Farewell US of A

Magical Mellow Maui, we miss you!  What a wonderful island, and wonderful 3 week holiday.  We wrapped up our last day there with a fun meal out with the crew.  What a hoot - we were all such lightweights, after 2 rum mojitos, we were giggling like a bunch of schoolgirls.  Tracey's boyfriend, Deano, was just hilarious - we haven't laughed so hard in ages!
Arrived back on the mainland late on Thursday, and are staying here for 5 nights - at our friend's house in Half Moon Bay (sth of SF).  Yay for Marika!  She has been too good to us (demonstrating, once again, that fab American hospitality).  We have
been very lucky to have a base in San Fran for sorting out our gear, cleaning bikes, and packing our bags & boxes. Might have been very difficult otherwise, so 3 cheers for Marika!  Hip hip hooray!
Just been doing a few last minute touristy things around San Fran the past few days.  We hung out with the wild crowds at a college American Footbal game...Stanford Cardinals vs Colorado Buffalos.  Phenomenal really; it was just a university game, but looking at the size of the crowd, stadium, entertainment, and general fuss & excitement;

you'd think it was a national pro league game!  Didn't have a clue what was going on in the game, although tried super hard to focus!  Seemed very drawn out to me, with lots of stops and penalties, and time outs.  Seemed like the players hardly had any run time at all!  The marching band was pretty cool, as were the cheerleaders (from a distance - the cheap seats were pretty close to the clouds!).  Ate copious amounts of popcorn whilst we were there too. :-)
It was the end of Fleet Week yesterday in San Fran, which acknowledges the military forces, and has a massive air show which draws big crowds.  Brent was super keen to go and watch the F-18s (the US Air Force fighter planes, fast, loud and totally Top Gun-stylee), so we checked it out and saw some pretty cool sights.  Not really my scene, but the people watching was fun!

So, we are now reaching the end of our time here in the US of A.  We left NZ on 1 June, and will return on 21 Oct - that's nearly 5 months away!  We have been very fortunate to have had the opportunity to go away exploring for so long.  We will have taken 17 flights by the time we get home, hired 4 different vehicles, and stayed in countless motels, campgrounds, homes and cabins.  We reckon we did about 14,500kms in Albert, although not too sure on that stat....and we went on 53 mountain bike rides.  And we had no injuries (well, no major ones anyway)!  Phew!
One of the highlights of the trip has definitely been the people we've met, who have truly made it a real American experience!  The hospitality we've enjoyed, and the welcoming & inquisitive nature of the Americans has made us feel very comfortable in this country.  Diane Foster in Park City, the LA boys we met in the Downieville pub, the Texan boys & Mel in Durango, the friendly dude in the Butte cafe, Brendan Pheasant up in Canmore, Pete & Sarah from Moab, the San Fran MTB crew we met in Santa Cruz (especially Marika!), the Harley riders we met in a bar in Moab, and the awesome bunch we met in Maui (especially Tracey!) .......All these folks (and many others) made our experience super memorable, and we thank you!  I hope we can show some NZ hospitality to you one day.
So, next stop is sunny Sydney this coming Thursday, where we are visiting my Mum, Dad, and bro, Lewis.  Plus, we are going on our own little excursions  - Brent up to Brisbane to visit his mate Gary; and me down to Melbourne to visit my friend, Franc.  Will be interesting being apart for a few days, as we have spent nearly every moment together the past 5 months!  And we're still the best of friends.  Brent has been a wonderful travelling companion, and has made me realise just how patient, caring & considerate he really is (you get to know each other pretty darned well in close confines, living in each other's pockets!!). We've had a lot of fun together, and have heaps of great memories to share.
To anyone reading this, I hope you've enjoyed our ramblings and photos over the past 5 months (I know I have a tendency to babble!).  Thanks for being interested in what we're up to!  Looking forward to catching up with our friends and family very SOON!
Em & Brent xx