The last day... In some ways it seems like the time went by so fast, and in others it seems like we've been away from home a long time. So many fantastic experiences and people, it really was a perfect vacation.

Randy awoke with a start at 8:45 (only 45 minutes of rest will do that). A quick shower and a bit of last minute packing, then downstairs to check on Matt. Knocking on the door produced no results, it took a few rings of the doorbell to finally rouse him. Matt was so disoriented from too little sleep that he really wasn't sure what the concept of "overslept" meant at that point, but Randy convinced him that he needed to hustle in order to make the train.

After checking out we walked over to the train station. While Matt bought tickets Randy said goodbye to Dominic. They really had shared something special in the short time they'd known each other. Hopefully they'll keep in touch.

Our air chariot back to the States.

The train ride to the airport was a time for us to look back over the trip. Big grins were the order of the day. Feeling more like zombies than people we made our way through the variety of lines at the airport, and then onto the plane. This time the seating arrangements had worked out, and we were seated next to each other, which is where we were able to finish the last couple of pages of the website.

The San Francisco airport international area was a zoo. We sat down next to the baggage conveyor to wait for our luggage and did some final reflecting on the trip. Our luggage came out quickly, and we breezed through customs in just a few minutes (yeah, we each only bought $365 of goods, right). Randy had a car waiting to pick him up, Matt took the Super (slow) Shuttle. Back in the USA!

So many things fell into place along the way during the trip to make the experience better. Finding Wayne and Dominic allowed us to see so many things that we wouldn't have known even existed in the two cities. We completely avoided all of the standard tourist destinations and believe we got a much better feel for the cities because of it.

We hope that those who have followed along on our little adventure have enjoyed reading about it as much as we enjoyed experiencing it and writing about it.

Now, where are we going next time?