There and Back Again... a Hobbit Holiday

A journey of some 17,000 miles on 6 airplanes, from the Southern hemisphere to the Northern, a dozen or so hours of driving, over 5 states in the USA, a wedding, a party, many favorite meals, an overnight stay with the in-laws, and finally a week of RV camping in the Lake of the Ozarks. Quite a journey for a wayward hobbit of Wellington in to lands most unkind by comparison to fair New Zealand.  But then a hobbit holiday really cooks down to "what did you eat?" and "how was the bed?"

I did manage to hit all my favorite foods minus one.  I got to enjoy my favorite mexican restaurants (Dos Reales and Ticos), the best pizza in Nebraska (and the world so far by my reckoning), and then of course all the home cooking and mandatory fast food that children seem to require.

My mom has a delightful basement bedroom, that is always cool and dark and quiet.  A great place to sleep in and she always seems to enjoy getting up early with the kids.  (Although she sure does not have to.)  While we were camping I had a fabulous tent with an air mattress.  This is quite a bit better than the not fabulous tent and sleeping bag I had as a kid.  The nights were fairly split between a little too hot and perfectly cool.  Not much can compare with a cool night breeze out in the open.

It was great to see my sister get married.  It was great to see the kids.  It was great to see all my friends in Lincoln.  It was great to knock around at my kids' first camping adventure.  It was great to feel like I was going home in both directions.

Now if I could only improve the travel experience... like about 112 hours less travel time at 1/10th the cost!  This is far too short to cover the whole experience, but it is all the time I have today.