We arrived home yesterday afternoon from a remarkable adventure to the San Francisco Bay area. Our physical travel was almost seamless (when was the last time you heard someone say that?) and those boys of mine, all three of them, were the easiest travel companions I could have asked for. What a difference those two factors alone can make.

We left Oakland at 2:00 am East Coast time on Thursday night, landed in New York, flew to Boston, and took a bus to Maine. The boys both napped erratically through out the day, yet still managed to crash hard at about ten pm our time, and were still out at 10:00 am this morning. I’m feeling a little loopy, but after meditating, and brewing my first cup of coffee, was able to fake it at Sam’s basketball game at 11:00 am.  My heart is not quite on the same time frame as the rest of me, choosing instead to linger a little longer in all of the sweet magical connections I/we experienced there. So in the meantime how about a few observations on the lighter side?

A few fun stats from our trip:

Number of hotels we stayed at: three

Number of new friends we met for a play date or meal that I have established relationship with as a result of the blog: four.

Number of friends the boys connected with (old and new) in meaningful ways  who are under the age of fourteen: seven

Number of extremely tall palm trees in the courtyard, next to the heated pool and the two hammocks of the best hotel ever in San Francisco? (Hotel del Sol) : four

Number of white(albino) alligators at the California Academy of Sciences: one

Number of times Marcel wanted to go back to see it while we were there: three

Number of meals (per person) I can get out of a free breakfast buffet in two visits: at least eight.

Temperature decrease between there and here in degrees: fifty

Number of times we went over the Golden Gate Bridge accidentally: two

Number of people in my family in the car crying when we left my Sam’s house- my closest friend from my high school years and her family: two

Number of times I fantasized about relocating to the West Coast: lost count.

Number of times I realized traveling as an adult with children is possibly preferable than traveling alone: more than I would admit

++++

I’ll be back in the blogging saddle soon with a reflection on my “I can talk about RACE in the classroom” talk last week, and some more travel related insights, revelations and the like.  I’d love to know how the rest of you manage to preserve that magical “travel shimmer” when you return home? How do you hold onto some of the larger than this everyday life ah-ha’s and clarity? Or how you have learned how to transition back with ease? Having created space and time to meditate twice a day there–I feel committed to continuing that routine here–although it will take some doing. I’ve already missed it this afternoon. But that won’t stop me from trying to create more intention around it tomorrow!