US Tour

Before leaving for Thailand, we visited friends and family in San Francisco, Kilmarnock, VA and Boston.
We had a lovely time in San Francisco staying with our friends Paul and Jessica. Jessa was a welcoming and generous host, always ensuring we were comfortable. One evening, the four of us decided to venture up to a mountain to use their telescope. Once we got over the high winds trying to blow us off the mountain, we saw a breathtaking view of the city lights. It was well worth the (imagined) risk.
In SF, we also had a chance to see our friends Ashini and Mayank. We had a yummy brunch and got to meet their 10 month old daughter Anoushka, and Ashini’s sister Ekta. Ekta had recently been to many places in South East Asia and told us of both amazing and difficult adventures seeing how those in Cambodia struggle. Ashini and Mayank gave us good tips on Thailand from their honeymoon experience. What a smart and kind family!
We had a lovely time catching up with Anne Yi and her friend Erin. It was fun to hear about about Anne’s upcoming travels and her (un)surprising fondness for business-class air travel. We met them in a hip shopping area of town and had a nice walk on that sunny day.
From SF, we went to Virginia to see our Aunt Bernice, on Paula’s father’s side of the family, known as Berns. It was fun to visit with Berns and Paula’s cousin Donna. Paula & Berns went through and labeled stacks of family pictures, and recorded family stories, some of which Paula is sworn to never talk about.
The most amazing items in the box were letters: from Paula’s grandfather to her grandmother, Paula’s father to his Dad and from Paula to her grandfather. There were also notes that her grandparents wrote to one another at a marriage retreat. Reading these notes was beautiful and eye-opening. What an incredible opportunity. Thank you, Aunt Bernice!
Last, we stopped in Boston and stayed with Mark and Anjali. Mark is a longtime friend from Paul’s Microsoft days. Mark and Anjali have a beautiful home, and it was delight to stay there with them and their boys, Harry and Kiran. Harry, their younger son, loves airplanes. When they were recently in Seattle, Mark and his sons visited the Boeing Everett facility. While we were visiting in Boston, Mark, Harry and Harry’s friend went to watch planes land. It is fun to see that kind of energy and passion!
We also had a comfort food dinner in the South End with our friends Tom and Kim. Tom is a friend Paula met working at Microsoft. We had a great time talking about our travel plans and their life plans, with an active home remodel and busy work lives. Time went by so quickly that night as it does with good friends.
Paul had a fun time with his friend Marshall, whom he met in his college days. They went on a long walk on a sunny fall day and stopped at a bakery to buy everyone goodies. Mark and the boys have quite the sweet tooths – or is it teeth?
While Paul was with Marshall, Paula visited with her friend Debbie, who recently left Microsoft to go to law school in Boston. They had a nice time discussing life changes and how scary and incredible they can be.
Anjali, the busiest professor and philanthropist out there, put together an incredible Indian dinner for us. We ate with Mark, Anjali, and Paul’s Microsoft friends John and Laila. There were brain gymnastics going on throughout dinner and after. At one point, Paul turned to Anjali and said “Get him, Anjali!” referring to a debate with John. It was a fun night with a lot of laughs.
We had a great bon voyage trip. Thank you all for a wonderful time!