Look Homeward, Angel

Three quick days back in Thailand, then we again packed our bags, this time to head home to Michigan.  I'd been compiling lists of things to bring home and things to get from home to bring back.  No way I was going to remember all this stuff.  This is a new experience for me - leaving home to go home for a visit.

I was able to squeeze in a lunch with some of the Ladies of Ford.  We had a nice get-together at Livv, a nice little restaurant on Khao Talo that is owned by a Scandinavian and has a definite western feel to it.  The food is always fresh and plentiful and they have many healthy and refreshing drinks on the menu.  I enjoyed a delicious carrot juice and a plate of pretty good nachos.  We all shared our plans for the biggest holiday of the year here in Thailand - Songkran, or Thai New Year.  Most of Thailand closes down for the week, including Ford.  Pretty much everybody was getting out of town, as we've heard it's not entirely safe to hang around.  Lots of drunkenness and violence, apparently.  One of the wives told me, "Just wait until you go through customs in the US, and they say 'welcome home.'  It will give you goosebumps."

My last day in Thailand was miserable.  I had had a sore throat our last day in India, and it built to a full-blown head cold by Thursday.  I packed a little, slept a little, packed a little more, slept a little.  I was dreading twenty-four plus hours on a plane the next day.

We left our condo at 3:30 a.m. for a 7 a.m. flight.  I was still fighting that terrible cold, so when we stopped for a coffee for Tim, I slipped over to a 7-11 for some cold medicine, hoping for some relief for the plane.  The clerks knew very little English, and after their sincere efforts to help by showing me the tissues, then the acetaminophen, I just grabbed an orange juice and hoped for the best.  We bid a fond farewell to our driver and headed to the gate.  Luckily, we walked right by a Boots Pharmacy in the airport, where a very helpful "pharmacist" found me exactly what I needed.  I was hopeful the stuff would clear my head up enough that I wouldn't be offensive to my seatmates - didn't want to be "that guy."   After a Super Friday (over thirty hours long!) and twenty-four hours in the air, we finally arrived home in Michigan.  The customs guys disappointingly did not welcome me home, but I was happy just the same.  That blast of cool air as we walked out the doors was just what I'd been waiting for, and my son stepping out of the car was the best medicine indeed.

Here's what was waiting for us when we got home - good ol' Michigan.

the pond behind our house - still frozen.