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Did I Say Home or Home Depot?

Saturday, February 13th, 2010

To quote a little old school LL, “ I’m going back to Cali.”   Our renter moved out and we are spending a few weeks cleaning, painting, and generally fixing up the place before we have new carpet installed.  It’s a lot of work and so strange to be doing it after just arriving back in the OC.  It’s been a week of trying to re-connect with our former life and see what has changed and what hasn’t.  The paint aisle at HD is still in the same place, by the way.

Most of our stuff is in a long term storage pod.  It won’t be delivered to our house until after we’re ready with the flooring.  In the meantime, we had left a few last minute things in a closet at one of those public storage garages.  I remember putting a few clothes, our bikes, an air mattress and a some dishes and pans in there just before we left.  It now seems like ages ago, but it was fun to rediscover it all.  After living for the last 15 months out of just one bag with a few T-shirts, it was weirdly exciting to find my wardrobe doubled in one day.  And I have a washing machine again!

Aside from shock that it’s over, which I haven‘t really thought about yet, there are little things that I need to get used to. I keep going to my bag to get my toothbrush, forgetting that it’s got a home now setting on the bathroom sink and I don’t have to re-pack it every morning.

Even though my blogs won’t be coming to you from exotic destinations anymore, I hope you’ll all keep reading.  While I reintegrate back into normal society, I intend to keep writing.  I have some thoughts about travel, “rules” that we learned along the way, as well some advice and “product reviews” of things we took with us.  That should keep me busy while I wait for the next coat of “Swiss Coffee” to dry.

One thing that has changed…  the tree we planted before we left now has limes!  Seems like a little guacamole and Pacifico are in our future.

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Heading Home

Wednesday, February 3rd, 2010

The last week has been a re-adjustment to being back in the US.  We spent our time in Arizona visiting both of our families and chowing down on some good Mexican food, burgers, and a belated Thanksgiving turkey dinner.

We also spent quite a bit of time setting things up to move back into our house in California.  We rented it out while we were traveling, but there are still lots of utilities and accounts that need to be reinitiated before we get there. 

It wasn’t all “work” this week though.  We managed to find some time to visit the Desert Museum and my parents’ jacuzzi, as well as climb Picacho Peak.  We are really sad to hear that this wonderful trail will be closing in June due to budget cuts.  If you are in southern Arizona between now and then, give it a try.  It’s got a few tricky parts (bring gloves for the cables), but the view from the top is stunning. 

This trail also got us thinking about how it compares to some of the things we’ve seen in the last year.  It’s a great hike, but we started to discount it because it’s “in our backyard.”  I realized we need to judge places based on how our experience really is, and not just on whether it’s in an exotic location.  Interesting museums, trails, views, people, and food might turn up anywhere, so any travel, even a day trip in your own state, has the potential to be memorable.  Get out there.

Next week it’s back to our home state – California, here we come! 

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Game Over

Monday, January 18th, 2010

It’s with mixed feelings that I write this post.  I knew this day was coming for a long time, but it’s different when it’s actually here.  We are en route back to the USA.  It’s been 15 months on the road, but I can’t believe how fast it has gone by.  I don’t think we’ve really had time to absorb and process everything that we’ve seen and done.  While I’m looking forward to getting some good old American food (tell In-n-Out Burger that we’re on the way), I think it will also be good to have some time to reflect.

We had one final surprise on the first leg of the long trip back.  JAL might be going bankrupt, but they get good marks from me.  They upgraded our tickets and I got Seat Number 1.  Sweet…. 

We’ll keep blogging for a while even after we get home, so please keep reading.

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One (or Two) Night in Bangkok

Monday, January 18th, 2010

We finished up our time lounging on the beaches in Krabi and flew back to Bangkok for 2 final nights.  Everyone has an opinion about Bangkok, but it’s hard to describe and it can be whatever you want to make it.  Yes, it has a seedy side, but there are also peaceful temples, high-end malls, and crazy markets.  You don’t have to search very hard to find whatever it is you are looking for.  We spent our time picking up those last minute buys at the night bazaar and negotiating with unscrupulous taxi drivers.  Next stop: USA!

Here’s the menu for the “restaurant” on one of the islands near Krabi.  Meals on wheels it’s not, but maybe Thai by tide?

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Sunset on our travels

Tuesday, January 12th, 2010

We left the north and its hot, spicy Khao Soi noodles behind to head for the just plain hot weather in Krabi.  We’re spending our last days of travel hanging out by pool, snorkeling, and just being tourists . It’s a little weird after more than a year to be in “vacation” mode.  Since I don’t have to worry about dragging around a huge, heavy bag much longer I can actually shop and pick up a few souvenirs.  Things here are pretty inexpensive so it’s nice to be able to “splurge” on organized tours occasionally, or go out for sunset drinks.  Here’s the view of the long tails moored up for the night:

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