Thomas Wolfe published this novel in 1940, and this theme resonated with us throughout our visit to America. Note, I said America, and not home, as Eunjae and I both agree that America is now a place filled with friends and memories but no longer where we call home. Visiting the USA, we were not sure what to expect, as there was so much tension and dissension leading up to the election and having friends from both sides of the political spectrum, we tried to avoid antagonizing either group. Oddly, we found that our Harris supporting friends were sanguine about the election and appeared to accept that changes are inevitable. Now we will wait and see how it all transpires.
Speaking of wondering, anyone else following the great drone invasion of New Jersey story? A lot of speculation, rumor and misinformation so far. Personally, I find the theory that the US Government is searching for something dangerous (think CBRN), and would rather keep the public ignorant versus causing panic, to be leading contender. Suspect we will never know the answer; maybe I need a tin-foil hat?
Enough doom and gloom, it is time to have fun and share all of the trip details. Our flights to and from the US were great with no issues. How often can you say that?
Avis Sucks
I am starting to think I am cursed at border crossings and rental car offices. It is 21:30, we have been traveling for 15 hours and have had 4 hours of sleep in the last 24; so we are cranky. We are dropped off at Avis and it takes them 30 minutes to find our reservation. All the while we are standing outside in the rain / wind and it is 4C / 39F, so not exactly pleasant. Finally find the reservation only to send me to a stall with the wrong car. Agent goes searching for the correct car, and we finally leave the lot after 45 minutes.
Next thing we know, the car is making beeping noises because the suitcases on the back seat have tripped the rear seat passenger warning system. Do we really need this level of “nanny state” where the rear passengers must be belted in to allow the car to work? To make matters worse, the Apple Car Play is not working so we can’t display Google Maps. I turn the car on/off to resolve only to discover that the car won’t start. This is not good, as we are stuck at a traffic light with cars are wizzing by us. After much stress, we realize the car is an EV, and when it starts it makes no noise nor engine vibration. Call me old, but when my damn car starts, I hear it and feel the engine throb.
Car sorted, we are finally off to our friends’ house, but not so fast. I ask myself, where is my backpack that has our passports and other important documents? Oh, that’s right, I left it in the first car that was incorrectly assigned to us. How do I know this? I am paranoid and placed an Apple AirTag on the backpack; fate was out to get me. Back to Avis, quickly retrieve the backpack and off we go. Start to finish, 70 minutes of frustration and pain.
Friends
We stayed with Shelley, Ray and Mason Davenport; our oldest and dearest friends and best hosts ever. We had so many great meals, cocktails and stories to share. Funny how being apart can seem insignificant and so long at the same time. Mason, our God son, has grown so big and turned 16 already. Amazing to see him turn into such a responsible young man and the designated driver for when we had too much to drink. Thanksgiving at the Davenports featured so much food and folly that it is hard to know where to start. Shelley and Ray decided to first host a brunch for family and a friend’s dinner. I had the pleasure of picking up Shelley’s mother and escorting her to the brunch. Ray’s dad, bother and Sister-in-Law also joined us and we feasted. During dinner we caught up with Roz. Now Roz is a special English lady, with refined tastes and has travelled the world. She even lived in Belgrade / Yugoslavia in the 90s and has some unique memories of the place.
One of the funniest moments of the trip occurred during cocktails with Roz, Shelley, Ray, Eunjae and me. Roz is describing how her Range Rover is in for service, and to her horror, the dealer provided a Buick SUV as a loaner vehicle. Most of us would say “a Buick SUV is not so bad”, but then she followed up with the Coup de grâce “It doesn’t even have a heated steering wheel!” At this point I almost expelled my drink all the whilst thinking “have you ever heard a more White Girl thing to say?”. I mean most of us don’t even get offered a loaner vehicle, let alone heated steering wheels. Thank you Roz! I told you this story would make the blog!
Honestly, between all of our medical appointments, friend visits and holiday activities, the time flew by. One of the very special moments was watching Ray’s band “yes it is your band Ray” Radio Vinyl play at the Olde Brouge. Seeing father and son take the stage and play together, I know, was a long held dream of Ray’s and so memorable for the rest of us.
Guess what! We had dinner with Stefan Milenković, our neighbor from Serbia, as Stefan was touring America, and happened to stay with his friends who lived 15 minutes away from Ray and Shelley’s house! Unfortunately, we forgot to take pictures!
Many of you will remember Rosemary , she visited Serbia this year and was impressed by the food and people. She will mostly likely be back for EXIT 2025, and we are pleased to report she is doing well. Tim and Lopa hosted us for dinner and it was delicious as always. Our last visit with them was in Turkey earlier in the summer. They haven’t committed to coming to Serbia yet! Orinda and Dave were in fine form, as Dave recently visited Orinda’s family in Albania. Wedding bells in the future? One has to wonder? Eunjae was also able to meet with two of her favorite friends Suzanne and Michele. Suzanne worked with Eunjae at the Department of Justice (Eunjae calls Suzanne her “rock”), and Michele shares special spiritual bonding with Eunjae as “Galactic Gals”.
Our favorite Rakija drinker Brenda made a trip from Memphis, Tennessee to Washington, and it was so good to catch up. Brenda is on the cusp of retirement and is contemplating where to live. Send her lots of Serbian vibes and maybe we will have another resident soon? We had lovely dinner with Chris and Liz, but unfortunately we forgot to take pictures! I had a boozy lunch with our friend Isaiah but of course, being two dudes we totally skipped the photo portion of the lunch and went straight to Old Fashions instead.
Catching-up with our Solidcore buddies to celebrate Bart ‘s 900th class was wonderful and reminded us how much we miss these exercise fanatics. Everyone has completed 500+ classes, and are generally enrolled in multiple gyms. Very different than Serbia where group classes, like SolidCore, CorePower Yoga, F45 and HITT, are not as prevalent as traditional gyms. Not going to lie, taking a SolidCore class after 18 months sucked! Shoulders were sore and core hurt the next two days. Catching up with Nabiha and other friends was splendid and offset any lingering pain. Of course, no exercise class would be complete without happy hour! It was good to catch up with Melody and Prae. We also had a chance to meet Lola‘s new husband David. David is from Georgia (country in Europe, not a state in America) and it was fascinating discussing how many similarities there are between the Caucasus and Balkan countries. We may see them again either here or in Georgia. Only time will tell.
Meeting Mitch and Erica’s daughter Bella for the first time was amazing. Bella was born a year ago and is already a giant, I guess she gets it from her father. We presented her with a Serbian doll and she promptly fell in love. Our visit with Mitch and Erica was especially delicious because they live in Maryland and have access to proper Jewish Bagels, Cream cheese and Lox. We are talking full spread, everyone overindulged in carb heaven.
South Dakota
Besides meeting with our friends, another important reason for the trip to America was to move our residence to South Dakota (SD). Having never visited SD, we were not sure what to expect, but we kew it would be cold and it didn’t disappoint. The first thing you notice while approaching Sioux City is how flat it is everywhere. No hills, mountains, ravines, etc. Just open space for as far as the eye can see. I know it changes in the Bad Lands, but Sioux Falls is flat as a board. Did I mention cold? The day after we arrived we awoke to -15C/5F and fresh snow. I will say that Sioux Falls has small but sweet downtown and the food is excellent. Also, people are so friendly. Everyone says “hello”, is interested in how you are, and tries to help if they can. Winter Sunsets are spectacular and best of all there is parking everywhere.
Driving long distances can be a challenge. We made a 3-hour pilgrimage to Minnesota to do some Native American jewelry shopping, and for the first time ever, I fell asleep behind the wheel. The roads are so straight, flat and monotonous, that they literally lull you to sleep. Fortunately the car had lane control assist and Eunjae poked me in the ribs when I began to drift. Check out the video below – this is only 10 seconds, imagine 3.5 hours of this each way!
Final Thoughts
Glad we visited, and a tiny bit bittersweet, as we know this will likely be the last time we see some of our friends or visit the East coast. Just too many new places in the world to visit, and we want to try and see it all while we can. To every one of our friends, we will miss you greatly and hope to see you here or somewhere in between. Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas to all our friends and family and take care.
