Rylie and I arrived home safe and sound on Wednesday afternoon our new reality, following our first solo flight without her dad, and we even lucked out by not having the middle seat taken by a stranger. Sweet deal. But, in exchange for personal space and a toddler buffer on the plane we were compensated for in the form of germs from the airport. Though I was tedious in my preflight seat decontamination, I could not have possibly wiped all the surfaces that Rylie touched in the airport during our wait to board the plane, so I would expect a slip up in hand hygiene along the way, for this to have happened. Though, I am also not ruling out that split second I caught her licking an airport seat at the gate. Ack! So, I guess we were both to blame for this nasty week of congestion and nose wiping….Even poor grandma became a victim of this ugly California cold.

Josh arrived en suit just 2 days later after some very long hours on the road, hauling the truck and trailer, with his “noble steed” the labrador as co pilot. They were lucky to have nice weather and no real snags to report (besides the rotten smelly leftover food filled garbage can that tipped over during transport and threw open the cupboard door flinging trash across the whole floor… lucky me, got to clean it up too). We spent an afternoon cleaning and emptying out the contents of the trailer, while piling them into the truck with topper (Tetris’d to the roof at its max capacity).

Welcome home flowers

Long forgotten toys

Being back home is actually not as fun or exciting as…. well, let’s be honest, everyone knows getting back from a trip isn’t that fun, but I already miss the beach. I miss that quick jaunt around the corner, through the park and just sitting in the sand, for 10 minutes or an hour, whenever you feel like it. It’s just a great, relaxing, beautiful place to be.

Butt

Grandma enjoying a book with Ry

We really can’t complain about the weather, but now we’re back to the grind of reality. I think some would call it reverse culture shock…..The city is busy, people are rushed, traffic is annoying, and I feel a sense of pressure here. There is a materialistic sense that lingers everywhere you go, and after such a great trip in a small space, with fewer creature comforts, and the ability to enjoy the outdoors in such a close knit community, I feel that spending time in the big city for too long could cloud a person’s perception of what’s important in life.

With that said, chores like unpacking (from trailer to truck to two separate homes), finding a house (either in a new community or a rebuilt inner city home), thinking about work again (ok procrastinating…), and brainstorming about plans for our family charity (including meetings and future fundraising efforts) have been keeping us busy (aka stressed, and indecisive). As we get back to “real life”, we will consciously make the effort to keep those lessons learned from this adventure fresh in our minds for as long as possible… and of course, it’s time to start planning the next trip.