Time to Pack again

We've been back in the US for 3 weeks now. Obviously this is too much time without major upheaval, so the packing has started for our cross-country trip. Yep, we're moving. The new job starts in 4 weeks in Ithaca, New York, home to our alma mater Cornell. We think we've found an apartment (thank you craigslist) a mere 6 miles from work, perfectly suited for biking on those 8 days per year when the weather is nice.

If anyone is interested in a free slightly cat-damaged loveseat, let us know!

It's good to be home

After a full week of being back in the US, we can safely say that it's good to be home. We're really enjoying having a kitchen and bathroom to ourselves, a comfortable bed, and even a couch and TV. We're starting to make the rounds and catching up with friends. Lots of stuff happened while we were away!

Job interviews start next week. Time to get back to real life.

Our Trip in Review

Total distance driven: ~19,300 miles or 77% of the earth's circumference!
Flat tires: 1
Traffic tickets: 0 [whoo!]
Oil changes: 4
Gas burned while driving: ~712 gallons [27 mpg overall, not bad!]

Cheapest trip portion in $/day: US & Canada! [big thanks to friends & family for letting us crash on your couches and eat your food]
Most expensive trip portion in $/day: Peru [lots of organized tours]
Worst budget overrun: US/Canada, 9% over high estimate
Most accurate budget: Airfare, 0.3% under estimate
Overall budget: 4.9% over low estimate, 7.4% below high estimate [it worked! shocking!]

Favorite foreign country: New Zealand
Best hikes: Mt Zion (Olympic Peninsula, WA), Illecillewaet Glacier (Glacier NP, BC), Key Summit (Fiordland, NZ)
Hardest hikes: Illecillewaet (BC), Pasachoa (Ecuador)
Favorite bird: Pukeko (NZ)
Worst insect: Sandfly (NZ)
Best food: Cheddar beer soup with Stout at Full Sail (OR)
Worst food poisoning: Copacabana, Bolivia
Most over-hyped locations: Idaho "wilderness" and the Nazca lines
Most unexpectedly awesome locations: Mt. Hood (OR), Glacier NP (BC), Cherokee Territory (NC), Ecuador (all of it)

Things we'd do differently:
-Less driving, more hiking in the US
-Get off the Gringo Trail in Peru
-Don't eat in Copacabana
-Take an extra week of Spanish classes in Ecuador

Overall it was a good trip. We were really excited to plan it, it was fun while we were there, and we're really glad to be back. Definitely a very positive life experience for both of us. We feel extremely lucky to have had the opportunity to take such an extended "holiday".

New Zealand trip stats

Distance driven: 8500 km (5282 miles)
Tyres purchased for the car: 5
Personal property pilfered: milk from the fridge in Auckland :(

National Parks visited: 8
Alpine crossings: 5 (4 in the car, 1 on foot)
Glaciers visited: 3

Farmer's Markets visited: 3
Farmer's Markets visited in the rain: 3
Times snorkeling plans foiled by rain: 10
Days spent watching it rain (and nothing else): 5
Flooded bridges forded with a donut tire: 1

Eggs consumed: 150 (food is expensive)
Breweries visited: 6
Wineries visited: 8
Honey consumed: 4 lbs (manuka, rewarewa, and tawari)

Kea spotted at a distance: 4
Kea seen close up: 0 (total bummer!)

Back in the USA

We're back! We just went through the giant pile of junk mail and gave the shredder a work out, found the plates and glasses, and eventually turned up sheets for the bed. We think it's good to be back, but we haven't really gotten settled yet.

Time to start in on the list of restaurants we missed!