My friends Bob and Sarah got married in Edmonton at the end of April. I flew in the week before the wedding so that I could spend time with Sarah, and help out as much as I could. It was well worth it because I got to meet so many of Sarah's friends and family, and Bob's family too. It's one of the strange things about living on a boat with people (as I had with Bob and Sarah) is that you get to know them extremely well in a short period of time. Yet they are somewhat out of context-you know all about people's family and friends, but haven't met them. That was certainly remedied the week before Bob and Sarah's wedding.
I had a week before I flew out for the next wedding in England. Bexi and Jarod, also friends from the Next Wave, got married near London on 9 May. Which also happens to be my birthday. There were loads of other people that I knew from the boat at this wedding, so it was a matter of frantically scrambling to try and catch up with friends in one day. I still wish that the day had been just a little bit longer. While seeing friends at a wedding is a cause for celebration, it was still a bit melancholy, knowing that I would have to head home and leave the people that I love on a different continet. Luckily, I still had one more stop before home.
When searching for tickets to London, I managed to find some inexpensive ones that let me fly through Florida. Some more friends from my Youth with a Mission days live there, and I got to spend a couple nights with them. My time with them was full. Precisely what I need to be ready to go home. We went kayaking and sailing and did everything that we could think of for me to get acquainted with Florida. Perfect.
What wasn't quite so perfect was the end of my trip. I was supposed to fly from Tampa through Houston and to Seattle, but it ended up that I got stuck in Houston for a night, due to bad weather. I really didn't like that, but it worked out in the end. I arrived home in Seattle the next afternoon, had a good night's sleep and was back to work the next day!