After 7 months through Europe, Africa, and Asia, a three week stop home was much appreciated. I thought it would be a nice relaxing break from the Around the World Trip, but I didn’t even sit still while I was home. I went from Saint Louis to Des Moine to Chicago to Saint Louis to Columbia to Saint Louis to Jefferson City to Saint Louis. I guess I’m too use to traveling!
I told my Mom I was coming home from Hong Kong really late on Friday night and apologized that I would be missing her birthday on Tuesday (Saint Patrick’s Day). Little did she know I flew over 9,000 miles from Hong Kong to surprise her on her birthday! It was the best surprise we have ever pulled off. Garrett picked me up from the airport, Krista wrapped a box big enough for me to hide in, and mom thought she was getting a large gift from Costco. You should have seen the look on her face when I popped out of the wrapped present for her. Tears of joy rolled down her cheeks when she saw me emerge out of the box after not seeing me in over six months.
The first few days were spent in Saint Louis, catching up on jetlag, doctors’ appointments, and family time. We went out to eat, took my niece to the Zoo for the first time and before I knew it I was off to Iowa to visit Garrett’s family. We stayed at his Mom’s house and I began to eat everything possible. Every time Garrett turned around, I was in the kitchen munching on something or cooking some feast. After Europe, Africa, and Asia I was down 17lbs. I guess when your gut is constantly flushed from ice blowouts in Asia, you tend to lose a little/lot of weight. We had a few dinner parties with Garrett’s family and then we were on the road to Chicago.
We stayed two nights at my Godparents house, who I haven’t seen in nearly 3 years. The bottles of wine never ended as we caught up with each other, told old stories about the Fam, and dined on two incredible meals. I even got to see my great aunt Terry, and cousins Kim and Mike. It was a so nice to see everyone.
Garrett had never been to Chicago before and it was also a special occasion, his 21st birthday! I decided for his birthday that we would get a Chicago Pass to visit four of the main attractions around the city. We visited the Sky Deck, Museum of Science and Industry, Shed Aquarium, and the Field Museum. We also did plenty of walking around the city checking off other must-dos like the bean. We sure packed a lot into four days, but we had a blast together. To top it all off, for our last night in the city we got together with a group of friends who were ironically in town. We all went to a comedy club to bring in Garrett’s birthday at midnight and we weren’t disappointed. Just as the clock struck midnight, the improve group called Garrett up on stage to interview him. The used everything they just learned from the interview to sing an entire song about him. At one point, the entire audience even joined in. I couldn’t have pictured a better way to celebrate his 21st. Happy Bday babes, I hope you enjoyed your Bday weekend in Chi Town with me.
Following Chicago, we had a one night pit stop in STL before heading back to Columbia. I tried to squeeze in as much as I could. My old coworkers threw a coming home potluck for me. It was great to catch up and share stories over a few drinks and fish fry. I grabbed margaritas with friends at El Maguey, visited my old professors on campus, swung by the ole job at USGS to see some more coworkers, had a night downtown with some friends, and hung out at Wains World (my old apartment). It was great to be back in Columbia for a few days.
I headed back to STL early Friday morning to prepare for my 25th birthday party! I thought the best way to get as many friends in town to celebrate was to get a party bus. Thirty-two people, a stripper pole, dance floor, more alcohol that you could believe and the most incredible friends and family imaginable is how I brought in my quarter century. I had friends fly and drive in from all over the country. I can honestly say I have some of the greatest friends and family one could dream about. They are a huge, important, and influential part of my life and I am so thankful for every one of them. I couldn’t have been more excited to spend my birthday with such an incredible group of people. Thanks everybody for making my 25th another night I will never forget.
The morning after my birthday party we took off to Jefferson City to celebrate Easter and Garrett’s birthday with the other side of his family. We started the day off with shooting some guns! Shot gun shells littered the ground as clay birds shattered across the sky and paper targets were riddled with smoking holes. Following some shooting, Garrett’s family made homemade pizza, wings, salad, and countless bottles of wine were uncorked for the festivities. It was a wonderful and relaxing day catching up with everyone.
The next morning was Easter. We woke up to find that Garrett and I both had an Easter Basket on the table. I may be 25 now, but I surly wasn’t complaining about free candy and an egg with a$20 bill in it! After gorging on some candy and breakfast, Garrett and I headed to STL to celebrate Easter with my family. We spend the day at my brother-in-law’s parent’s house. It was great seeing everyone, catching up, and watching my little Niece’s first egg hunt.
My last full day in Saint Louis was my actual 25th birthday. It was spend running errands, packing, and all the last minute stuff to be done before I left for 5 months again. We had a wonderful salmon birthday dinner at the house with my family, my neighbor, my aunt, Garrett, and Katie. Garrett and I then caught a movie at the new AMC theaters in town (really nice full reclining seats if you haven’t been).
After being on the road for so long, I have missed a lot of things. Payton’s first steps, birthdays, holidays, and some sadder events. Several people in my life have passed away and it is the strangest feeling to not be home to say goodbye at a funeral. My friend Katie lost her aunt Barbie while I was away. While I was on the road, I promised Katie that when I got back we could write a note to Aunt Barbie on a lantern and send it up to her in the sky. We had three lanterns ready to go, one for Barbie, one for my second cousin, Mike, and one for my neighbor, Jean. When we headed outside we noticed it was a fairly windy evening. We said we would try one lantern first, which was Barbie’s. As we released the lantern, it drifted up, maybe 15 feet, before being swept across the field and landed in our neighbor’s tree where it proceeded to catch on fire. We sprinted to our neighbor’s back yard (Marvin, who was with us for the dinner party) to put the lantern out. As Garrett scaled the tree to put the fire out, Marvin joked about us nearly catching his house on fire. I know Aunt Barbie sure got a kick out of the wishes we just tried to send up to her nearly starting a large fire.
Tuesday morning arrived and I couldn’t believe my pit stop home was already over. I met my bud Logan (that I will now refer to as Logie Bear for the remainder of my blog, as our friends do) and we jumped on an overnight plane to Chile. I can’t wait to see what the next 5 months of my trip has in store.
