We're home again, with the trip already seeming like some sort of dream. However, the beginning and end of this particular trip weren't particularly dreamlike. The beginning involved the van breaking down on the way to the airport. It's the same old story - stalling without warning on the freeway. The only difference was that this time we hadn't been driving the hour or so that it usually takes to trigger the problem. Jen's mom and stepdad bailed us out, ensuring that we got to the airport and the van got to the repair shop. As of this writing it is still not repaired. Willow was the only one who enjoyed this part of the trip, smiling and laughing as she was buffeted by wind from the cars whipping past us on the freeway as we all piled into Jen's mom's car. We also got to watch some crumpet-head use the shoulder as a passing lane, which instilled in us an even greater desire to remove ourselves as quickly as possible.

The trip ended with Jen's suitcase deciding to stay in Houston. Maybe it liked the 90+ degree weather and the swamplike humidity. The airline is supposed to deliver it to us tomorrow, so no real harm done.

I'll write more about the fun part of the trip when I'm less tired. I've been on the go since 6:00 am (pacific time) yesterday. After deplaning and coming home to say hi to the bigger kids, I ate, got in my car, and went to work. On the way there I saw a Hummer (or SUV - kind of hard to tell) engulfed in flames by the side of the road, helping make our car problems seem a little less severe.

cds I listened to while wishing I just could have crawled into bed: Radio Tarifa "Fiebre", Six Organs of Admittance "Compathia", The Gathering "Sleepy Buildings", and Bonfire Madigan "Plays for Change"