Happy New Year!

Many miles have been traveled since Fiji.  

We spent a few weeks in the states visiting family and friends in the Bay Area and Tucson and getting used to being back "home".  Now, we're in the transition of moving across country and settling down in New York. 

First step is figuring out the best way to move our stuff.  I've gotten rid of a lot of my worldly possessions over the years but was stunned to find out how much stuff I still have and can't part with.  So we went with an option that is halfway between professional movers and a Uhaul truck.  This mini shipping container, a "ReloCube", was delivered and it was the perfect size for the amount of stuff that we have to move.

We do the loading and they pick it up, put it on a truck, drive it cross country and deliver it to the new address where we unload it.

It's the perfect solution for us as Michael ponders what to do with my bike.  It all fit with room to spare but unfortunately there was not enough room for my 14 foot sea kayak which will have to stay in Tucson.

We're riding the rails for our trip to NY and turning the journey into a little vacation.  We have a nice sleeper car since we're spending nearly 74 hours total on the train.

One of the first stops was El Paso and our sleeper car is the one right next to the sign.

The depot was a nice historic building right next to the border of Mexico.

Thirty-six hours later, we got off the train in New Orleans to spend a few days playing tourists and to ring in the New Year.

Jackson Square had the usual assortment of artists, musicians and tarot card/palm readers.

Silver is very in.  There are almost as many silver painted people here as there are Alabama and Utah fans here for the Sugar Bowl.

This guys marionette was really singin' the blues.

For New Years Eve, Michael had a huge surprise for me - a limo ride to dinner!  And dinner was 40 miles away on the other side of Lake Ponchartrain.  We had a fabulous meal at La Provence, a restaurant run by a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America where Michael will be starting in a few weeks.   Afterwards, we came back to the city in time to join the thousands of revelers on Bourbon Street and to watch the fireworks show over the Mississippi as the clock struck midnight.  We even met up with a couple of Polie friends, Adit and Jason, through the miracle of cell phones.  It's a small world when you want it to be.

Tomorrow the journey continues with the leg to Chicago...