My Adventures in Central America
Part 8 - USA
Adios Costa Rica, hello USA!
This is the last leg of my big trip. I'm off to visit my cousin in San José, California. I’m going to explore San Francisco and some local areas.
Day 39 San José to San José
This morning, the train woke me at 4am. Yuk! Then the alarm went off at 4.30am. Serves me right for booking an early morning flight!
I got ready and headed downstairs. My driver was waiting for me when I got there. Turns out he has been doing taxi runs for G Adventures for 15 years! The drive to the airport took about 25mins, so I arrived very early. I was concerned about the issues with security queues etc all over the new so I wanted to be there 3hrs before my flight.
I had to print my boarding passes, then do the bag drop. No queues. Then I went to immigration and security. No queues. By 5.30am I was airside! Wow! Very impressed!
Cafe Britt is a big chain of coffee here, and almost every shop in the airport seems to be a Cafe Britt shop! They have really nice coffee, and even better chocolate. They have these little chocolate covered fruit or nut balls which are delicious. I have previously bought the guava ones, and pineapple ones. They are a fruit jelly covered in dark chocolate. They had tasters of the coffee and chocolate, so I had some coffee and tasted the passionfruit chocolate balls and coconut chocolate balls. The coconut tasted like a Bounty, but the passionfruit was a burst of flavour. I bought 2 small pyramid bags of it!
I walked through the shops for a while, then got some breakfast. Cafe Britt latte with an egg, bacon & cheese croissant. I'm so exhausted that I'm hoping I can sleep on the plane!
Then it came time to board. There were 4 security people checking passports & boarding passes, asking questions & then either letting people pass to board or sending them for random security swabs & bag searches. When I got to the front of the line, he sent me to the random screening. Damn. I was worried I wouldn't be able to put my bag in the overhead lockers as I would be boarding later. That was the least of my problems!
They did the standard swabs that I've had plenty of time before. The lady swabbed the waistband of my denim shorts, the upper chest & back shoulder straps of my singlet top and my hands. She put it in the machine and an alarm went off. She changed her gloves, double gloved, then repeated the swabs. Another alarm. Now I'm panicking. What is the alarm for & why am I setting off an alarm? This was the start of my nightmare.
They took my passport & boarding pass, a ring of police & security forms, supervisors and managers arrived and I started crying because nobody would tell me anything. Eventually a lady, a manager who spoke English, told me that I had tested positive for explosive residue, I was detained, my luggage was being deplaned and I would be missing my flight. They had to get the K9 unit to come search my belongings, which would be at least an hour away as they were busy. I cried the entire 2hrs I was detained, I was swabbed 4 more times, 2 went into the same machine and were positive, 2 went into a different machine and were negative. They went through my 2 backpacks, laid all my electronics on a table, swabbed everything and tested them. Negative. They asked me a lot of questions about where I had been, who I had been with etc. I had to have a full body pat down. The whole time the ring of security and police just stood there watching me. I wasn't allowed to use my phone or do anything.
While they were doing this, the lady was trying to rebook flights for me. She said she tried to get me on a United flight to San José but they were full. My only option was to fly to Atlanta today, stay overnight then fly to San José tomorrow morning. This upset me a lot because my cousin was expecting me for dinner, they were picking me up at the airport, I had plans & things booked for tomorrow.
When the K9 finally came they laid my hiking pack, 2 backpacks and electronics on the floor and had the dog search everything 3 times. No reaction. The police cleared me to leave and someone told me that volcanoes, hot springs & heart medication can cause a positive result. The police had decided that it would have been volcanic residue on my clothes giving the result.
The Delta staff gave me a boarding pass for a 1pm flight to Atlanta, and pretty much every single person vanished, leaving me alone at the gate. I had to repack my 2 backpacks and when I went to leave, a Delta supervisor guy came through the doors and said he would try and get me into the lounge to make up for the inconvenience of missing my flight. He was very nice but I was completely miserable.
I went straight to the toilet in the lounge and cried and cried. Eventually, I went back out to the lounge, found a comfy chair by the window and messaged my cousin to let her know I wasn’t going to make out today. I cried a bit more. The lady served me a Coke and I started trying to find some accommodation for tonight. I got hungry after a while so I got some breakfast. Scrambled eggs, rice & beans, a spinach & egg mini wrap and a mini chocolate brownie.
I ended up booking a Radisson hotel just outside the airport. Cost me $150!
Then I decided to have a bit more food as I didn't think it was included in my flight. They had lunch options so I had some meatballs and rice.
At 12pm I went down to the boarding gate to wait to board. When I got to the front of the queue, the guy saw my name and let me go straight through. I was able to board easily, and put my bag in an overhead locker just behind me.
I was still very upset and miserable, and had barely spoken a word since everything happened. I was in an aisle seat, and we boarded the plane just near my row. We had a bit of turbulence along the way. They served us complimentary snacks and drinks, so I had a little bag of Sun Crisps (like Grain Waves I think) and a Coke Zero. It was only a 3.5hr flight so that was good.
I deplaned quickly at Atlanta and was one of the first to reach immigration. I didn't have to wait and literally went straight through. Busiest airport in the whole world and it took me 1min to clear immigration & customs. My bag was also one of the first on the carousel, and my Tile tracking app told me my bag was in the same terminal as me, so I knew it had made it.
40mins after landing, I was on the side of the road waiting for the shuttle to take me to the domestic terminal to get the hotel shuttle. It’s about a 15min drive, and then it was quite a long wait for a Radisson shuttle bus.
Once it arrived, it took about 10mins to reach the hotel. I checked in and went standby to my room. It is massive. It's probably 15m long and 5m wide. The bed is absolutely ginormous. Bigger than a king size in Australia. A California King maybe?
I immediately went downstairs to the only restaurant to get food. They had a very limited menu (a burger, fried chicken, a pasta and a Caesar salad) so I got the salad. It was really good.
Then I went back to my room. I had a long hot shower, washed a dress for tomorrow's flight to hopefully remove any residual substances that may be present and curled up in bed to watch TV.
I’m miserable, I’m traumatised and I'm scared about tomorrow's flight. I really hope no alarms get set off. I just want the next week to go to plan, without any dramas.
Day 40 Atlanta to San José
This morning I woke to the alarm, for up and packed my things. I went down to reception to wait for the airport shuttle, which took only a few minutes to arrive. At 7am, the shuttle was full so we went straight to the airport, no additional pickups. There was a killer sunrise during the drive.
At the airport, I checked in my bag and joined the huge queue for security. 2 queues became 6, then they became 3 and then 1 single line. It took about half an hour to get to the security scans. First, the boarding pass & ID are checked then you can join the x-ray lines. Here you have to remove all electronics, metal water bottles and shoes. Shoes! I had to unpack my big backpack to remove my camera and GoPro. Fortunately, it was only x-ray scans, nothing else.
I was originally planning to have IHOP for breakfast but as that was before security, I had to choose something else. I went for the quick and safe option: Maccas. Cost me $8 USD for a bacon & egg muffin, hash brown & OJ. Yikes!
By the time I got to my gate, they just started boarding families & extra assistance, so I didn't have to wait long to board. I'm very glad there were no additional security checks at the boarding gate!
On the plane we were served a snack and drink, and then I watched some movies. The flight was longer than my flight yesterday as I had to cross the whole country just about. It went smoothly though, and we were served complimentary drinks & snacks twice. Much more than you get with EasyJet and Ryan Air!
We landed at 11am, and it took me all of 5mins to get to the baggage carousel and another 2mins for my bag to come. Wow, twice my bags have been one of the first off. Loving it!
Then I went outside to find out where I was and let my cousin's husband know as he was picking me up. I didn't have to wait long and it was only a short drive back to their place. I was so relieved to just arrive without any further issues. I had a tour of their house (gorgeous!) and put on some desperately needed washing. In Costa Rica, they were charging $12 USD for a load of laundry so I didn't do any there.
After lunch, I went in search of the local train station to go to San Francisco. Turns out San José is much further away from San Fran than I thought! To get to Pier 33 & 39 it was going to take me 2.5hrs! Yikes! The trains here are massive. Double decker monsters! I sat on the top level to get a better view.
Once I got to the piers, I went to Pier 39 first. This is a touristy place with lots of souvenir shops & restaurants. I had been warned by Jon that San Fran is windy and colder than San José. So, I brought a jumper with me, but I was wearing a dress as I had put my shorts in the wash. Lucky I was wearing undershorts! I had to tuck the dress into the legs of the shorts otherwise I would have flashed everyone! And yes, it was colder. I had to wear my jumper!
I walked around the pier for a while, checking out the shops. I had to restrain myself from buying everything in the left-handed shop! I bought some shot glasses though (in the normal shops). Then I went to a restaurant to try the famous clam chowder in a bread bowl. I've never had clams but my cousin said it’s a staple to try. It was alright but a bit fishy for me.
I also went and saw the resident sea lion colony. They live in the bay and have a while stack is floating pontoons, just for them. Most were dozing while a few were fighting. There were so many!
Then I walked to Pier 33 for my Alcatraz night tour. The paperwork said to arrive at least 45mins early so that meant I had to just sit there for a while. By law, they are required to depart on time and once the boosting gate is closed, it cannot be reopened. When we boarded, I went to the upper level so I would see some views. Boy was it windy! It was like being in a cyclone! There was a thick sea fog across the bay too, so we could only see a part of the Golden Gate Bridge.
The boat circled The Rock while a guy gave us information about the buildings we were passing. As we approached the dock, he pointed out the path to the cell block and told us that walking up there is the equivalent of climbing a 13 storey building. Whoa!
They let us off in groups, and each group had a guide who took them up the hill. I was in the last group. There are a few rules for Alcatraz. Firstly, it is a national park so every single thing on the island is protected by federal law. You cannot take any pebble, leaf etc off the island. There are no food/drinks permitted anywhere except the dock, same with cigarettes, and you cannot cross any barriers, as the place is crumbling, so you could crumble too.
We stopped twice on the way up for information, then continued to the cell block. Here we were guided into the shower room and given audio guides. We then followed the route listening to the audio guide explain certain features, living conditions etc. There were 8 people on the audio guide: 4 corrections officers and 4 prisoners. We passed several cell blocks, including D block, which is where prisoners were sent as punishment. They had 6 cells which were kept in complete darkness.
We saw the recreation yard, the visitor windows, more cells, the dining room and kitchen. At one point they had a board showing some famous prisoners, who had been housed at Alcatraz. I recognised 1 name out of the 8: Al Capone. Didn't know anyone else, but the American's knew some of them. When the audio guide finished, we handed them in and then headed downstairs to an exhibition on prisons across the world. Basically, it was comparing the number of people on American prisons, to the number in other countries. America has the highest rate of imprisonment in the world. Not really a surprise.
Then it was free time. I wanted to catch the first boat back, so I had about 45mins to explore. I found my way to the lighthouse as I wanted to see the sunset. My gosh, I nearly got blown away!
I had a look around that part of the island, then went to the rec yard to see the other sunset view point. This had a slightly better view and I could get a nice pic with a sliver of bridge in it. I stayed here until the sun dipped below the mountains. Then I decided to head down to the dock to line up for the boat. I wanted to make sure I was on the first boat.
I was first in line but unfortunately, someone suffered a medical emergency on the boat while it was coming to get us and had to go back to San Francisco. This meant it was late, and ended up being about 20mins late, which meant we didn't get back into much later.
By now it was cold, dark and windy. When I got back to San Francisco, I walked straight to the bus stop and waited for the bus. I planned to reverse my steps that I took to get there earlier. The bus dropped me off at a big intersection, then I had to speed walk & run back to the train station to make sure I didn't miss the train. It was the slow, stop at every station, train and I didn't want to wait for the next one (30mins later).
I made it in time & boarded the train. I was so tired, that I almost feel asleep multiple times. It felt like forever, but almost 2hrs later we arrived at San José. Just a 15min walk home. As soon as I got home, I went straight to bed & feel asleep very quickly.
Day 41 San José
Today I woke when my cousin’s 2yr old daughter decided to have a big conversation with her daddy. I feel like I slept quite well; the bed was super comfy.
After some coffee, I presented Ada with a mummy sloth teddy and baby sloth teddy. She loved them! I played with her for a while, then I had to have a shower and get ready to go back to San Fran.
After missing the first train by seconds, I ended up taking the BART train to Oakland and then into the city. It took 2.5hrs but I made it to my first stop: the Painted Ladies.
These are some very pretty row houses. I don't know much about them except they are pretty and famous.
Then I took a different bus to another part of town. I found a delicious looking burger place so that was my destination. I got a French ‘n’ Fries burger, which had a bison patty, truffle French fries, brie, avocado, caramelised onions, rocket and honey mustard sauce. It was excellent!
My next stop was the world famous Lombard Street. This small street goes downhill and has 8 u-turns (switchbacks they call it here). It is very famous! There were so many tourists checking it out. I took some pictures from both the top and bottom. I think they need a raised platform at the bottom for people to see as it looks better from above.
From here, I got to ride the famous cable car. These look like trams, but they are literally pulled along by cables.
It was a slow downhill ride, although they said we were going 9 miles an hour! It was fun!
I walked along the shore to the Ghirardelli chocolate centre. This is a huge centre with lots of shops & bars/restaurants and multiple Ghirardelli shop & Cafe outlets. I went into the biggest one and bought some chocolate. They have packets, bars, assorted packs & pick ‘n’ mix. I ended up buying some pick ‘n’ mix (6 flavours), and 2 bags (choc mint and choc raspberry). I walked around a few of the shops then I went back for a ‘world famous hot fudge sundae’. I chose the strawberry version in a takeaway cup. It was vanilla ice cream, strawberries in strawberry sauce and a lot of hot chocolate fudge sauce, topped with whipped cream. It was so good!!
Then I decided to head back to San José. It took a few hours and I got home at 4.45pm.
I finally got to see Susan when she got home from work, which was nice. It's been just over 3.5yrs since we have seen each other.
We had a chat while we got ready to go out. We were going to my first (and Ada’s first) baseball game! The stadium was only 10mins away. It was the San José Giants vs the San Bernardino 66ers. I was surprised by how family oriented it was. Jumping castles, baseball throwing games etc. Susan and I went to find our seats while Jon took Ada on the jumping castle. We were right behind the home base, which was great!
The game went for about 3hrs. I had to ask a lot of questions as I have no clue about baseball. It was fun & interesting to learn about. They had a lot of activities in between innings, like dance competitions, ribbon twirling, a weird horse race (handheld horses obviously, 7th innings stretch and lots of songs. They also had a beer promo thing where if the team got the player out on a strike, then they did 15mins off half price beer. This happened twice so a lot of people got cheaper beer. I got myself a can of alcoholic peach iced tea. I was absolutely shocked at the cost...$10 USD!! For a 300ml can! That's $15 AUD! I only had 1. We also had some pizza, hot dogs and popcorn.
At the end, they had Friday Fireworks. Ada has not seen fireworks before so Susan & Jon weren't sure how it was going to go. Turns out she loved them! They were awesome!
Day 42 San José
It's the weekend! We have a busy 2 days of exploring ahead of us! My cousin gave me a list of suggested activities to choose from and planned 2 day trips for us. Today was hiking in a redwood forest and Santa Cruz.
I woke up when Ada woke up and went down to the kitchen for coffee. We packed our things and managed to leave right on our projected departure time!
Our first stop was the Henry Cowell redwood forest. It wasn't too busy when we arrived fortunately. There is a huge slice of a tree trunk from a tree that fell down nearly a hundred years ago. It is on display and has labels showing what happened in the world at different parts of the tree’s life. For example, the birth of Jesus & beginning of the modern calendar, the finding of Chichen Itza, the discovery of gunpowder etc. Clearly it was a VERY old tree!
Then we went into the first. We hiked around the trails for several hours. It was so beautiful. The redwoods are stunning trees! Extremely tall and mostly straight. We were getting hungry so we began our trek back to the car after 2.5hrs. Gorgeous place, highly recommend.
Then we went to the nearly town of Felton for lunch at a cowboy grill. I discovered that cowboys like chilli! It was in most menu items! I got a bacon & pineapple beef burger. It was delicious!
Next up was a short drive to Santa Cruz. We decided to go to the Natural Bridges beach. It was quite windy on the cliff, but the bridge is cool. Think 12 Apostles but with a hole in the middle. We took some pictures and then walked along the coast for a while. It was really nice, and the water was exceptionally calm.
Our final stop for the day was the Venus gin distillery for dinner & drinks. We weren't overly hungry so we just got some share plates. Here I discovered that Californians, not just cowboys, love chilli! The non-chilli options I had were very good! So were the gin cocktails that I had.
After dinner, we headed back to San José. We got stuck in traffic in the way home as there is really only 1 road through the mountains and there was a cat accident, so it took longer than planned.
After Ada went to bed, we sat in the backyard with the fire pit. We had a gin cocktail can from the distillery and made s’mores on the fire. They were pretty good, even if they were made with Hershey’s chocolate. I would like to try making them with British Cadbury because the blocks are thin, much thinner than Aussie Cadbury. We could see the stars and some satellites above the house, which was cool.
Day 43 San José
Today we had another busy day planned. First stop was a donut run for breakfast! We drove to another part of San José, to a favourite shop, and got some donuts. They had a lot of flavours, and I chose a chocolate custard one and a strawberry cream cheese pastry.
After breakfast we packed the car again and headed south to Elkhorn Slough. This place is a popular hangout for sea otters and seals. I really hoped we saw a sea otter!
As soon as we drove into the bridge, we saw one! What a great start! We drove to a carpark then for out to walk around and look for more. We saw lots! This one was just chilling, eating some mussels and having a swim in front of us the whole time. It was awesome. Across the water we could see a group of seals frolicking in the water too.
Halfway toward the main road, there was a very large group of seals chilling on the sand. We stopped and took some photos.
The next stop for today was lunch. Susan had chosen a restaurant near Carmel-by-the-Sea because it had awesome views. And she was right, the views were fantastic, even with the fog! We could see the rich houses below too.
As it turns out, garlic is grown nearby in Gilroy, so garlic fries are a big thing here. We decided to start with those for entree. Well, they were amazing and we crushing won't be bothered by any vampires for a while! Would you like some fries with that garlic?
For mains I had a chicken sandwich (basically a burger with ciabatta bread). It was so good, but very filling.
After lunch we went to Point Lobos State Park to do some hiking. The first trail was stroller friendly so Ada could be in a pram not the hiking backpack. Much easier for Jon! It is a very nice coastal park. There were some little alcoves with stunning turquoise water. We saw some more otters, passed bird Island and took a windy selfie!
On the way back, we saw Brad Pitt’s new $40 million place. Here it is:
Then we drove to another section of the park and walked to the sea lion lookout. It was extremely windy still and quite cool. The sea lions are offshore on a big rock island. You can hear them but can't see them too well.
When we were properly cold and the fog was rolling in, we went back to the car and headed to Carmel-by-the-Sea. This looked like a pretty town, and I knew the name, so I wanted to go. Turns out it is where rich people live.
We walked around the streets and stopped in a bicycle shop. Check out these helmets!
Then we went in search of coffee. We found a cute coffee shop down a lane and had a drink & brownie to warm up. They were delicious.
We discovered that there was a car show in Carmel this weekend, so the town was full of super hot, expensive, sexy sports cars. I LOVE super hot, expensive, sexy sports cars! This was heaven for me! We saw so many Ferrari’s, Maserati’s, Porsche’s and Lamborghini’s. The white Porsche even has funny wing doors that lift half the roof off!
Then we saw a Bugatti! It was red and black and gorgeous! We got to hear some of them have their engines started and revved. It was awesome!
It was too noisy for Ada though (they were very loud!) so we went to a seafood restaurant for dinner. The meals were huge! I got a prawn salad but could only eat half so I brought it home with me.
We took a different route home and drove through Gilroy, the garlic place. The were so many garlic shops! Next time I come to California, I'm definitely going to stock up on garlic!
We were treated to a stunning sunset during the drive home. California putting on a show for my last full night here!
Once Ada was in bed, we sat down and watched the first episode of The House of Dragon (prequel to Game of Thrones). It was quite gruesome and gory, in true GoT style, but good. I'm looking forward to watching the rest of the series when it comes out.
Then it was bedtime. Tomorrow is my last day here and I fly home tomorrow night. I think I'm going to sleep in tomorrow. My bed in the guest room is soooooo comfy. I'm going to pack it in my luggage and bring it home with me!
Day 44 San José to London
I had another really good sleep and woke up just before Ada. The past few nights I have been getting an hour of deep sleep every night, which is a significant improvement on my normal 10-30mins! It's so quiet and the bed is super comfy!
I had a coffee and played with Ada before she went to day care. Then I had a shower and started packing all my stuff. I have managed to cram everything into the bags with room to spare. Winning!
Then I headed out for my activity for the day. I was off on a tour of the Winchester Mystery House. When I first heard of this place, I immediately thought of Supernatural, the TV series, as the surname of the main characters is Winchester and mystery and supernatural go together. But no. I was wrong. This house was built by Sarah Winchester, wife of William Winchester, who invented the Winchester rifle.
This house is famous because it was constantly under construction for 38 years and holds the Guinness World Record for the longest continuous house construction. It is full of strange and bizarre design quirks. The story says that Sarah was told by a fortune teller to move to the west country and build a house. Never stop building because the construction noise would keep the evil spirits away. She bought an unfinished small farmhouse and converted it into a 7 storey mansion.
The house has 160 rooms, 47 fireplaces, 10,000 windows, 13 bathrooms, 1 shower, 40 staircases and 2000 doors.
Some of the bizarre quirks are that there is a staircase to nowhere. It literally goes to the ceiling. There is a door that goes to nowhere (long drop off the side of the house to the ground two stories below, picture above) and a tiny cupboard that is only about 5cm deep. Apparently, the confusing nature of the home was done on purpose to confuse the evil spirits.
Sarah was rich. Uber rich. She inherited the entire Winchester fortune and business when her hubby died, and was making $1,500 a day (approximately $26,000 in today's rates). She was exceptionally generous to her staff, both construction workers and house staff. The daily rate was $1.50, but she paid them $3, plus she gave them 2 meals a day and free on-site accommodation.
The house was damaged in a big earthquake is 1906, which caused the 7 storey tower to collapse and damaged several rooms. These were sealed off and never replaced. There was a kitchen built after 1906, which has the original stove in it.
There is a lot of lead lighting and stained glass windows. They are beautiful. One of them cost Sarah $1,500, which is a LOT on money back then (first picture).
After the tour, we were allowed to walk around the gardens. They are very beautiful.
Then I walked through Santana Row, which is a an upscale shopping & dining street. I went to a lolly shop and got some delicious sounding lollies. Iced vanilla latte gummy bears, caramel apple chews, Island pineapples and peach bellini hearts. Can't wait to try them! I forgot to take a photo of them in my eagerness to try them!
Then I headed across the road to the Westfield. They have an Eataly, which is about big Italian precinct that has restaurants, deli, market, pantry items, alcohol and to go foods. I've been to the one in London so thought I’d check it out.
Then I continued walking around the shops in search of lunch. I settled on a Japanese place in the food court, which served teriyaki. You choose the meat (I had chicken), carbs (I had fried rice) and steamed green vegies. It was so good and I thoroughly enjoyed my vegies! It was very filling as you can imagine with all that rice!
Then I headed back to my cousin’s. At the bus stop is a big Safeway supermarket, so I went to check it out. I ended up buying a raspberry lemonade Mountain Dew, peanut brownie Snickers, blueberry muffin Kit Kat and crispy cookie m&m’s. I was tempted by the Halloween chocolate (green Snickers & Twix) but I didn't really need a big bag of like 20 bars!
Once back home, I chilled out and started watching a movie while charging my devices.
Ada came home at 5pm and was very excited to see me. We played while we waited for her mummy to get home. Then it was time to say goodbye and had to the airport. Fortunately, San José airport is small and not busy. I got there 2hrs before my flight, and within 30mins, I had dropped my bag and cleared security and immigration. So quick!
I had a cocktail at Trader Vic’s to end my trip then headed to board my flight. I was super lucky to have the whole row of 3 seats to myself! I planned to lay down and try to sleep after take off. I was also lucky and got a stunning sunset for my departure.
After take-off, we were served a drink and a snack. I decided to have a vodka and pretzels, which went down well. Not long after that, we were served dinner. Roast chicken, mashed potato and veg, followed by a white chocolate mousse. Yum!
Then I decided to maximise my space and lay down to see if I could sleep. I used all 3 pillows and all 3 blankets and was able to actually get some sleep. I ended up sleeping/dozing for nearly 6hrs of my flight!
1.5hrs before landing they woke everyone up and served breakfast. Scrambled eggs, sausage and mushrooms. Another yummy meal.
Immigration was very quick, thanks to the e-gates so 45mins after landing I was on the platform waiting for the underground. 45mins later I finally got home. It was lovely to be back in my own room with all my stuff, even if our bathroom and kitchen are absolutely disgusting. My housemates clearly haven’t cleaned in the past 7wks! Guess I'll be cleaning tomorrow. Maybe it is time to go on another holiday!
The past 44 days have been fantastic, and I have loved almost every minute. I met some wonderful people and we became a big family. It was lovely to finish off with some family time in California. I have a week at home to chill out before going back to work next week.
I hope you have enjoyed reading my blogs from my trip. Now that I am home, this is my final blog from this adventure. Stay tuned for my next adventure……whenever that is!!!