Farewell Fiji. Hello Home!

We are home.

The lights are back on at the Barker's and I am ready to once again get back

into what we so fondly call life.

Byron and I took off and spent a week in heaven.  Ooops, I mean Fiji.



 We took almost a gazillion photos but haven't had the gumption to load them yet onto a computer.

So for now, you'll have to do with these snaps from the little camera-- mostly taken

from the car as we drove half the island.

 We had an incredible week-- filled with the kindest people, breathtaking scenery,

yummy food, exploring, relaxation and a little cannibal history thrown in.

Over the next several days-- I'll try and share a bit of our trip.

The country is fascinating-- and it didn't hurt that we had the best hosts in the world.

I can't wait to take you along on a few adventures and let you learn a bit about this part

of the world-- don't you just love the picture below-- a family cemetery squeezed in between the road and the beach?

But for now, I'm still trying to get my "land legs".

Getting there wasn't too bad at all.

 But getting home was a trial of faith (and patience)..

Here we are leaving Fiji.

It took us 3 1/2 hours on a very bumpy road filled with insane drivers just to get to the airport.

(Thanks Ken for the excellent driving-- even if it was on the wrong side of the road for us).

 Once we left Nadi (pronounced Nan-dee), we flew two hours over to Samoa, had to get off

and hang out for an hour.

Then it was another five hours in the air to Honolulu.

We figured that was the best place to spend an overnight layover---

Hawaii vs. LAX?  Clear choice right?

Wrong.

Once we got through customs, we found ourselves outside the airport--

yep, outside with nowhere to go for four hours in the middle of the night.

 So we joined several others from our flight and a group of Hawaii's

favorite homeless... trying to get comfortable on concrete benches outside

the airport.  Not fun.

We left early the next morning-- quite stiff and very tired.

From there we flew to Seattle and then home to Boise.

From the time we got up to the time we got home--

just 39 hours.

Bless my parents for keeping the kids last night so we could get

uninterrupted sleep when we got home.

Uninterrupted, if you don't count one of Greer's friends calling

at what seemed like the crack of dawn for a play date!