Emily and I arrived back in Sydney today. We had to wait an extra
week for our visas to process but we made it here nun-the-less. The past month
has been surreal. I have spent over three years away from home and Emily has
been away from home over two years. We had traveled across the United States in
just a few weeks, visiting friends and family in San Francisco, Chicago,
Nebraska, and South Carolina. We saw the Pacific and Atlantic oceans,
albeit both were a bit too cold to swim in. We stayed at Emily's brother's
house for the majority of our time in South Carolina. I really enjoyed the
south. I sampled many foods I have never tried before, such as shrimp and
grits, fried okra, fried green tomatoes, she crab soup and my favorite, boiled
peanuts. More spectacular than the food was the hospitality. Emily's family was
amazing hosts. We did an extreme range of activities on our month at home. We started by riding cable cars and enjoying a bread bowl of clam chowder in San Fran. Next, we survived a blizzard in Chicago to see the Nutcracker ballet. Emily's friends in Sumter SC lived right next to a swamp we explored which had Australian swans as year round residents. We explored historic Charleston on a horse drawn carriage ride. Survived a mild bout of the flu and tried every kind of "low country" cuisine we could find in Charleston as well. We ended the trip by driving up the Blue Ridge Mountains and discovered the mountain top chapel where Emily's parents were married.
Our flight to Sydney was delayed for one
week because we had to sort out a few visa issues but we finally made it this
morning. It felt sweltering once we got here this morning; the high was 31°C (87.5°F).
It’s expected to be hotter this weekend.
