Epilogue.....After the Storm......

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Well, we returned home by Friday evening, all buzzing from our trip......some unpacking, some food, and some seriously broken sleep marked the first night home....and indeed a post noon-awakening from our fitful first night back!

Then a nice evening out with Paul, Caroline & Deborah before catching up with the Dr Who....all good.....and then another night where I slept but the children really didn't (& hence nor did Christine).

Luckily we were off to the London Olympic Park for Sunday at the Paralympics....which was a tiring time: puzzled (& intrigued!) by the goalball, admiring the basketball & enjoying some tennis, all in all a Grand Day out.....

& a return that saw us all get a reasonable night's sleep: jet-lag be gone!

So a final look back.....USA 2012 has been a massive adventure for Family Walters.

First and foremost, we discovered that actually we can get on very well together (amongst my tantrums, obviously!)

I've always known we love & are proud of our kids. It's another matter to like them a lot all the time. In day to day living, it is easy to forget how to pull together as a unit...

We had a blast!

I learned how friendships can span both years and decades.

Work friendships built over my NetApp tenure were checked and past muster. Alan, John (& Jan!), Steve & June (& Friea) all went out if their ways to share some happy time over lunch or dinner or perhaps a whole day with us, & I thank them all.

Even more impressive perhaps were Nick & Meg. Good friends at college '82-85, we had lost touch around 1990. The power of Facebook got us back in touch, & they took on a 10 hour round trip to spend time in DC with us! We all thoroughly enjoyed their company (& their son Noah!), & we will endeavour to do better than leave it another 20+ years before we meet up again....besides, we need to complete that DC Walking Tour!

Next up, we found many interesting people along the way. Janice & Billy, Mystic Mike, volleyball friends in Lake Havasu City, Georgia & Sterling, Evan (& no doubt Sarah...), Michael & Betty.....all very friendly and welcoming.

And others who enthused about their jobs to make sure we enjoyed ourselves....NY taxi man JP & tour guide Rob..Tim + the Rangers helping out in DC...Diane crusing down the Colorado with us near Page....the jolly owner at LHC Travelodge, sunset Ranger at Glacier Point....it was great to meet with their enthusiasm.

We discovered we all like similar music. Well, we discovered a great radio station with no adverts we all enjoyed: than you Sat Alt Nation...

Finally, we saw some spectacular places:

• Natural, such as Bryce & Grand Canyons, Hot Springs, the Colorado River, Yosemite, Whale watching in Monterey & San Francisco Bay....

• Man-made, including much of NYC & DC, Bingham Mine, London Bridge & Hoover Dam...the madness of Vegas & LA.....Monterey Aquarium and Alcatraz.....

Any one of those would be a joy to see in one holiday, and we were lucky enough to do the lot!

Just leaves the post-holiday blues and finance hole to fill & we are done....

Over 2,300 miles....over 5,000 pictures.....countless memories.....FANTASTIC!

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