Saturday & Sunday, 1-2 February, 2014
Well, after a very long journey of about 10,500 miles, we are safely back in familiar territory, and now staying temporarily at our daughter Juli's home in Hooper, Utah. Since we don't sleep on airplanes, we were pretty tired after nearly 36 hours of being awake and transferring at several airports from Iguazu Falls to Salt Lake City. However, we're safe and well so we have nothing to complain about. After 12 hours of sleep last night, we're feeling a bit more like our normal selves.
We are thrilled to be able to meet and hold and cherish our newest grandchild, Savannah Riggs, who is two weeks old and was born while we were in Antarctica. It is also wonderful to be around the other kids and grandkids again, and to feel their energy and excitement. We look forward to sharing our thoughts and pictures with all of them as we reflect on the amazing adventure we've experienced over the past four weeks touring Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, The Falkland Islands, and Antarctica. We are extremely grateful to Juli for encouraging us to maintain a Blog of this once-in-a-lifetime experience, because in our advanced age and the visual and sensory overload we've just experienced, we're already forgetting some of the many things we did. It's a valuable lesson for us in Journal keeping, which we haven't done much of in the past. As we review the numerous entries and look at the many pictures included we are reminded of many of the smaller and less glamorous or impressive places and experiences that we visited. In many instances, it was some of those places, peoples, customs, and cultures that were the most enjoyable and fascinating to us.
As we empty the cameras for the last time we will encounter numerous photos and videos that were not accessible to us during the trip. Juli is going to try and help us figure out a way to post some of the videos on this Blog during the next few days. Eventually the Blog will be complete and perhaps even printed in a book or some type of publication. She's looking into the different options available to us.
In retrospect, all of the personal expectations that we developed over the past 10 months in preparation for this trip were exceeded without question. We commend the great work of Fun for Less Tours, and of the Holland America Cruise Line. Everyone was extremely professional and attentive as they went above and beyond to make this truly a safe, healthy, and memorable experience for everyone involved. The itinerary was exceptional and the addition of Port Stanley and the Falkland Islands was an incredible bonus. Words simply don't even come close as we try to describe or explain what we've seen and experienced. At the end of the day, the best we can come up with is..."We've been blessed to journey to a corner of the earth that is still as it was when God created it. Now we must do what we can to see that it remains that way."
For all of you who have shared this journey with us (nearly 2,000 faithful readers) we thank you for the time and effort you've taken to logon daily and follow the blog updates and photographs. We only wish we could have included more, but the limitations caused by the lack of adequate internet capabilities in such remote locations made it difficult to even create and submit what we did. We appreciate the numerous comments that were submitted by our Blog readers, and we look forward to sharing this with many more in the upcoming days and weeks. If you have any questions for us, please send us a comment, or an email. Our e-mail address is: twhous@housholderfamily.com Our love to you all, Tom & Marla
