Back in the USA

Back in the USA….

Loved, loved our trip, travels and adventures but it was nice to arrive in Boston Friday afternoon. For those looking to travel to Spain, do not, I repeat do not fly Iberia. Lower fares yes, does it show yes, old planes yes, small plane yes…I could go on but we are here safely and all is good.

Baked from the flight JD and I hit the Dunkin Donuts, 32oz iced coffee for me and donut for him. Picked up our rental car- cheap Ford, reeked of smoke, returned our car and was “upgraded” to a new Ford, cheap car, did not smell of smoke.

Our plan was to drive through the Sumner Tunnel and check out Fenway Park and then pick up Riley and John at 6. The speedy and efficient rental car process took over an hour and I needed to get to a pharmacy for some bandages. So I’ll digresss….our last AM at El Vinanova I wanted to take a last run before we flew home. 30 minutes on the beautiful trails the are just below Montserrat. I am thinking about the trip, flights etc and wham, no clue what happened and I am falling hard and fast. The trail is very rocky and I land hard on my left side. Tear open my hand, elbow and knee and hit hard on my left ribs. Hard to breath and am completely startled. I pick myself up and am okay, adrenaline racing and head to the cabin. We have 30 minutes to get packed and out the door. Everyone is dead asleep and we are moving quickly. I clean up and bandage up and we hit the road. The 45 minute drive to the aiprot and my ribs are hurting, my body is stiffening….Ugh. Nothing broken but bruised hip and painful ribs, hard to breath, move and get comfortable on the flight. What a clutz…..

After the pharmacy it was close to time to get John and Riley so we chill out and in not time they are in the car and we are off to Newport RI. The Braman family reunion is the next day and John is reaponsible for the bulk of the food. We find a Costco and suddenly here we are….as far from Europe as you can imagine. From El Vinanova to Costco. Although we were happy to speak English, eat Frozen Yogurt and fill up with our favorite US snacks.

On the way to Annie’s, Riley asks if there will be any girls her age at the reunion. John ponders….calls his buddy Jay who has a 13 year old, whom Riley met 4 years ago. After 2 weeks with her parents, Riely is craving someone her own age and not her brother. So we detour to the Chrisman’s. Not only is Julia 13 they have 2 horses. After a few reintroductions Riles takes her bag and is off with Julia and another girl. I have not seen her since.

We settle in and fall dead asleep only to awake at 4am, after all its noon in Spain. Reunion was great fun- All 11 siblings are there with their children, grandchildena and even more. A wonderfully relaxing day and so fun to hear many of the Johnny stories of his past. It is enderring to see how much his family loves him and to realize he has always marched to his own beat and that I am not the only one who thinks he is nuts and love him too.

Coming off Coeur d’Alene for 5 days, 2 days home, and now 2.5 weeks I need to get home, settled down and see my pups. JD comes home tomorrow for soccer camp and John and Riley on Tuesday night. I left JD at Peters riding dirt bikes and Riley riding horses…nice way to finish off the European adventure.