Home Again Home Again Lickity Split

Our return home was like slipping on a pair of comfortable, well-worn jeans. No, we weren't entirely prepared for the 4 degree temperature at the Minneapolis-St. Paul airport on Tuesday afternoon (about an 80 degree drop from Cancun, Mexico temps). Still, we were born, raised, and are growing old in this climate ... our bodies and minds know it intimately.

I've seen two gorgeous sunrises since coming home to the woods. And, too, we're surrounded by our own sea ... this sea has sparkling white waves that are frozen in place but they are beautiful nonetheless. During our absence spiders and mice moved into our vacant house so one of our first priorities will be to convince them that they need to move to new digs.

I admit, it does feel like we've returned to an overly-worn routine here, especially after experiencing a multitude of adventures during our seven week trek. We're also facing a daunting pile of work concerning our business and our home as well as the ever-present responsibility of chainsawing, hauling, splitting, and filling the wood stove to achieve some modicum of heat.

Our last day in Cancun was just right. We found a wonderful eco-tel just three blocks from the bus station. It had a quiet, peaceful inner courtyard filled with trees, plants, flowers, a small swimming pool, and a massage studio. We took advantage of the latter and each had an early evening massage to relax and ease muscles strained and tired from seven weeks of carrying our world on our backs.

First, though, we asked our host for a restaurant recommendation. She mentioned La Parilla (The Grill) several blocks away and handed us a card allowing us a small, complimentary drink. The restaurant name sounded familiar to Frances and we walked back toward the neighborhood we stayed in when we first arrived in Mexico. We didn't turn at our familiar street, though, continuing on to find the turn our hotel hostess mentioned. After walking a mile or two we decided that we were lost, hailed a taxi, and asked him to drive us (what turned out to be) eight blocks to La Parilla.

And, yes, it was a familiar restaurant. We ate our first Mexican meal at La Parilla our very first day in Mexico and, appropriately, we ate our last Mexican meal there. During the course of our travels our stomachs and our feet went full circle.

Thanks to our friends, Robbyn and Jan, for our wonderful welcome home and overnight stay before we ventured back to the north woods. It was terrific to reconnect with friends as we headed for home. We met a new friend, too. Laura, a coworker of Jan's, joined us for dinner and shared her plans to move back to Mexico in 2009. She provided email travel advice during our trip and, though we were unable to visit most of her recommendations, it was a treat to meet our Spanish-speaking cyberwoman upon our return. Hearing Laura's Spanish-tinged English was a wonderful way to transition from, and slightly extend, our Latin American travels.

Due to our technological limitations (when I write "our," I mean Frances and Steph), we were unable to post travel photos on our blog. Once we learn how, we plan to include some of those photos on the blog post-trip so stay tuned ... Perhaps we can keep the sun shining and the temperatures above freezing as we continue to share memories of our adventures.