The Good Ole US of A

What a fabulous trip we just had. Todd explained our absence from the blog and it was so worth it all. The visit with the families went way too fast. I can't believe it was almost 10days. Now, we are recuperating in San Salvador. Jeanne's friends daughter, Meg, was gracious enough to offer us a place to stay while we are in San Salvador. It is definitely making the transition much easier. We are planning and preparing a thank you feast for this evening.

After a great time with the Mosier clan we headed to KC. I must say that I feel so blessed to have such a wonderful family, that includes you Mosiers. I love just coming home to my folks place and being able to cook with the my mom and sisters.

Even if dinner isn't ready at the conventional 7pm, more like 9:30, we eventually all get to sit down together. After dinner,to Todd's dismay I made the whole family watch home videos one night. We hunkered down in my folks room keeping our fingers crossed that the 20year old VCR would work. Colleen made a little bed on the floor and we were time warped back to 1988. I felt bad we didn't find any with Ms. Marsa but when we go back I will look a little harder. I am pretty sure '88 was the year we got the camera because every tape seemed to revolve around this 365day period. And the cinematography, thanks dad, was very detailed. So we watched as little Colly entertained us with her many tactics, I, apparently at a camera shy period ignored her like any older sister would, dad rarely appeared, and mom gave the audience small windows of smiling camera time. It was great!

Thursday night has traditionally been an evening where all our River market buddies get together. Now, the group has expanded to include all that want to play on Thursday nights; the more the merrier. So, Thursday night the folks offered up the house for a casual bbq.

Agreat atmosphere for us all to chill, drink some beer, eat too much food, and enjoy each others company. I for one made sure to eat more then my share of rice krispy treats. Damn they were good! It was wonderful to see everyone.

And then we were gone again. It was a superfast trip and an unexpected surprise to be able to return to the states. Before we knew it, we were off to Chicago. Our flight to San Salvador left at the wee hour of 5:40am on Saturday morning so we figured we would just recheck our bags and pass the time at O'Hare. Well, turns out the Delta ticket counter was closed at 8pm on a Friday night. Business must not be booming. Now, here we were with all our junk, stuck at the airport without any of the nice amenities you find within, for 8hours. Luckily, my mom sent us with plenty of food. So we walked, looking for options. We quickly realized that the option was to wait until the counter reopened at 4:10am. I found a cart, we loaded it up and off to the Hilton bar we went, airport cart and all. We had a couple of beers, one compliments of a guy who was enthralled with our travels. He apparently used to travel with the army, reminiscing I guess.

After passing a good couple of hours we headed back to the arrival area to find sleeping accommodations. I was willing to settle for two chairs together without an armrest but with Todd's diligence we found 5 chairs together without armrests. Who needs the Hilton?! We strapped the luggage to the chairs and quickly passed out. Obviously, not the nights best sleep. We woke up to find a line at the Delta counter. To wrap this up, a lot of dumb people in lines later, a cup of coffee and a McDonald's breakfast sandwich for Todd later we were on our way to San Salvador via Atlanta.

We had such a wonderful time in the states, but it is nice to be back on the road. I guess you just get into a routine. So far, San Salvador is much nicer then other capital cities we have been too. A lot more trees and a lot less concrete. Tomorrow we are going to go explore some museums and the market and then we are off to meet Ryan in Managua, Nicaragua. Very excited for that (not the 12hour bus ride though.) Today, more relaxation. You all wore us out in the states.

Thank you for a fabulous visit!