I can't believe it's only a few days since I was in the beautiful warm weather of the Czech Republic (today it has been a whopping 8 degrees Celsius and raining all day) and enjoying the buildings, family, views, sights, sounds, taste (yum!) of a fantastic country that taught me so much. It's hard to believe that I'm home really.
The next part of my adventure is only 40 working days away (no, really, I'm not counting at all) and I know that time will pass quickly and I will be on my way to the East Coast. So much has to happen before that.
First of all I need to get my new vehicle. Welllllll. It's here! Well, not here, here but in Ontario and in a few days I will have it!
I was worried about it's delivery due to the earthquake and tsunami in Japan as so many components for electronics come from there. The Equinox is built in Ingersol Ontario but all parts don't come from there. EEEEKKK! I was worried!
On Sunday night I finally checked my cell phone messages and there was one from the dealership that my car was there and waiting for me! Wooo hooo!
So, phone calls to the dealership and calls to my insurance company, sorting out the parking situation here (they have to know what vehicle I'm driving) I will head up to Owen Sound after work on Friday and give them a little piece of paper with lots of numbers on it, my leased car and the keys to it for a nice, shiny new one. How cool is that!
The dealership has been so awesome (I guess they have to be, I'm giving them a whack load of cash) and I'll even get my phone programmed with Bluetooth and sort out the OnStar and XM Satellite radio. So many toys, so little time! Now I'll have lots of time to practice driving a much larger vehicle than I'm used to around and have some fun with all the gadgets.
After that begins the planning in a more concrete way for the leave of absence. I'd like to have some plan for my travels.
Nothing though, will top what I have just seen and experienced a few thousand miles away. I'm glad I worked on the blog because it's nice to read what I was thinking and feeling those days after I had seen something new. I hope that my memories will remain vivid of all that I saw and did. The Czech Republic truly is a beautiful country with such an interesting future ahead of it as it is newly democratic again and that will mean changes no matter what. My family brought me such joy and I so enjoyed connecting with all of them.
Dad's helmet and medals are prominently displayed in my living room and my Svejk marionette hangs from a hook from the ceiling so he can't be missed. My Czech Easter eggs are in a glass bowl on the coffee table and the rose The Man gave me when I got off the plane, is happily blooming in the crystal bud vase Milena gave me. I am surrounded by items of memories from my trip. In my head there are memories that will never go away. As I show the pictures to friends I remember all of my trip with such joy!
I found my history. I found where I came from. I found so much that I didn't know I was looking for. It was a revealing trip for so many reasons and I am still struggling to put into words what it meant for me. I have a feeling that will come in time.
This week, as I return to my routine of work and commuting, I am taking my time to think about the past couple of weeks.
It's been a wonderful journey. Really a journey of a lifetime.
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