Leaving

Today was so much harder than any of us expected it to be.  Goodbyes are never easy. I woke this  morning thinking, I'm going home, I'm going to see Tony and feeling very excited about it. I tried hard not to think about the goodbyes in between. I was doing well until I had to say goodbye to Casey. That man lives life with honour. If you have ever seen the movie with the same name (With Honour) you'll know what I mean. Then, time to head to the airport where we meet up with Annie and Crissi. Annie and I looked at each other and were both thinking the same thing. Crissi and Janice had made a much bigger impact on us than either of us had ever expected. They both have such beautiful, caring hearts and we couldn't have wished for a better match. For both Annie and I this feels like so much more than a match as it has resulted in a deep and strong friendship. It was so hard thinking we might not see them again for many years, or worse still, maybe never, other than electronically. I'll not say anymore than there were tears all round as we walked through security and out of sight. Annie and I were both strangely quiet for sometime.

Thank you Ewbank and Johnson families for taking us into your homes and hearts.

Once in San Fransico, it took us ages to sort out where and how to get a shuttle to our motel but finally we were sorted. Our accommodation was so much better than where Tony and I stayed last time. We freshened up and headed out for some late lunch at a local diner. Then off to catch a tram. It was a gorgeous sunny day and the tram was a lot of fun. At the end stop we looked around some street stalls then walked along the water front towards pier 39. Two guys were yelling out for a boat ride on the harbour. We walked past and then back tracked to find out how much $10. They weren't leaving for a while so we had time to buy shoes (yes shoes) and chocolate before we headed off. The ride took us out to see the Golden Gate Bridge and around Alcatraz. There was the most amazing glorious sunset that felt like a gift/ a kind of blessing to us on our last night in the States. Annie got some fabulous photos. On our return we walked on down to wharf 39 (worthwhile) and back, caught the tram back to Union Square right by our hotel, had tea in the restaurant next door, then crashed. We were so tired. It had been a long and emotional day.

A few people have asked when the blog was going to be finished, so thank you Kathy for doing it. I lost a bit of motivation for the blog after leaving Tempe, 

It had been an amazing experience, I saw many beautiful and diverse parts of the US, was privileged to see inside many schools and classrooms, and meet many stunning people. The unexpected bonus was realising how close we had all become- this made leaving Tempe very hard.

San Fran was new to me, I loved the trolley rides, the boat ride at sunset was a gift, the photos don't do it justice, loved the walking especially up Lombard St! Soon it was time to head to the airport, check in bags and head for home, just had 2 more flights to get through!