Our Stateside Visit, and Naples, Italy

In early September 2023, we traveled from Thailand back to the US for the wedding of our daughter Rachael to her longtime sweetheart Austin. After almost a year away, it felt good to be back in familiar territory.

Austin and Rachael's wedding was very intimate, and very beautiful. It was held at an outdoor venue near Boulder, Colorado, and attended by the couple's immediate families and a photographer. Our son Taylor officiated, and once the couple exchanged vows and rings, he declared, "Austin, you may now kiss my sister!"

The bride was gorgeous, the mountains majestic, and the finicky Colorado weather cooperated nicely.

We really enjoyed meeting and spending time with Austin's family - Dad Joe, Mom Lisa, and sister Jacqueline. They taught us how to play Farkle and improve our Bags game!

After the wedding festivities, we enjoyed lots of hiking in the Flatirons near Boulder, some disc-golfing, pool-playing, and we saw Slash (with Guns N Roses), and the Dodgers beat the Rockies!

Guns N Roses

Slash

The Rocky Mountain scenery was breathtaking, and we enjoyed the crisp clear autumn air. We were able to visit with our friends Jerry and Melva, and Randy's brother David too.

We took a quick trip up to Spokane to meet up with my siblings - Tam and Dick, Noel and Lynette, and Ty and Rita. It had been several years since we had been together in the same place, and it was really nice catching up with everyone.

We then made a quick trip to Kansas to visit Aunt Ethel, our friends Bob and Laura, and some of Randy's friends from college. Then we were off to Iowa to spend the holidays at Taylor's place.

We had a nice Thanksgiving with Taylor and Haley, then the boys took off on a deer-hunting trip to Pennsylvania. I got to stay in Davenport with Bogart and Sniper. The animals and I spent a quiet week sewing, cooking, and catching up on 'Escape to the Country'.

In December, Randy and I stayed a night with our friends the Stetsons, then we picked Rachael up at the DSM airport and returned to Davenport for a family Christmas. Unfortunately, our oldest son Brad wasn't able to join us.

The girls (2 Swifties and me) closed off the kitchen and enjoyed some Taylor Swift videos and music while preparing our holiday meal. I'm pretty sure I've been converted!

Over the next couple of days we played games, watched our favorite holiday movies (Elf, Home Alone, Its a Wonderful Life, Rudolph, Frosty, White Christmas, The Court Jester, and Apocalypto, just to name a few!), and enjoyed lots of family time.

Even Sniper enjoyed watching Rudolph with us!

After stocking up on some American items (including Alpine Touch, protein bars, and a screen for our boat) we re-packed our suitcases, and made our way to Chicago's O'Hare airport. We had decided to break up the long trip back to Thailand with a stopover in Italy. So from Rome we took a train to Naples, and Air B&B'd with a lovely Italian couple for a week.

Our flight from Chicago took us first to Frankfurt, then on the flight to Rome we flew over the snowy Swiss Alps at sunset - it was gorgeous!

On New Year's Day, we hiked up to see the Castel Sant'Elmo. It was a long, steep journey, but the views of Naples and the surrounding areas from the top were just stunning.

The next day we took a train to see the city of Pompeii. The ruins are spectacular, and it boggles my mind to think that this ancient city was buried beneath the volcanic ash of nearby Mount Vesuvius in just a matter of hours.

As you can see above, they had an ingenious method for creating crosswalks, and the intricate mosaics on the walls and floors are incredible.

The next day, we took a ferry to the nearby island of Procida, a tiny island off the coast. We walked from the Porto Marina di Procida across to this harbor near an old castle, and ate lemon pasta and sipped cold prosecco. It was very relaxing and scenic.

We also toured several of the catacombs beneath Naples while we were there. We saw the Catacombs of San Germano and San Gaudioso, and an underground aqueduct that was used as a bomb shelter during WWII. Kind of creepy, yet very cool!

We stopped at the Basilica Santa Maria Della Sanita, which is located on top of the catacombs of San Gaudioso, and visited some additional chapels in downtown Naples.

We enjoyed our stop in Naples, and look forward to visiting again someday... perhaps even by sailboat?!

Our return trip to Bangkok and bus ride to Pattaya were uneventful, and before we knew it we were safely back on our floating home at Ocean Marina.

Our next adventure will be documented soon. We are finally leaving our friends in Pattaya, and planning to transport our boat from Phuket, Thailand to Genoa, Italy on a cargo ship. Stay tuned!!