I could not think of a better place

Imagine having this as the office view you look our on every day. Quite impressive if you ask me. I don’t know how I’m ever going to achieve this sort of work space but once I do, I for sure will be on kiplinger’s Top 100 places to work.

I’m actually sitting on a boulder looking directly across from a cool but mostly uninspiring river bank (if you look in the bottom right hand corner, I'm where the fools in white are standing). Directly to my left however is a cascading waterfall. It’s pretty quite here, peacefully quiet. I’m sure that in the next couple of hours this little waterfall will be inundated with any matter of southern vacationers looking to cool off from the noon day sun in the chilly waters of the Reedy Creek Falls. But for now, I’m alone with my computer. Liberty bridge spans across this little ravine, definitely an interesting construction as the pictures can show you http://www.fallspark.com/. Every once in a while I see families walk over the little pedestrian bridge and look strangely at me, pointing, as if they’ve never seen a man sitting on the boulders by a waterfall typing on a laptop. Come to think of it I’d probably take a picture of me too if I were them.

It’s beautiful here. The music of the chattering birds and crashing water is calming. I can here the bubbling sound of the water sliding over the rocks next to me. It’s faint but I can hear it none the less. It's just the slightest strain almost an indiscernable hum, like the complicated bass running loops in any Led Zepplin song. The rain is most likely going to be coming fairly soon so I’m typing on borrowed time. I really do love waterfalls, they energize the spirit and enrich the soul as far as I’m concerned. I could stay out here all day long if I was able… as a matter of fact, today I am.

a virgin no more...

A Virgin no more!

Virgin airlines… I am convinced there are no airlines which can compare to what Virgin Airlines has produced. Not surprisingly I didn’t actually find out until just before our flight was about to arrive that we were flying out on Virgin. This came as a source of excitement since I’ve been very curious about flying Virgin. Think about it they’ve got two things working for them commercials involving has-been 70’s rock stars and that lunatic for an owner sir Richard Branson, who spends his free time flying around the world in a hot air balloon or a space shuttle whatever the weather may dictate (a brilliant lunatic as I would come to find out but a lunatic none the less.)

Tuesday afternoon we stopped by the Eager’s and had lunch with them. It reminded me how sweet they were to allow me to stay with them for as long as they did. It also reminded me that I really did enjoy living with them despite my complaints to the contrary… (I didn’t complain very often.)

After dropping off our belongings and our cars, Mandy Wells took us to the airport without any major hitches; well accept for the 2 hour delay leaving Chicago. When we boarded our flight we were surprised to see little TVs behind every seat, and little remote controls on each of our arm rests! This was the most enjoyable 8 hours I’ve ever spent on a plane in my entire life! We had the choice between watching 6 different movies, listening to 5 different CD’s, or even playing some cheesy videogames. They fed us twice (both meals being halfway decent) and drew the curtains to help acclimate our bodies to the extreme time change… It was so wonderful I almost forgot that we were arriving 2 hours late for our connecting flight which we were supposed to board 30 minutes after our original touchdown time. This little snafu meant that we would be leisurely arriving into Heathrow an hour and a half after the departure of our connecting flight into Italy. I should have known at that point this would not be any normal adventure overseas, that little reveal however, was about to become very clear at approximately 12:30p (London) in front of the Alitalia desk.

back to the place that perfected the burger...

Ahhh... so nice to be back in a country where only 21% of the population smokes. Italy was wonderful, but I can only take so much touristing before I begin to go a little batty. In the coming weeks I will be transcribing the life and times of my adventures overseas with Misti in this blog, so as to give to the internet world a snippet of the "adventures" I put Misti into. Being back in the states, I decided misti and I needed to initiate our arrival with a big greasy hamburger and fries... I think it was the most perfect idea - even now I'm salivating and my double char cheeseburger and overflowing basket of perfectly fried potatoes! It's nice to be back... but it'd be even nicer if we were going to a permanent residence. I keep seeing Joel's pictures and reading his blog about their new digs (kudos by the way to Joel... that condo looks awesome! I can't wait to see it in person - especially when it has the new add ons from BestBuy) and it makes me wish I was coming home and not to just another rest stop. I like to think that for the most part I'm a wandering soul... but every time I wander I only end up thinking of how great it would be just to get back home (wherever "home" may be). Misti and I are still very unsettled at this point though we know Greenville, SC is our last destination (for the time being) we still don't have jobs or a place to stay where she can build our nest. We're still vagabonds traveling the midwest like two tramps hopping into freight cars, though I know we'll get settled eventually, that eventuality still seems so far away.

Well enough nostalgia for one day, it's time to go for a swim and enjoy these blustery, hot, Chicago Summer days. It's time to sit on the edge of the cliffs overlooking Lake Michigan listening to the Cicadas chirp and watch them dart across the sky. Maybe I'll play some basketball with the highschooler's or Go golfing, maybe just drink some tea. Either way, It's time to enjoy the summer. Check back for updates in:
"Big Adventures in a Small Country."