We have now been back in the UK for a couple of months. Resistance was futile and assimilation is complete but it was a much tougher process than even we were expecting. To say that we are a bit unsettled is like saying Adolf Hitler was an Austrian vegetarian.
However, before the final dose of pretentious twaddle let’s fill in the gaps…
The rest of August saw us involved in;
quality time with family and friends – Sunday lunches and goodbyes,
a lot of parking, advertising and increasingly desperate RV selling tactics,
a farewell to Washington DC (our 3rd visit) who groaned as we got ready to fly out,
lots of champagne and a flat bed flight to sleep it off,
England’s cold, grey and damp Bank Holiday weekend welcome home!
Miracles don’t occur that often but imagine our surprise after loosing my camera in Washington only to trace our tracks back on the following day and finding it sitting in the lost property department of a Smithsonian museum… after being handed in. So imagine our elation to find that we were going to be lucky enough to fly out the day before one of the worst hurricanes to hit the east coast and closed everything from Florida to New York. All this excitement followed by the 3rd and final miracle of the day… a 5.8 earthquake while we were sitting in the departure lounge waiting to check in for our flight home. What a surreal experience which started with what felt like a kid rocking our seat backs and finished 20 seconds later with dust and creaking concrete glass and roof panels. In the time it took Jane to enquire “What’s that?” and me to answer “Feels like an earthquake” total confusion ensued. The authorities were not sure what to do, trying to get people out of one door while others continued to stream in another… lots of screaming, worried looks and some crying. What is it about a queue? Some people refused to leave in case they lost their place and me…? I was worried about leaving our luggage piled up in the lounge. Memo to self – when it feels like an earthquake… get the **** out of there, even a seconds delay is pure insanity!
All this gave us a real thirst which could only be quenched with champagne in the Virgin Lounge and on the plane. The flat bed was still virtually impossible to sleep in but as Jane will tell you only a maniac wants to sleep when there is free champagne and new release movies on tap all night long.
It has been good to see all of our children, friends and relatives since we arrived back. September and October in particular have been warm and sunny which has helped but being able to cast a shadow, no longer constitutes contentment - in our blog anyway : )
After a night stay in Jennie (our RV) Julie and David decided out of the blue that they were going to buy her… This was good news as we didn’t want to think of her being owned by just anyone off the street. This effectively draws the whole journey to a conclusion.
As we consider our options for the future we have oh so many memories that will stay with us for ever. Naturally the journey remains a topic of conversation for us although most people are not really that interested. Human nature is such that most people live in their own bubble and although saying that we are always interested in other peoples travels… could simply mean that we to may not have the level of self awareness that we like to think we have : )
Maybe the important thing is the real journey… not the physical 20,000 miles but the emotional, cultural and spiritual one that defines us all. Spending so much time with one person is a make or break process for the majority of relationships. We knew that we would get on… but I think even we were surprised how easy it was to spend 350 days within sight of each other. Actually we did spend 45 mins out of sight when Jane did some shopping while I had a haircut. We think that as a result of the ‘journey’ our relationship is closer, stronger and continues to develop as we as individuals chart roughly parallel courses … quite simply we are more in love than ever. (sob… sob!)
USA 2010/11…. DONE!
However, before the final dose of pretentious twaddle let’s fill in the gaps…
The rest of August saw us involved in;quality time with family and friends – Sunday lunches and goodbyes,
a lot of parking, advertising and increasingly desperate RV selling tactics,
a farewell to Washington DC (our 3rd visit) who groaned as we got ready to fly out,
lots of champagne and a flat bed flight to sleep it off,
England’s cold, grey and damp Bank Holiday weekend welcome home!
Miracles don’t occur that often but imagine our surprise after loosing my camera in Washington only to trace our tracks back on the following day and finding it sitting in the lost property department of a Smithsonian museum… after being handed in. So imagine our elation to find that we were going to be lucky enough to fly out the day before one of the worst hurricanes to hit the east coast and closed everything from Florida to New York. All this excitement followed by the 3rd and final miracle of the day… a 5.8 earthquake while we were sitting in the departure lounge waiting to check in for our flight home. What a surreal experience which started with what felt like a kid rocking our seat backs and finished 20 seconds later with dust and creaking concrete glass and roof panels. In the time it took Jane to enquire “What’s that?” and me to answer “Feels like an earthquake” total confusion ensued. The authorities were not sure what to do, trying to get people out of one door while others continued to stream in another… lots of screaming, worried looks and some crying. What is it about a queue? Some people refused to leave in case they lost their place and me…? I was worried about leaving our luggage piled up in the lounge. Memo to self – when it feels like an earthquake… get the **** out of there, even a seconds delay is pure insanity!
All this gave us a real thirst which could only be quenched with champagne in the Virgin Lounge and on the plane. The flat bed was still virtually impossible to sleep in but as Jane will tell you only a maniac wants to sleep when there is free champagne and new release movies on tap all night long.It has been good to see all of our children, friends and relatives since we arrived back. September and October in particular have been warm and sunny which has helped but being able to cast a shadow, no longer constitutes contentment - in our blog anyway : )
After a night stay in Jennie (our RV) Julie and David decided out of the blue that they were going to buy her… This was good news as we didn’t want to think of her being owned by just anyone off the street. This effectively draws the whole journey to a conclusion.As we consider our options for the future we have oh so many memories that will stay with us for ever. Naturally the journey remains a topic of conversation for us although most people are not really that interested. Human nature is such that most people live in their own bubble and although saying that we are always interested in other peoples travels… could simply mean that we to may not have the level of self awareness that we like to think we have : )
Maybe the important thing is the real journey… not the physical 20,000 miles but the emotional, cultural and spiritual one that defines us all. Spending so much time with one person is a make or break process for the majority of relationships. We knew that we would get on… but I think even we were surprised how easy it was to spend 350 days within sight of each other. Actually we did spend 45 mins out of sight when Jane did some shopping while I had a haircut. We think that as a result of the ‘journey’ our relationship is closer, stronger and continues to develop as we as individuals chart roughly parallel courses … quite simply we are more in love than ever. (sob… sob!)USA 2010/11…. DONE!
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