Closing Up

Here we are, three years later. We enjoyed the American experience, had a great amount of experiences "made in USA", and made some very good friends. On December 19 we left behind this incredible chapter of our lives.

Yes, the time is over. Three years is a lot of time to learn new things, get to know other cultures, try new food... But despite the time is finished, the experience have changed us forever.

Looking back, there was a bucket list we wrote at the beginning of the year. Some things we checked, others are still in the bucket... Let's take another look:

Bucket list for 2015, the last year in the US:

1. Visit the Mammoth Caves in Kentucky. Not done!!! We planned it for a couple times, but some incidents made us cancel it. And we really wanted to! Let's see how we can include it in another trip.

BUT: instead, we went to Yellowstone National Park. We spent a great week in September visiting the geysers, the springs, the buffaloes... Amazing experience!

We saw smoke coming from the earth since day 1. Yellowstone is the area with the most geothermal activity in the world.

The Grand Prismatic Spring, with its amazing colors, was definetely one of the highlights!

The Grand Teton National Park is just below the Yellowstone NP, and also worth visiting!

We didn't know, but Yellowstone has its own Grand Canyon! The views from the Artist Point are worth the 2-hour walk.

Our last day we visited the Norris area, full with geysers and sulfurous lakes.

2. Visit the Upper Peninsula (UP) in Michigan. Also not done!!! Not to put it as an excuse, but as you can see in a previous picture, our family has grown this year... So no, we didn't go to the UP, although we really wanted to, we couln't afford the 8 or 10-hour drive, that's just crazy with a little baby.

3. A last visit to Chicago. Done!!! In fact, we did it several times, since we had to go to renew our passports, register our son as a Spanish citizen, and visit the city with family that came to visit during the first months of our little one.

4. Enjoy a music event in Detroit. Done! When I was very, very pregnant, my parents and I decided to go to the Motown museum. It is a little studio where the Motown music started. What makes it fun is that the visit is guided, and these guides are also great singers, so in the end we all have sung 3 or 4 songs...

5. Last fall with reds and yellows: done! Last fall left us a great rainbow in our memories. It was also quite warm, so we could enjoy our walks every day, and see the leaves turn from green to bright orange and red tones, and then slowly fade to brown before falling down.

6. Go to a supermarket at 3 AM. not done! The thing is that although we haven't slept a lot in the last months because of our little new boss, we haven't been out much... Although we've done it in the past, gone really late to buy something you don't really need, but suddenly really want... I don't think we needed to re-experience it ;)


7. Get a meal from a drive-through: not done!! I can't believe we missed this. But really, we really enjoyed having a meal out every week, it is just not our thing to eat in the car.

8. Get an "American-style" Milkshake: done!! It was in Washington, and it was delicious!

9. Visit the Shinola workshop: oh, no!!! Another one we missed. We really did many things around Detroit, though. The city, despite being in such economic problems and lacking many essential services, gives a feeling of rebirth. In fact, there are many start-ups and new companies investing in it, Shinola being arguably the most representative. Oh well, that one is still possible, since we plan to visit our friends very soon.

10. Hawaii: Yes we did it!! It was one of the biggest plans, if not the biggest, but we took it as a must. Even though little Adrian was around 5 months, we didn't miss the chance to visit one of the most wonderful areas in the planet. Hawaii has several islands, and having only 2 weeks we couldn't see more than 3 islands. The result: we are thirsty for more! Kauai'i was our favorite, but also Oahu and the Big Island amazed us with their nature. Here some of the many, many highlights:

 The views on top of the Lanikai Pillboxed Trail (yes, I had to look up the name, the Hawaian language is really difficult), in the Oahu island.

The road that leads to the Kauai'i's Grand Canyon (yes, there is also a Grand Canyon in Hawaii, who would have known?)

 The Canyon itself (maybe difficult to appreciate in a picture, but totally worth visiting!)

A visit to Hawaii is not propper if we don't spend a day at one of the innumerable beaches... Also is Kauai'i.

Just a regular walk in Kauai'i.

The active volcano in Big Island.

A lava tube, also in Big Island.

A lava valley near the volcano.

 

And although this was not in the bucket list, it should have been: drive a "Muscle Car". This was back in Oahu.

So, our score is 5 out of 10. But I rather see it as 20 out of 10. Yes, we left some things in the bucket, but the ones we could do, along with the many other experiences we had in the last year made in the US, has filled us our memories and our hearts, and changed us forever.

We are so grateful for what the US offered us, what we could learn from its people and its corners, the nature, the big cities... We will miss many things now that we are back in Europe: our big house, the walks around the neighborhood, the friendliness of the Americans, the great stores (bye bye Whole Foods!), the second hand shops...

This project was planned to last 3 years, and although we made the best of it, we are sad that it ended.  But it did, for good or bad. New project, new experiences will come along; at the end of the day, we plan to live for at least 200 years. But the end US project leads to the end of this blog. We tried to use it to describe what we saw, what we learned, the places we visited etc. We hope you enjoyed the posts, despite us being very esporadic sometimes.

Yes, sometimes we haven't been able to write here. There is a reason for it, as I mentioned before. Since May, our son filled all of our time. We don't get bored, which is good. But also get little time for many other things. We apologize that we weren't there as much as we wanted. You, reader, meant a lot to us.

Thank you for reading, and who knows, maybe we can entertain you in another blog!

Lita & Andres & Adrian