the journey "home"

steven and i flew home at the end of september.

it was a bit sooner than we had thought

(we did all of our budgeting using lonely planet prices and it turns out those are not to be trusted).

though it was earlier than expected, we felt great about coming home,

and to us it seemed as though we had been gone for at least six months.

we never made it to nepal liked we had planned,

but that just means we have reason to go back! (soon?!)

we flew into SFO 

and got to spend a couple days visiting with our wonderful friends

who didnt care that we were recovering from jet lag and not very exciting to be around. 

we then bussed up to santa rosa to spend time with more friends,

enjoying the sunshine, western pub food,

and making wonderful dinners using ingredients 

picked from diana's incredible garden...

-e

for some reason i only have this one picture from our time in san francisco. getting over jet lag is lame. pretty amazing moment though. watching the space shuttle fly over the city from our friends rooftop.

mmmm pub food. we missed you.

visiting our friend diana's garden. i could have spent all day here.

enjoying the sunshine in santa rosa

fresh veggies and funky nails.

flight(s) home

it may not seem like it from the last month of posts

but steven and i returned to the USA safely at the end of september.

we had very little access to internet in myanmar so our posts 

had to wait until we were back.

it was quite an epic journey

and it seemed as though we were gone forever,

though our friends and family have said it felt like we just left.

we flew back into san francisco 

and have only made it as far as arcata ca.

we have yet to see many of our friends and family in the seattle area.

i feel as though our trip won't feel complete until i get to hug my mom and dad.

here are some pictures from our flights back.

most notable was the airport in taiwan

where each little waiting area was themed. 

it was amazing.

somehow i only seemed to really photograph the

hello kitty room...

-e

when is a waiting area at an airport ever this empty? at 8am at the yangon international airport.

the library themed waiting room at the taiwan airport

hello kitty room. the best

hello kitty time zones

every waiting room was this elaborate. it was so great.

well hello san francisco. 

our kyoto neighborhood

we're in kyoto for the next couple days

staying in a lovely little

ryokan in central kyoto.

our neighborhood is quiet and

right along the kamogawa river.

there is a wonderful walkway along

the river where you can eat one of the best

french pastries from one of the many

boulangerie...

-e

steven enjoying the view from our room window.

the little courtyard

seriously top five best pastries i've eaten. and these french bakeries are littering the streets

the street where we "live"

our favorite vending machine thus far.

the river walk. this spans the entire city (north to south)