Tomorrow, Tuesday, April 23, will mark our return to America by four weeks and our ultimate return to Atlanta from California by two weeks.

There are two phenomena I must talk about; they are as natural as rain but disconcerting none the less. First, we found our lost day, February 13. It was completely skipped on our passage to Australia and it magically returned as March 26! As a matter of fact, moving from Aussie world to our world it was a full 48 hours long!! This earthly globe is really, really big! Second, returning to spring-time here from summer Down-under is very strange. In these first weeks home I have often experienced momentary confusion when I think about the current season and the upcoming one. I am stunned. In my mind, it's hard to think about summer approaching when we just left summer. We missed winter altogether!

Our flight back to our good ole USA was totally uneventful. But that's good news. Neither Stan nor I slept on the 15 hour flight. We simply sat there and each watched six movies back to back. We threw in a little time now and then to move about the plane and to stretch our locked muscles or to visit briefly with the crew. All in all, however, we both agreed it was the best overseas flight we have ever managed. Even jet lag was bearable.

On the return trip, we deliberately stopped in California to hang out with Tessa and her two fuzzy black doggies while Shea and Paul make their annual visit to Aruba. We simply added in a few extra days upfront to make sure we got a good visit with Shea and Paul before they started their journey. Plus the extra days also gave us a chance to re-group ourselves to the time change and our lack of sleep.

After a couple of days together, Shea and Paul started their vacation and we began our fantastic, memory-making time with Tessa, having her all to ourselves. School was in session, so it was our job to make sure homework was done well, ensure she's was fed a good breakfast and get her to and from school on time. We had a couple of little boo-boos in that regard but nothing too bad. That left us with a few hours to ourselves and the dogs each day. Each day once Tessa got out of school, we would get started. We had many-a of ice cream stops, did the ice skating lessons, hiked Muir Woods, and spent a day at the boardwalk in Santa Cruz riding rides and winning prizes at the arcades. Tessa and I also cooked together--she loves to help and is actually pretty good at it. She and Stan played the very newest electronic Mario game— the Easter Bunny brought it for her, heh-heh! And we had a dress-up date night. We sure love that girl!

After arriving home in Atlanta two weeks ago, top priority has been to get back to normal -- gym, diet, gardening and Handyman Stan stuff, jury duty, etc.—funny how it all falls into place as if we'd never left home.

Traveling the world is a rare and wonderful gift. We recognize and respect that. We feel honored to get to live life this way. We find that we always return home grateful; grateful to be able to freely travel, grateful for each other and that we both have the same passion for visiting other parts of the world, grateful for and proud of our own country, grateful for our family and friends, grateful for the growth in knowledge travel invariably imparts on us, and especially even more grateful to God for creating and sustaining this beautiful world and the it's people.

So this journey ends. We take with us memories that will last a lifetime. Thanks for following us as we approach these travels sometimes like young eager children. Until the next trip later this year, "g'day mates!"