We’re Coming Home!!!

Day Twenty-three: 3/5 – Travel: S to EUG
Title: We’re coming home!!!

This final installment of the Asian Adventure 2008 blog is being written to you roughly from Hawaii. The plane has individual TV screens and I currently have it set on the “map”. We aren’t flying directly over Hawaii but in terms longitude we are just about equivalent to Lihue. This flight has approximately 3:30 hours to go.

I am pretty excited to be coming home. I have a lot of work to catch up on and strangely I am looking forward to it. I actually have quite a list of things I am looking forward to. Below please find my Top 10 Most Missed List:

10. Trustworthy and Good Tasting Milk- The milk in Asia is sketchy because one never knows if it is pasteurized. If one does decide to drink it, he or she has a 50% chance of it tasting nasty.

9. My Bed- Most of the beds we slept in were surprisingly comfortable. However, my bed is super comfortable. I look forward to reacquainting myself with it for a very long time.

8. My Closet- I am pretty sick of the clothes I have been wearing for three plus weeks. I look forward to having a little more variety in choice, particularly in the footwear department.

7. Non-Asian Inspired Food- I really like Asian food but I’m ready for some Mexican, Italian, or American. For those of you like our guide Dat, who feel there is no “American” cuisine, what I’m really saying is I want some Mucho, pizza and a burger.

6. A Max of Two Showers per Day- In the hot and humid climate of South East Asia, I felt like I needed a shower every time I stepped outside. I won’t miss that “not-so-fresh” feeling.

5. Driving- I like to go where I want, when I want. I also like to drive fast. Busses in traffic aren’t too conducive to that… even if they are Mercedes.

4. Fountain Sodas with Ice (and potable water in general)- The bottomless soda is non-existent in Asia. I can’t wait to get a bottomless soda with a mountain of ice. A really cold beverage of the non-alcoholic variety sounds pretty awesome right about now. For that matter, so does getting water in my mouth while showering or using tap water to brush my teeth.

3. Sonicare Toothbrush- I used a new toothbrush on this trip and it sucked. The bristles kept getting stuck in my braces and ripping away from the brush. I can’t wait to use my electronic toothbrush to get my teeth super clean without leaving any bristles behind!

2. My Own Space- I love my daddy. We got along very well for spending 98% of the last 23 days together. However, I am looking forward to having my own space. In particular I will enjoy having a dry bathroom sink edge and a quiet environment. I don’t know if there is a man in the world that makes more noise than my father.

1. TNC- The number one thing I missed most while gone was the Thursday Night Crew! This includes honorary member Bailey Stokes, and specifically Mom and Mia. Of course it also includes founding members Joel, D-Nelly, R2 and J2 (even though half the J2 wasn’t a founding member). I even missed baby Smitty! I am also very thankful that baby Smitty didn’t decide to come early because I wouldn’t want to miss that for the world.

I want to close this final installment by thanking you all for reading the blog and sending me emails. Traveling for an extended period of time serves as a great reminder that the people in my life are what I cherish most in this world. Each one of you is very special to me and I hope you know how much I appreciate your friendship. Thanks for all of the emails and updates from home. I hope you enjoyed reading the blog as much as I enjoyed writing it. I haven’t even begun the slideshow yet, but if you’d like to see it when it is completed just let me know. If you live in town, we can get together to watch it. If you are elsewhere, I’d be happy to drop a DVD in the mail.

Until the next adventure!

God Bless,

Katy