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Happy London Birthday

Being in Europe has given me a greater appreciation for how humongous the Americas really are. If you look at a global map, the entire country of Ireland could fit inside just the state of California nearly three times! Jon & I really love our home state. Where else can you start the day at the top of a snow-covered mountain with a snowboard, and end the day in the cool Pacific surf? California's got Hollywood, the Golden Gate, and the Gold Rush. We're home to Half Dome, Clint Eastwood, and Disneyland too. It's magical; a place where nobodies become movie stars, and movie stars become the President. It's like a country all it's own, with enough big ticket attractions to last a lifetime, and a list of hidden gems to last another. We know other states have stuff, but California is made of the best stuff.

One thing Europe has that the States dont though, is cheap flights. For my sister's 21st birthday, we bought 4 round trip tickets to London for under 150 Euro! Jon's been to London a few times for work, but I had never been and I wanted to give Abby a trip to a place with a name she could brag about. The flight was arduous (45 minutes!?) but somehow we made it through. The city is big there, but felt a little empty. Probably because we were there in major off-peak, and the air was so cold it felt like my eyeballs were becoming snowballs. On the other hand, off-peak means we rode the London Eye without having to stand in line for nine hours first.We even got to be in the only red capsule on the wheel!

Off-peak however, does not always mean cheaper. Since England is England, and they run on the super-power called the Pound, the numbers felt smaller as long as you didnt try to convert it back in to Euro. Or the Dollar. At that point youre better off just not knowing how much youre actually spending. I also love how pretty Pounds & Euros are compared to green American Dollars. But I digress. Stuff's expensive in any currency.

London was full of firsts for us all. For example, it was my first time staying in a dorm-style hostel. A piece of my dignity died every time I had to walk down those stained carpeted stairs to the colder-than-being-outside toilet, or to take a "shower" in that gnat-infested torture chamber of lukewarm water and athlete's foot. I never knew it was possible to get out of a shower & feel dirtier than when you got in. I cant say Ill ever stay in another dorm-style hostel again, but it was worth being able to be within walking distance of the Thames and Big Ben! 

We feel so incredibly blessed to be seeing the world, and getting to travel to so many cool places we never before imagined we'd see. I'm so pleased to be able to share that kind of experience with my only sister, too. It's things like this that will stay with us forever. We'll talk about it with our kids around the table at Christmas twenty years from now, the way we still talk about the Christmases & Thanksgivings spent at Lake Tahoe with everyone cramped together in a wood cabin. Family is everything. So Happy Birthday, Abigail! We love you!