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Wow, back home at last. It sure does feel good to be home. Traveling, however, does highlight the additional effort it sometimes takes to live in Vermont, because you have to get home, especially when you fly out of Boston. Landing at Logan is just the beginning, and you have to get back up to the Green Mountain State and then home, which adds another few hours to the trip. Factor in the time changes and the fatigue, especially with the kids, and you begin to wonder how you do it.

Our last few days were the most challenging, and maybe that's to be expected. The weather was terrible the entire time that we were in Kansas, which is perhaps telling of our experience there. Not only were we rained out of what little camping there was, but we seemed to drive for hours before finding anything resembling civilization. I remember as we searched for the hotel that the state just didn't seem to want to let go of us, for whatever reason.

When we finally did find a hotel, the next morning I found our tire was flat. I couldn't believe it, my heart sank. In retrospect, it was lucky that it didn't happen out in the middle of nowhere, my worst nightmare realized, or should I say my Rocky Horror moment. The town we were in, Hays, happened to be fairly big, so finding a place to repair the tire was not a problem. Furthermore, we got some good final vibes on our last day there. I went to a gas station and he directed me to the quickest and cheapest place to have it repaired, which I greatly appreciated. I was in and out of there in ten minutes.

The trip home went fairly smoothly, though it seems we're always cutting it close in terms of catching the bus home. We landed around 4:30 and had about twenty minutes to get off the plane, get our luggage, and get to the bus stop. It never seems like enough time, but they are pretty efficient at getting your bags to you ASAP, and we had plenty of time. The bus ride home was fine though we flirted with motion sickness one last time, but it was a false alarm.

The bus ride home is actually nice, it's fun to watch the scenery and I especially like it was we leave the big city and enter into the Vermont/New Hampshire. The view changes considerably as does the mood. By the time the bus stopped, it was well past 8:00, and we had been traveling for at least 12 hours. Then, of course, we had to drive home.

It felt good to be back in Vermont. When you travel around this country, you really are reminded of what a great place this is, if it's your kind of thing. If you love shopping and malls and big box stores with lots of traffic, then it's not for you, though you can always find it nearby. But if beautiful, natural scenery with trees and grass and quiet living surrounded good people is your thing, then I can't think of a better place to be. Again, we feel lucky to be here.

Getting home was great, the cats seemed happy to see us, they snuggled and spent the night asleep in our laps. I'd heard cats begrudge your absence and will let it be known, but they seemed fine, if not a little skittish at first. The kids went right to be and I did what I usually do in the evening, I made something to eat. I think I lost weight on this trip, I usually do when we travel, and I'd like to try to tone down my snacking. When you're away from home you really begin to realize how much food you push into your mouth.

Speaking of food, it really struck me on this trip how much people eat. It's in marked contrast with what you see in Europe, where they tend to eat small, almost inconsequential breakfasts of bread and coffee, followed by a few cigarettes. What we saw at the all-you-can-eat breakfast buffets made my head spin. So much food being eaten, it's crazy. It's almost as if there is some sort of pathological problem here, but who am I to judge? Live and let live.

Whatever be the case, it's good to be home. Lots to deal with, and I have to touch base with my Mentor to restart my real man training. Somewhere in the near future a front patio with concrete is waiting for me. In the meantime, I'll cut the grass.

Until the next time, thanks for reading, and thanks to iamwahid for the pic.