May 5 - 28 - Still LOVN VA

And then back to northern Virginia for Harry's graduation.  Landing at Dulles felt good, and after over ten months away it felt like home.

Our first few days were consumed by an intensive car search. Car shopping is not fun at the best of times, but it's even worse with the current chip shortage. We'd schedule test drives only to be contacted and told that the car was just sold.  Some great looking cars on-line, then in reality, not so great cars...the whole gamut.  Like many people we thought we'd buy one thing, then ended up buying something completely different.  Regardless, we were glad to put it behind us.  We had wheels to use for the next few weeks, and ready for when we return.

It seemed like we had never left - returning to our favorite haunts.  Bumping into familiar faces in Wegmans, Coldspoon Coffee, and Costco! I was able to participate in my book club meeting (yay), and meet up with friends for trivia night at a local brewery.  Although it was familiar it was quite incredible just how many more data centers have been built in the short time we have been gone.

Of course it was wonderful to see Joe and Harry again to celebrate Mother's Day, Harry's graduation, and Joe's birthday.

People asked what we would do to fill our time....well....it filled up fast.  Essentially we were squeezing in 10 months social life into 3 weeks. Walks, coffee, lunches, and dinners. See below for some highlights!

Thank you everyone for making the time to meet up - we loved it.  Time flew; we shall be back soon.

Apr 9 - May 4 - A month reconnecting with friends and exploring the west coast

Following a month in one place we have been on the move on planes, trains, buses, and boats! It has been such a treat to have the opportunity to reconnect with friends: old and new.

We caught up with them in San Diego, Los Angeles, and San Francisco.  We were made to feel very welcome in the places they call home. Destinations are always so much better when you have a familiar face to show you around and share their local knowledge.  From the winery in Malibu to a brewery in San Diego; stunning walks along the cliffs at La Jolla, and Pacifica; breakfast in Paradise Cove, dinner in Little Italy, tacos in Pacific Beach, brunch in the Gaslamp Quarter, and coffee in Venice.  We loved reconnecting with people as if we had seen them only yesterday.

The earth shook for us, literally, as we experienced an earthquake in San Diego (Mag 4.7) - apparently San Diego has had almost 7,000 quakes in the last year!  We navigated the public transport and visited Mexico for the morning.  It was very easy and quick to walk through the Mexican border crossing, but took around 2 hours to return due to the sheer volume of people.  Tijuana was such a different environment yet less than an hour from downtown San Diego.  So many pharmacies and dental offices offering the "best" prices!

It was 30 years that we were last in Las Vegas, so decided to revisit. It was all a bit more tacky than we remembered so it will probably be another 30 years before we return again.  Living out of a suitcase in hotel rooms loses its novelty so in Vegas we chose to book a suite with a kitchen - only to find that the nearest supermarket was miles away (we don't have a car)!  The good news - we qualify for the over 55 menu at Denny's!

Four days were then spent on the 'Eurodam' taking us from San Diego to Vancouver.  It was a repositioning cruise and only a quarter full with some very experienced cruisers.  We were able to learn first hand what cruising offers.  The food was excellent and staff very hospitable. We always opted to share a table at dinner which just does not happen when you vacation on land.  The ship took us into the cooler climes of Canada where we spent a couple of days with Jude (Julie's aunt). Vancouver is a beautiful city with an easy going culture (and more great coffee!).

Onto Chicago (yes, not west coast....but still on the edge of a large body of water) - the final destination of this leg of our travels.  Loved Chicago despite the cooler (and damper) weather.  Unfortunately the mist was so low that taking the architectural river tour seemed rather pointless as the tops of many of the buildings were obscured. Our dry day had been spent on foot getting our bearings and being super impressed by 'the Bean'.  Why does a smooth, shiny metal object shaped like a bean bring a smile to one's face?  I don't know, but it did - very cool.  I loved the reflections of the city mirrored on its surface. My reflection: I must return!