Home again- Om again

A long long day of travel. Leaving our sweet space in Ubud, dear friends gathered for a final good by. Riding silently in the back seat memorizing the sights that are so unique to Bali. Check in a breeze, not even a glance askew at our four check-in bags. No weight issues. The flight to Taipei was turbulent and seemed long. Bumpy landing. Waiting another two hours in the airport, hobbling around in search of a coffee. At one time Ron had me sit in the pushcart meant for luggage but we got repriminded by a security person so I had to hop off and limp along. Check in was easy, lots of security. The plane was new and comfortable. Paying more for elite economy turned out to be really worth the cost. Seats were wider and there was a lot more leg room. Service was excellent, food pretty good. The headphones were crappy, and eventually they made some garbled announcement which I couldn't make out and all the screens went black. Just as well because mostly everyone went to sleep. We took ambien and closed our eyes and somehow 4 hours disappeared. Because of tailwinds our flight was a total of ten hours. Going the opposite direction it was 14 hours from LA to Taipei. Smooth flight, no turbulence which I was eternally grateful for. LAX was easy and we got to Avis an hour later and got our rental car and took off. First stop, Starbucks for a strong vente coffee, a cookie and a bottle of water. Made it to the house in an hour and a half. Rewarded with our soft mattress and cocoon of down pillows. That is one of the worst things about traveling, crummy mattresses and rock hard oversized pillows. This morning we awoke and went straight away to Pete's for coffee. Bought some food at Traders and went home to fix the dead battery in Ron's truck and the broken lock on the front door. Our dear friend Ron Metheny was watching over our house and garden while we were away, and he did an awesome job. Orchids are flowering, mail neatly stacked, essential bills paid. How could we go without the help of others?! Tomarrow I have to find a doctor to remove my stitches, convince Cox cable to give me the deal of the century, and start working our way through a ton of mail and phone messages. We're back!