Back in the USA

Three months in the US managed to fly by! We covered 8 states—two of them twice—plus

Washington DC, and got to visit most of the people we’d hoped to see (as well as several we hadn’t expected). What a wealth of warmth, literally and figuratively! And our apologies to those of you we missed; we’ll hope for better luck next time…

All our gatherings and activities need not be detailed here, but a few photos from our cross-country travels may be enjoyable:

Thanksgiving at the Stubsons, where everything ended up on the table
except for plates. We eventually found them.

Katelinn & Camden used to sit in this tree stump
in Lithia Park (Ashland).
The gnomes have grown!

David Ingalls & Art playing beautiful ukuleles that David creates

Putting up Christmas lights at Clarence's house in Sedona--
though they were no comparison to the light
on the red rock cliffs in the background

Hiking near Phoenix with Kay & Bill
(hard to see, but the palo verde has Christmas ornaments on it)

Train park in Phoenix decked out for the holidays...

...and we all had a fun ride!
(Lynn, Les, Peterson, Landon)

Art & Mary enjoying Art's & Mary's

Christmas carols at the Wertheimers:
Katelinn, Nancie, Art, Andrew, Camden

Skating on the pond behind Cheryl & Eric's house

New Year's Eve pajama party
with Daddy/Lou and his friend Betty

The World's Best Reuben
(sorry, New York, the W.B.R. is really in Philly)

A great day in DC

Art was looking forward to snow for ages, and he got it--
on the very last day we were in the States!

Finally, we’d like to thank the many people across the country who opened their homes to us. Hopefully we didn’t end up like fish after three days...

In chronological order:

Washington--Jim & Carol Van der Veen; Arline Borella 

Oregon--Larry & Corinne Stubson; David Ingalls & Jan Lippen-Holtz; Thomas & Lou Heumann; Bill & Marilee Grimm

Arizona--Clarence Shaw; Kay Monette & Bill Walsh; Les Linn, Lynn Tuttle, Landon & Peterson

Kansas--Lou Linn; Eric, Cheryl & Andrew Wertheimer; Jim Linn

Ohio--Mark & Alice Lemle

Michigan--Gordon & Judith Hammerle

Pennsylvania--Camden Shaw

Maryland/DC--Mary Linn & John Kidd

A HUGE THANK YOU to all of you for your generous hospitality!