July 30 - There's No Place Like Home

(John) Well, we made it. We got home last night at about 7:30pm local. Of course, my body felt like it was about 5am because I'm still on continental Europe time.

The final flight from Chicago to Seattle was like riding in a school bus. We were surrounded by screaming, crying, laughing, playing children. Usually, I have no problems with kids (a teacher shouldn't) but after 16 hours in trains, plains, and airports, the last thing I wanted was a grumpy 2 year old crying and kicking the back of my seat.

It feels good to be home in Seattle. The trip was beyond wonderful, and we will be heading off on new European travels in two or three years, but this long trip also reminded me to appreciate my home town, our house, and of course, our four legged children. Sharla took good care of our home. It felt terrific to walk into the house, be greeted by an excited dog and find everything in order.

Over the next few days I'm going to go back and add pictures to each of my postings. So, if you're interested in seeing the places and not just reading about them, you can go back through the postings and get a better idea of what we saw and did. Then, of course, there will be the multi part epic video. Those of you who have seen my home movies know what I'm talking about. For now, it's time to catch up on mail, bills, yardwork, groceries, and more.

The next trip is this coming December: our first cruise (Mexico). After that, the Canadian Rocky Mountains (summer 2006), and then probably Japan (December of 2006.)

Stay tuned!