Those aren’t Lions: Transitioning back to USA

It’s been barely two weeks since we’ve been home and Africa seems like a distant blur. Were we really there?  Did we not just have lions walking right by our car? Was it not sunny every day? I can still feel the calluses on my left hand from driving so much. I really can – we drove so much that until I felt my hardened skin, I thought driving gloves were just for show.

Now, I have sore muscles from walking. Yeah, we didn’t do much walking while in Africa. Remember that whole lion thing previously mentioned? And where’s the sun to blissfully bring me out of bed early each morning?

But I’m getting used to being back in America. My feet no longer feel weird when I put them in shoes. We wore flip flops for almost three months straight and shoes now feel rather constricting. Perhaps the biggest thing I’ve had to get used to is going from driving our almost brand spanking new rented 2015 Hyundai Accent to our 1999 Ford Escort. Before we left I thought our little car was pretty great. After coming back, I’m like, what are these windows I have to manually roll up, why am I not accelerating or breaking fast anymore and is it supposed to sound like that?

So, there’s been some adjusting. Deciding to go on the Africa trip was one of the best things we’ve ever done. We’ll go back. And we’ll come home all over again. The cycle will repeat. Shoes will go from feeling normal to weird and back to normal again. Here is a look at some tidbits as we have transitioned back into what the next normal is:

I had to start off with showing a few reasons the Air France portion of the Paris International Airport rocks! Look at the dim lighting and sleeping seats they offer to travelers.

I was so bummed we only had a short layover here, but if we ever get the option, we are always going to try and connect or layover in Paris. Nice facilities for travelers, good coffee, a ton of shops to browse through and a small art gallery. The Air France section knows what travelers want!

They also had these cool music chairs. You could just hang out in these pod things listening to music for free.

We finally made it home and our families are so wonderful. Everyone made us signs and cookies and it was the best welcome homes anyone could hope for. My sister hid little signs for me all over their house and it took me over a week to find them all!

I did suffer a bit of dry eye from the plane. Prior to getting dry eye I had no idea the condition even existed. Despite being called dry eye, it’s actually the opposite and what happens is your eye(s) will water uncontrollably. I started having cry-eyes on the plane and thought I was just extra excited and emotional about going home. I mean, what else could explain crying uncontrollably through Cheryl Strayed movie, Wild? Then when I couldn’t see the next day, I figured something else was wrong and found out I had dry eye. I had to wear an eye patch all day as I was super sensitive to light and use tear drops.

Once my dry eye passed, we could eventually move on with life and went through the usual cleaning of all our gear.

We’ve heard the state capitol building of Pennsylvania was supposed to be spectacular. None of us have actually ever been inside the building so we drove down for the day.

To have the energy to walk around the Capital Building, we went for lunch at Crave and Co. With creative chalk art inviting the customer to enter it’s small and cozy restaurant, we had a delicious meal of homemade Korean and black bean tacos.

I loved all the funky little chalk drawings and this place had some of the best homemade kombucha I have ever had.Get the kombucha – it is a must.

The inside of the capital building is gorgeous and if you get a chance to stop in, it’s like walking through an art museum.

Free tours are offered and we found them to be informative and worth while.

They have paper that’s more than just paper. I can’t remember the exact context of this display, it just caught my eye as a funny picture and reason enough to have visited the capital building.

They let us into the waiting room for the Governor and I staged a debate with Chris over which laws should and shouldn’t be passed next.

I signed some bills into laws. And in case you were wondering, I asked to borrow a pen from the secretaries desk to make the whole staging thing look more real. I think it made for a much more official picture and the secretaries got a kick out of it. I got the impression that not many people go there and take photographs of themselves.

If you are a book lover, coffee lover, small business supporter or just want somewhere cool to hang out, make sure you check out Midtown Scholar Bookstore. We went there at the end of our day to look for books and get coffee. It is a cool space to hang out in.

And of course as soon as we got back to New York State, we went straight to our favorite place to eat, FLX Wienery.

Look at all those bags with food in them!!! It was like Christmas. FLX Wienery is in the Finger Lakes wine region of Dundee and is the most awesome place to get burgers, homemade bratwurst, sauerkraut, milkshakes, fries (try the bistro fries!!!) and everything else on the menu. A must stop destination when in the Finger Lakes.

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And that is a glimpse of what life has looked like since we started wearing shoes again.

It’s been weird. It’s been normal. It’s been cold. These emotions are what fuels the traveler to go out and experience new things, so that when you come home after a journey, the normal doesn’t feel so normal. As a traveler, whether you like it or not, once you come home, you are a different than when you first left. And that difference which has been created in you, who knows where and what adventures it will lead you to next.

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If you go:

Crave and Co – best Kombucha ever!

Hours: Monday thru Friday: 7am to 2pm, Saturday 9am – 2pm
614 N. 2nd Street , Harrisburg, PA 17101

717-695-6229

FLX Wienery – eat everything on the menu and then repeat!

Hours: Thursday through Monday 11:30 am ’till 6:30 ish

5090 State Route 14, Dundee NY, 14837

Ph. 607.243.7100

PA State Capitol Building – the free tours are worth it

N 3rd Street, Harrisburg, PA 17101

1-800-868-7672  

Midtown Scholar Bookstore – great atmosphere and place to buy books 

1302 North Third Street
Harrisburg, PA 17102

717-236-1680

City of Harrisburg, BOO, you overcharge for your parking. It is a deterrent for small down town businesses.