In Transition: Petaluma, Lake Tahoe, then on to Boston!

My transition back into real-life America has been gentle to say the least. I arrived home in San Francisco on Saturday morning and have spent the week with my family in California (in Petaluma and Lake Tahoe) on what could be termed a post-vacation vacation. Because what do I need to do after having fun for two months? Have more fun!!!

We hit the Americana hard on Day 1 with a trip to the Sonoma County Fair. My sisters and I grew up going to the fair every summer, entering our artwork in the children's competitions, riding the rides, watching the horse races, and showing sheep and chickens through 4H. So we were pretty excited to introduce Liam (my nephew -- almost 1!!!) to all the wonders of livestock and free Clover ice cream cones and corn dogs and giant turkey legs! He had a great time.

Then my parents and I headed to Tahoe to get our beach/mountain time in! I wake up, work out, then go to the beach. My life is absurdly hard, I know. In extreme contrast to my entire Asian experience, the air here is SO DRY! I'm not sweaty at all and I don't even know what to do with myself. Don't worry though, I'm still wearing my same traveler clothes every day, in true traveler-fashion, because all my stuff is stowed away in a basement in Massachusetts.

Liam is such a BIG little person!!!

And dun dun dunnnn, I've decided that after a lazy couple months it's time to kick myself back into shape, so I'm running again! Also because I cannot say no to the trails in Tahoe, they're just too perfect to pass up. Lake Tahoe is at about the same altitude as Dalat, Vietnam, but it feels so much higher because of the thin air. So slowly-slowly I am running. My mama is in hiking training for this, so for the past two mornings she and I start at the same time: I run until I feel like stopping, and then I meet up with her for the rest of her hike. Yesterday I covered 14 miles and today was 12 -- not too shabby!

And to truly shock my system, I threw some yoga into the mix as well. Squaw Valley offers a free outdoor yoga class at 6 pm every Wednesday, so we went to check it out. Guess what's hard after two months off and many many loooog bus rides? EVERYTHING about yoga.

On Saturday night I board a plane yet again. This time I go to Boston, completing my circumnavigation (woot!), and start classes on Monday! Eeeeeekkkkk!