[tyson]
So we have, since our last post:
1) Explored Ostia Antica, the ancient Roman port city at the mouth of the Tiber river
2) Flown home from Europe (very long trip but not very exciting)
3) Packed everything we own into our truck and a U-Haul trailer and driven to Tucson AZ from Seattle
4) Begun our kitchen remodel
5) Sweated a lot. I mean...a...lot.
Ok, I'll try and keep this short and hit the relatively salient points.
Rome was amazing. It was soooo old. The ruins were everywhere. And I don't mean everywhere as in there were lots of special places to go to see ruins. You can be walking down the street trying to decipher your Lonely Planet map to find the place where Julius Caesar was stabbed and realize that your standing right on top of it. At a bus stop. Next to a post office. To commemorate the site the Romans may or may not have gone so far as to place a plaque. The whole place is just business as usual in what used to be the center of the Western world and might be again someday. The Romans aren't fazed in the least. Gives one a bit of perspective on our country's prediliction to stake out 4 acres, string barbed-wire, and set up a Homeland Security checkpoint for the signing point of the Smoot-Hawley Tariff.
Anyway, we went to the collesium and it was stunning but freaking dilapidated. I understand that its very old but for the love of christ it can't be that difficult to take care of. I've never actually been in charge of a 2000 year old amphitheater but seriously, how hard can it be?
So after 5 days in Berlin, 2 days in Brussels, and 5 days in Rome we were burned out on European capital cities and bailed for the Tyrrhenian Sea and the Port City of Ostia Antica. It ruled. Our hotel was ON the water. I didn't actually time myself (we forgot a watch and so had no idea what time it was the entire time, ahh...vacation) but I bet I could have sprinted from the door of our hotel and made it into the water in about 6 seconds. The water was silly warm. I take colder showers on a regular basis. In true form to our respective personalities within 20 minutes of checking in to our room Jordanna was sacked out in a swishy beach chair in the sun with a book while I played in the water till my eyes burned from the salt and I couldn't find my way back to our stuff. It was a very very very salty body of water. In my own defense you almost had to open your eyes under water because you kind of felt like a treasure hunter about to discover a lost Etruscan galleon. The water had a strange azure-Mediterranean-blue cast to it that reminded me of every underwater archeology show I've ever seen on TV. Or maybe that's just me.
Anyway, Ostia Antica was a major port city in its time (2nd century AD) but was left to be buried in river silt after its decline. As a result (much like Pompey) it was very well preserved against "the ravages of time." The ruins were spectacular. I'll be posting all the travel pictures later this week but suffice it to say we were blown away. Below is a shot of the baths taken from the second story.
So then we flew home. 27 hours. It sucked. We flew through a serious thunder/lightning storm and a couple of times the plane dropped hard enough that I was glad I was wearing my seat belt.
Almost immediately upon our return home we packed all our wordly possessions into our vehicles and drove to Arizona. Sounds simple right? "We drove to Arizona." Nope.
Jordanna drove our VW station wagon filled with our "valuables" (stereo equipment, guitar, violin, xbox, etc), and our 3 cats all stuffed into a wire dog cage. I drove our truck with a fully packed bed dragging a 6 x 12 U-Haul trailer behind it. We estimated the total weight of truck + trailer at almost 5 tons. No problem.
We made it almost 100 miles before the truck overheated and tried to die. We refused to let the poor thing pass peacefully onto the next life and flogged it all the way into Idaho before it ran into the Bitterfoot mountain range and begged to be allowed to discorporate. No way Jose. Instead we reverted to plan B (slightly cheaper than plan C which was to limp to the nearest used car dealership and trade the fucker in for a newer truck) and went nocturnal. We found the nearest motel, slept 4 hours until 9pm, woke up and drove till noon the next day. Then we crashed like only stupid 30 year olds on a road trip who think they're still 18 can crash. Next stop Vegas, arriving at 8:30 the next morning. We stayed with my Dad (Papa Sprayberry) and left that night around 10pm rolling into Tucson the next morning at 9am.
Now we're in Tucson, staying with Jeff and David while we rip out and remodel our kitchen. The house is awesome and we could certainly sleep there if the water was on. As it is we very seriously need to shower at the end of each day so we're just sleeping at their house till ours is set to move into.
That's it for now. Pics to follow. Here's a couple of shots I took coming into AZ as the sun was rising.
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