana we have been spending some time with Jennifer's family on the farm just outside Mt. Ayr, Indiana. (Pull out your Indiana road atlas. Find Indianapolis...it's in the middle. Now make your way west until you find Lafayette...that's where Purdue is. Now go North and look for a little town called Rensselaer. Look around there until you find a dot labeled "Mt. Ayr." Now look at the empty space next to Mt. Ayr. That's where we are.) So far we've been content to spend our days watching satellite television, eating and watching Peema adjust to new surroundings. Luckily, we've enjoyed it so far because there's nothing else to do when you don't have a car.

After a few more days here, we'll be heading to my hometown which is in Nappanee, Indiana. (This time start up north and find South Bend. Go southeast about 25 miles and you should find it. We have Amish people there.) Time with my family should go much the same as time with Jennifer's (as they also have a satellite.) There is a little more to do there though and instead of Peema we'll have a Great Dane to occupy our times. My sister is pregnant and due sometime in the next 15 minutes or so. That means we'll spend quite a bit of our Nappanee time telling people that the baby has her eyes and his ears when in actuality it will just look like a newborn potato.

All of this Indiana family time is nice for us before we head out on the Big Trip, but we're really eager to get going. Indiana has its charms and you have to love family (no, really...you have to,) but Hong Kong has that, as the French say, "I don't know what" that seems to pull at us a bit stronger than corn fields and country-fried everything.

Alas, it will come soon enough I suppose. For now, we must learn to focus on what is currently on our plate and know that dessert will come soon enough.

-- Shawn

p.s. Oh! I just realized that I left out the "Tiger" part of the clever title to this entry. The story goes that several days ago there was a truck accident on nearby I65. Apparently a semi was hauling a tiger down to the Louisville Zoo in Kentucky when the accident occured and now they are short one large, orange feline. The truck driver decided he'd forgo mentioning his cargo at the time, but now there have been numerous sightings of a tiger stalking the cornfields carrying a deer carcass in its mouth. According to my reliable source (the in-laws of the sister of the photographer that took some portraits of us this morning), a game warden was out earlier and said it was still safe to wander the woods, but you should keep your gun with you and if you do happen to run into the tiger, just go ahead and shoot it. Apparently the Louisville Zoo isn't particular about the health of the animals they put on display.