Over the summer, I was back stateside for 6 weeks, the longest span I had been home for since leaving in May of 2011. I traveled across the country (going through 13 states) and had a blast!
Seattle
My ultimate team in Sweden, the Stockholm Syndromes, has been tossing the idea of going to Potlatch around for a few years - one of the key organizers is from Seattle and a few exchange students have hailed from the west coast. Potlatch is a massive co-ed tournament where you camp around the fields. It is one of the "fun" north american tournaments, games are played after each ultimate match, but it is also serious - the Canadian team training for the world games was there. While chatting last Fall, it became clear that several members of the team were going to be in North America anyway this summer, so a bid was submitted and members of the traveling team were recruited from current Stockholm residents, Syndromes alums, and friends of the team. We ended up being quite a mix of players: Syndromes/Fish (our women's team), two estonians, a few guys from the University of Washington's team - fresh off their trip to Nationals, some ex-syndromes who had moved back to the US, some of their teammates, and a guy who knew a guy who had met us at a tournament in the Netherlands a few years ago.
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| Photo from Dani. Check out her work at http://dcosmephotography.com/ |
Colorado
My mom, dad and sister got together at a family friend's place near Aspen for the 4th of July (I wasn't invited). The ladies hiked and my dad fished. A good time was had by all (allegedly - I wasn't there). (Granted, I was defending my thesis in France and in Seattle during this gathering) Then I met up with my dad, one of his college buddies, and my uncle at another friend's duplex outside of Breckenridge for week of fishing (and eating massive breakfasts). My dad is recently retired, so he has a lot of time for fishing (and driving across the country) these days. I didn't have much luck, but did land a few.
The Drive
Dad's time in Colorado was right after the national soccer tournament in California. Because rental cars are expensive in CO, it made sense (to him) to drive to colorado, leave the car at the airport, fly to california, play, fly back to CO and drive to the houses and fishing holes. That meant dad and I had a 28 hour drive from Colorado back to NC!
Kansas lures you into their Welcome Center with the promise of free coffee. Dad took a bunch brochures that the lady offered while he was getting our joe, but refused to stop at any of the quality attractions across the state. No Castle Rock or World's Largest Hand Dug Well for us! We did get to see the oil and gas wells and the 250 MW Smoky Hills wind farm from the interstate.
I drove us through St. Louis in rainy darkness (they need to get their detours together!) and we slept in Illinois. The next day we passed through Kentucky (no stopping for bourbon), Tennessee (no stopping for music), and finally made it to North Carolina (no stopping in Western NC to look at the mountain house they just bought). The landscape was generally more interesting than Kansas', but dad's favorite Sirius channels repeated the same music!
North Carolina
Finally home! So nice and comfortable! Before I went home I was totally set on staying in Europe, now I think working in the US could be fine. Some highlights include:- Being in the same city as two of my favorite people at the same time
- Crazy popsicle flavors (cucumber lime - okay, but not recommended).
- Went fishin' with Pa in Cherokee!
- Helped get my parents' new house in Asheville settled.
- Being in Alyssa & JP's wedding!
