Friday, June 17, 2016

Back in the USA




After a whirlwind tour of Europe, we are back in the USA.  On June 1, we dropped our car off at the docks (for delivery back to the USA), pushed a year's worth of luggage through the airport and flew from Amsterdam to Washington, DC.   At first it was bewildering to be back in the USA. Our rental car was gigantic, the road signs were confusing, all the roads seemed to be under construction, and the drivers were maniacs. And you had to get in a car to go anywhere. On the other hand we quickly got used to bottomless cups of iced tea and all kinds of comfort food and it is possible to eat a full meal in less than an hour. I think that I have had a hamburger and Bronwyn has had a milkshake every day since we have been back in the USA. Perhaps it is not a coincidence that we noticed obese people everywhere we went.

Ruthie and William give us a puppet show
We spent a couple of days with the world's most adorable grandchildren (and their parents) in Annapolis before driving 300 miles to the Charlotte area.  The catch was that our house in Charlotte is still rented and our lake house was gutted while we were in France. The plan was to sleep in our travel trailer until we could move enough furniture into the lake house to make it habitable. Fortunately, we abandoned the plan and our friends felt sorry for us and took us in until we could get our house habitable.

After nine long days of moving furniture, cleaning, unpacking from France, going through stacks of mail, getting American cell phones, arranging insurance, relicensing vehicles, visiting doctors, and packing for another trip, we are on the road again. We are headed to Alaska with our truck and travel trailer.  There have been a few glitches (such as a trailer tongue jack and a shattered window two days before our departure), but after some hasty repairs (a new jack and improvised window cut out of Plexiglass we got on the road almost on schedule. You can follow our new Alaskan Adventure at http://gaskinsalaskanadventure.blogspot.com.   Stay tuned to find out if Bronwyn continues to put up with her crazy husband or leaves him on the side of the Alaskan Highway as bear food.

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