Returning to the USA

Three Final Days in Bangkok

We left Khemmarat on July 31, 2013, and headed by van to Ubon and then by plane to Bangkok where we stayed for 3 nights for some final sightseeing before we flew back to the US.  We stayed at a very nice hotel near Suvarnabhumi Airport, from which we would depart on August 3rd.

We visited the Erawan Shrine.  Wikipedia says it is a Hindu shrine that houses a statue of Phra Phrom, the Thai representation of the Hindu creation god Brahma. A popular tourist attraction, it often features performances by resident Thai dance troupes, who are hired by worshippers in return for seeing their prayers at the shrine answered. It was built in 1956 as part of the government-owned Erawan Hotel to eliminate the bad karma believed caused by laying the foundations on the wrong date.

 

We saw Thai musicians and dancers.

Next we visited Lumpini Park, 142 acres in downtown Bangkok.  For the past four months or so, there has been a great deal of political turmoil in Thailand, especially in Bangkok.  There have been protests against the current government, led by Prime Minister Yingluck Shinatra.  The "People's Democratic Reform Committee" has been staging massive protests blocking major intersections and shopping malls in Bangkok, and a number of people have been killed in the protests.  The PDRC has recently pulled back to a single encampment in Lumpini Park, so it's probably not as peaceful and beautiful as it was the day we were there.

 We saw some very large lizards in and near the lake.

And we saw schoolchildren in uniform at play.

And a large monument to King Rama VI, the founder of the park, just outside its gate.

Los Angeles and Family Reunion

We flew China Airlines through Taipei to Los Angeles.  We were greeted at the airport by daughter Riley, grandson Theo, and son Bud (who was visiting LA from Virginia).  It was so good to see our family again!  Son-in-law Joel got home from work and we posed for a picture on the front porch.

Theo loved the floating market boat given to us by our teacher friend, Win, from Baan Nong Phue.

Bud headed home shortly after we arrived, but we stayed for 3 months to help out with Theo while Joel and Riley went back to school.  We settled into a routine with Theo: George would take Theo for a long walk in the morning and Mary would spend most of her afternoon with him reading and playing.

Most of the time it was pretty warm when George and Theo left for their walk, but a few days it was cool.  There's not a lot of public green space in the neighborhood, so we would usually head toward the University of Southern California, about a mile and a half away.  We spent so much time there, that George decided he needed some USC apparel.

During the summer months, there was a lot of construction (and destruction) going on at USC and Theo loved seeing the construction equipment.

But we also saw sports activities and the Trojan Marching Band.

The USC baseball stadium is dedicated to legendary USC baseball coach Rod Dedeaux, who was voted the Collegiate Baseball Coach of the 20th Century by Baseball America and Collegiate Baseball. There's a baseball memorial to him, and Theo loved to check it out on our walks

Theo also liked emergency vehicles and we got to see some up close.

One day we saw a USC frat house getting "snowed on" in preparation for a party.

Most days we'd go on to Exposition Park and play in the playground.  We would pay our proper respects to the dinosaurs guarding the park.

 

 

Grandma, Papi, and Mommy also joined Theo's walks.  Uncle Mike is watching Grandma taking Theo out for a run in the new double stroller.

It was fun to watch the Trojan Marching Band practice.

 

Sometimes Theo likes to climb and roll on the ground.

The objectives of the walk were to have fun, get some exercise, and for Theo to fall asleep for his midday nap.  As that time approached, George and Theo would head back toward home and, when Theo fell asleep, stop in at Nature's Brew for George to have a delicious cappucino.

In the afternoon, Theo read books with Mary.

And built towers with blocks and played with his toys.

They made lots of things with Play-Doh.

Grandma suggested getting Mommy's rocking horse down from the attic for Theo.

 

Auntie May read "Good Night, Construction Site" with Theo.

 

Theo and Cousin Daniel played drums. 

Music was a big part of each day.  Here we are singing and playing along with "76 Trombones."

Here Theo and George are watching the video from "Music Man."

But there was work to do, too.

Then we had to rest.

We visited Mommy at her school.

The Vaca cousins and Aunt Elena visited.

 Theo and Mommy drew chalk pictures.

Theo, Mommy, and Papi ran in the sprinklers in the front yard.

We visited Del Mar (near San Diego) to see Mary's nieces Lisa and Amy as well as Lisa's son Joe, who works with horses.

We visited the Natural History Museum in LA and saw stuffed wild animals that looked very real.

 This is what Theo looks like to a rattlesnake.

Theo also liked the Science Center next door and playing in the mist.

Riley and Theo took Grandma and Grandpa to Sierra Madre (near Pasadena, northeast of downtown LA) to see if that might be a good place to live one day.  It had a construction site and a nice playground, so Theo liked it.

Riley and Joel's good friends and fellow teachers Jasmine and Aaron made dinner for us sometimes and it was so good..  Here are some pictures from one of those evenings.

Thank you, Jasmine and Aaron, for some great dinners.

As Halloween approached, Theo and George began seeing some scarecrows and ghosts on their daily walks.

Theo dressed as a newsboy for a Halloween party at Griffith Park.

 

Papi and Daniel carved jack-o-lanterns.

 

Just before we left LA, we visited the LA Zoo.  

We watched the gorillas for awhile.

The gorilla above was watching some schoolkids who were being a little noisy and suddenly charged toward them beating his chest.  It happened so quickly that we didn't get a photo, but he looked something like this picture from the Internet, only running.

There were tigers, crocodiles, meerkats, and entertaining monkeys, among many other animals.

 

Topanga Canyon

Riley and Joel gave Mary and George a long weekend in Topanga Canyon, just north of LA and up from the beach at Malibu.  They rented the "Secret Cottage in Topanga Canyon" for us.  The approach to the cottage could be the set for filming of the Legend of Sleepy Hollow.

The kitchen of the Secret Cottage looking out on the patio.

Riley, Joel, and Theo came to the Secret Cottage to take us to dinner.

At the Inn of the Seventh Ray in Topanga, CA

  

Theo "considering" his dinner options.

Mary and George hiked in Topanga State Park.  Here we are on our way toward Parker Mesa Overlook.

This is the view of the beach and pier in Santa Monica from the hiking trail toward Parker Mesa Overlook in Topanga State Park. We set this view as our goal for the hike.

Hiking back out. The park is natural and beautiful. Some of the views across the canyon include some spectacular houses.

Parts of the trail were especially beautiful.

Mary looking for birds from the patio of the Secret Cottage.

Sunrise over the eastern rim of Topanga Canyon.

Early morning view from the deck of the cottage.

Malibu, CA

Pelicans in Malibu Lagoon

Sandpipers and California Least Terns in the Malibu Lagoon. We didn't know about the lagoon as we headed toward the beach. It must have been nesting time for terns and Western Snowy Plovers as there were warning signs up about not disturbing them and a small army of photographers on hand taking pictures of the birds. It was an unexpected delight for Mary.

An egret in the lagoon.

Thank you, Riley and Joel, for a memorable getaway weekend!

Return to Northern Virginia

We had sold our house before we left for Thailand, so we needed a temporary furnished home when we returned to the Washington, DC, area while we looked for longer-term accommodations.  We turned to Turnkey Housing Solutions and its head JJ Hershey, who had rented us a temporary apartment after we sold our house and before we left DC.  This time he offered us an apartment in Crystal City, which is just north of Alexandria, where we had lived for 30 years, and close to the Potomac River and DC itself.  Crystal City is best known for high-rise apartments and office buildings along a major commuter highway into DC, so we were a little apprehensive about what living there would be like.  

It was hard to leave Riley, Joel, and Theo in Los Angeles after three months but we had a wonderful visit and a great chance to bond with Theo. We arrived at Washington National Airport after dark on November 2, 2013, and were surprised and delighted to see our son Bud waiting for us at the airport since we weren't planning to see him until the next day. The next morning we awoke to the view off our apartment balcony -- our first view of autumn colors in almost two years.  It was great to see!

That's the control tower at National Airport (DCA) in the background. The Potomac River is just beyond the airport and the George Washington Parkway is hidden by the trees in front of the airport.

Here's the interior.

We had signed a contract to rent the apartment for 3 months but realized pretty quickly that we liked it very much and appreciated its proximity to the Metrorail system and to shops and restaurants.  We decided we would like to make this our semi-permanent home and asked JJ if he would let his lease lapse so that we could rent it directly.  To our surprise and delight, he agreed.  Then JJ moved the rental furniture out and we got our furniture and "stuff" out of storage.  We're still not quite settled yet, but getting very close and it feels like "home."

One change we've made is the addition to our dining room wall of four canvas prints of pictures that we took in Thailand and at Angkor Wat in Cambodia.  It's a nice reminder of our wonderful time in SE Asia.

George was ready for apartment living after 30 years of homeownership, snow shoveling, lawn care, and other household chores.  We've had a lot of snow this winter.  Traditionally that means shoveling snow off sidewalks, driveways, and cars, but, here it means enjoying the view out the windows and going out after the sidewalks and driveways have been shoveled by others.  Here are some pictures of our snowfalls.

We've also been visited by hawks in the trees off the balcony.  This pair even landed on our balcony railing the day after Mary put out a decorative container with colorful birds all over it.  They were apparently disappointed when they saw that the birds weren't real and flew off to look elsewhere for their lunch.

Christmas in Iowa

With very few exceptions, we have been spending Christmases with Mary's brother Dave and his wife Linda since 1974.  We started out in Hagerstown, MD, in 1974, followed them to Buffalo, NY, then Barrington, IL (near Chicago), Memphis, Tennessee, and finally Burlington, Iowa -- where Mary, Dave, and Linda all grew up.  We spent Christmas 2012 in Taipei with Riley, Joel and Theo.  But we all gathered back in Burlington for Christmas 2013.  Mary, Bud, and George flew to Chicago where we met Riley, Joel and Theo, who had flown in from LA.  We rented a minivan and drove to Burlington.  It was a cold, snowy Christmas -- Theo's first experience with snow.  Here are a few pictures.

This is the view from Dave and Linda's dining room -- of the frozen Mississippi River and the sun rising over the state of Illinois.

 It was 10 degrees below zero Fahrenheit as Joel took Theo out for his first experience in the snow.

 

A snowy walk on Christmas Day, with Grandma making it snow on Theo

Guests for Christmas Dinner

Clean-up time with Aunt Linda

A visit to Uncle Dave's duck camp

Theo finds the Yule log

 

 

World-champion duck caller Mel DeLang shows how it's done.

Aunt Mary takes us to dinner at the club.

Thanks to Dave & Linda and to Aunt Mary for a wonderful Christmas in Burlington!

What's Next

That's the end of our "midlife adventure," and this is the last post on this blog.  

But life goes on.  

Mary is hard at work in her new job as Executive Director of the Institute for the Advancement of Service, an educational and spiritual organization that provides onsite classes and web-based programs in soul development, service, leadership, and group life. She is also busy completing the process of getting us settled in our apartment.

George has rejoined E-Rate Central as an E-rate consultant, on a limited, part-time basis.  He has been trying to finish some long-term projects (like completing this post, and seeing if we can convert this blog to a series of coffee table-style books to have and enjoy forever).  He also wants to explore learning to play the piano and becoming a sort-of "foster grandparent" to a disadvantaged child in the DC area.  

We'll continue to play our roles as real grandparents: Riley and Theo are coming for a week next month during her spring break, and we're expecting Riley, Joel and Theo here for three weeks in July during their summer break.

Bud lives nearby and we see him regularly.  George made a road trip south with him last month and hopes there are more in the future.

Coincidentally, there was a story in the Washington Post today, entitled "Don't call them retiring," about American "baby-boomers" getting more adventurous than previous generations in their post-retirement activities: going trekking in the wilderness, swapping houses with homeowners around the United States and the world and finding small towns where they can immerse themselves in the local culture, joining the Peace Corps, or doing other volunteer work abroad. We may be part of a culture change in America -- if so, we have loved doing it.  Our time in Thailand was magical.  We met so many wonderful people who were so kind to us.  We met a lot of great students who, we hope, feel a little more comfortable with English because of meeting with us in their schools.  Thank you all for what you gave to us.

After we got back to the DC area, we met with Michael Anderson, founder of Volunteers for Thailand (volunthai.com) and shared stories about our adventures in Thailand.  We would not have made it to Thailand and our "adventure" without the help and support of Michael and his organization, and our first message to him on seeing him again was a very big "Thank You."  If you or someone you know is intrigued by what you've read on this blog and are thinking of doing it yourself, we strongly recommend contacting him.  Michael is a very nice guy and very flexible -- about duration of stay, age, etc. (in fact, we were probably his oldest volunteers and stayed the longest).

For those who have followed this blog, thank you so much!  Pappa Joe, you were the best!