It’s nearly over…….
Tuesday, November 3rd, 2009
Can’t believe to
day is the final day of our adventure. In some ways it seeems as if we’ve just left NZ but then when I think of all the things we’ve done they seem so long ago.
We’ve just spent 3 nights back around LA. On the 31st we were in the outskirts of LA and it was Halloween. That was a real cultural experience! It’s so big over here and we decided to get in on the act. In NZ we don’t ever get into it – we don’t like what it celebrates and it just doesn’t seem like an NZ tradition. Over here though it’s a real part of American life. People go to a pumpkin patch and pick their pumpkins, or buy them at the supermarket and lots of houses are decorated. There were even pumpkins outside RV’s in the RV parks!
The girls decided they wanted to trick or treat but we didn’t want to go crazy and get costumes so they got creative and wore undies on their heads and over their clothes and just generally made themselves look ridiculous. They put signs on their backs saying “We come from Down Undie!(New Zealand). We drove to a new subdivision, very desperate housewives looking, and parked the RV and joined in with the other American families. It was quite a laugh. Lots of the houses had full-on Halloween parties happening with amazing(horrible) decorations all over their houses. The girls got some really funny comments and they explained that they were travelling and come from NZ. We had some cool conversations with people. As you can imagine the girls ended up with a bucket full of candy and were very happy.
As we were were walking along in the dark behind them and all of the other childrten and parents, I couldn’t help but think of the amazing experiences we’ve had this year. Such extremes, from Nepal watching a Buddhist prayer flag ceremony in a village high in the Himalayas to now experiencing American Halloween! Also the extremes of poverty and wealth. Having seen subsistence farmers struggling to just survive in Nepal and parts of South-East Asia and then to see some the richest cities in the world.
Speaking of wealth and extravagance, we couldn’t come to the States without doing Disneyland. Yesterday was the day and it was awesome. Once we recovered from the cost of the tickets we made the most of every moment and hardly even stopped for lunch(sandwiches made from the last of our supplies!)We had a parkhopper pass and first went to California land and the to Disneyland. The big girls loved all the scary rides and I spent more time with Charlotte on the fun rides. It was just as I imagined it, fun, magical and over-the-top, full of BIG American people with all sorts of mickey ears on their heads. We were waiting at the gates for it to open and left at closing. The queues were not bad at all, maybe because it was the Monday after Halloween and everyone had been for the big Halloween celebrations.
So a great day, a fitting end to what we can only describe as a trip of a lifetime, adventure that we loved every minute of. OK that’s not quite true, there were the odd bad days, but no more than back at home! Right now we’re all looking towards home and thinking and planning about what’s next and that’s quite exciting.
Thank you all for your interest in our travels. We’ve really appreciated your comments and e-mails. We can’t wait to catch up with you all in person and we promise to not bore you with too many details of our trip and long slide shows.(They can be arranged though if requested!)
See you soon!!!!
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kim