It is people , it is people!

It’s the eve for our return home. ( finally I hear you say). In twelve hours we will drive up to Omaha , fly to Houston, Houston to Auckland and get back to Wellington on Sunday morning! I’m not quite ready for the reflections post yet – that will come.

But boy have we had a great time. And this final bit has been no exception.

Our friend Megan has been a magnificent host, and really it’s been like the soft transition back to reality. Being in someone’s home, home cooked fresh flavoured meals, a cat on your lap. And most importantly spending time with people.

For the few of you who may recall the Camino trip years ago. We met a couple Candy and Roy who live in Kansas city. Roy is a pastor and his wife the programme and art Director for their church. We come from very different worlds and 12 years ago we connected, so I mentioned I might be able to make the drive down.

So Megan generously offered to take us down to Kansas for the night. Off we go, but of course it can’t just be a drive , it has to be an experience. First stop the Casey’s the “road stop” places. How is it that the gas stations here are also booze shops. It was disconcerting seeing the truck drivers buying their miniature “shooters” by the handful. And why stop there a gallon of cask Chardonnay. We limited ourselves to jerky and water and I have to confess the jerky was delicious, but we could have easily walked out with a bucket of blue something or other. Extraordinary. We came accross the same thing at Walgreens. The large pharmacy chains you see everywhere, while picking up your asthma inhaler you can also get Teo for one deals on your already cheap cigarettes! With 5 litre casks of wine.. contradictory or just the finest choices a free market can deliver. You decide.

Turns out that Roy was in Washington DC so could not meet us. But Candy his wife was able to catch up. My goodness she looked amazing, and the intervening years were certainly not obvious. Great conversation and she took us for some Kansas city BBQ. ( the city bit is important because Kansas city is in Missouri , and the other half of Kansas is in Kansas state and I just think too many things are named Kansas.

Turns out that Roy was unavailable as he was in DC to attend the national prayer breakfast with none other than the President himself. A privilege I understand that each of the many participants ( Aprox 3000) each paid $1500 for. Roy was to bless or pray for attendees as they arrive. But yes , it does show the different worlds we are in.

We didn’t get too much into politics , our visit had too many life moments to catch up on. But if I was forced to pick it, I’d say there was at least some unease with things politically. Let’s leave it at that .

We did a video call from the venue this was all happening in, and it dawned on me, at that moment there was one degree of separation between us and POTUS . Wild.

We had booked into a hotel, and had decided to go to a jazz bar. We heard some great jazz. Contrary to common belief, it is Kansas that id the birth place of jazz. Not New York…it was very cool.

Next day i drove back to Lincoln. Great to exercise that part of my brain again and yet another “transition” task of driving a car.

We stopped along the way in Brownsville for lunch and we had a Philly cheese steak Hoagie. A very cool post office and a paddle steamer next to the Missouri River.

Megan then took us to meet some friends of hers Charlie and Nancy both very accomplished artists. They showed us around their studios and what they are currently working on. Great conversation and fascinating insights into their perspectives…

And then it was our final dinner , where hopefully we get to play some of this amazing hospitality forward.

So now it’s the final pack, the final walk and maybe we can squeeze in a cromlette. I don’t even know where to begin when it comes to highlights there has been so much that has exceeded our expectations. But I’ll have about 30 hours before we land to give it some thought. But we do know one thing for certain. It is the amazing people we have met who have been the most enriching and rewarding experience of this trip

He aha te mea nui?

He Tangata, he tangata , he tangata

Nebraskans are fondly known as “cornhuskers”. A term derived from the manual labour of husking corn, which it is fair to say is in abundance in Nebraska. It’s plastered everywhere, their sports teams, banks, mechanics shops, think I even saw it in a donut shop. It’s a term popularised a century ago… and an improvement on their then name of bugeaters.

We’ve arrived deep in the mid west, the very centre of the United States . So far from the ocean it is the only state in the US where you apparently have to travel at least 3 states north, south east or west to get to the coast. It’s the middle of winter, and while it’s comparatively warm it’s still hovering around zero degrees. Why? I hear you asking. Why?

Well, it’s a very important element of our trip , this is where we get to visit a dear friend who moved here years ago. I’ve threatened to visit many times and it’s only now, when our main flight in and out of North America was Houston. That it seemed rude to not add a few days and a couple of additional flights and head North to Lincoln. So here we are. In Cornhusker’s territory. Go big red!!

Knowing someone here and being introduced into their lives is a true blessing, we’ve been introduced to work colleagues , friends called at short notice so we can drop in for tea, hell, today I met their doctor’s receptionist… it’s the small town friendly vibes. and it’s beautiful, embracing and genuine.

I had one request, I’d like to go to a diner. So off we went to the outskirts of town and the Hiway Diner. Food was bloody fantastic, service unreal and I’m angling to go back before we leave. Although I have to say, the explanation that a “chicken fried steak” is called “chicken” when it’s actually beef because there is egg in the crumb, does not make sense to me. It was still bloody good. ( basically a bashed steak, egged, crumbed with bread and crackers, with a white pepper sauce, it was a high end schnitzel in my opinion).

Long walks, long conversations and multiple home cooked meals with endless cups of tea, it’s almost like a transition from travel life to home life.

Lincoln has a population of about 300,000 in its centre, not dissimilar to Wellington, but it feels and appears smaller…it’s definitely quite liberal, I saw one Trump sign on the outskirts of town and yet in shops or in cafes I see a lot of inclusive signage , seen a few anti ICE signs even in home windows.

Megan our friend here has been so hospitable, and taken us to places we would never have imagined going to, Today we went to Scheels. A store where you can , buy pecan chocolate crunch, ride an in store ferris wheel ( as tourists we were given free rides) and then buy a gun. Welcome to ‘merica. It was wild, a mix of department store, hardware store and a touch of theme park.

Next stop was Trader Joe’s, I picked up the “office treats” to bring home. Plus a few extra for us and a couple of tote bags. There were no less than 8 NZ Sauvignon blancs available, at prices I am not sure you could get in New Zealand.

We then went for a country drive. It’s still a bit surreal seeing the snow remnants and the still frozen lakes and streams. It was a chilly almost bleak day, but we arrived at Ashland a small town half way between Omaha and Lincoln. Had a great lunch ( corn and crab bisque of course) some incredible cider and the best coffee we have had all trip. It very much reminded me of Kyenton in Victoria or Greytown in wellington. Very quaint.

Seriously. We’ve had two full days in Houston and kept up the pace of incredible and new experiences.

Of course, with all that is going on there was some border anxiety, but we got through without a hitch. David had given me the “ we need to listen more than express opinions” so I was all primed. But the conversation itself was a little anxiety inducing! Truth is it was not needed.

Approaching our time here exactly as we have anywhere else serves us well, a smile, genuine curiosity, an accent and letting others lead us in to conversation has given us the opportunity to meet a huge range of people in the few days we have been here. Maybe it’s the southern hospitality, but we’ve been greeted with nothing but pleasant engagements. From a Spanish speaking recent immigrant to a Trump appointed Texan judge. The sharing of ideas, thoughts and opinions has certainly been enriching for us, and hopefully for them too.

Of course, being back in an English speaking environment has helped. The switch to cold weather too has been an adjustment.

Yes we’ve done what we intended. Shopping, NASA, a drag show, and museums and more on that later , but it is without doubt the engagement with others that has been the highlight.

No matter what their views there is an acute awareness that the USA is undergoing a massive transition. What that means and where that will lead is concerning for everyone we have spoken to. From the incredibly well informed and well read Uber driver who basically saw civil war on the horizon to the judge who supported what Trump was trying to achieve but just had concerns about how he was going about it. Has this made a difference? Who knows? But has it been positive to engage, absolutely it has. And we must , must do more of it, our lives are not lived on screens or through media but through real life engagement. I’ve loved it and hope we get to do more of it in Nebraska!

How lucky we have been.

It’s weird , the US is so familiar in so many ways. The huge highways, the huge cars, The yellow school buses and the red ambulances that we’ve all seen in numerous TV shows. It kinda feels like you’ve been dropped into the TV set, but no this is life here. This is America.

After almost two months wearing the same clothes we both engaged in a bit of clothes shopping, a few bargains, enough to use that new purchased suitcase. It will be full by the time I pick up my Amazon deliveries in Nebraska 😂.

We then went to a fantastic restaurant that I had booked months ago, chopnblock, an African themed home style meal. Funnily enough it was almost opposite the office of our nephews Houston based office. So cool knowing this is his hood when he is here.

Post dinner we decided to go to a local drag bar, as it was only 3km away we decided to walk. At which point we learnt that Houston is not a pedestrian city. Unkempt footpaths, poor lighting and no one and I mean no one else out on the streets. We made it there eventually, and the show was excellent, very political and very professional despite the small venue. Only tainted by my own poor behaviour in getting very drunk.🤦

Next day was an early rise for a trip to NASA. A massive hangover, bruising from falls I had no recollection of, not feeling great and clearly a pretty shit partner to be around I could not let my own choices stop us from doing what had been planned many months earlier!

It was to be honest pretty surreal. Again that sense of familiarity, seeing the space shuttle took me back to the days when I used to watch the live broadcasts. Seeing the actual control room where the moon landings were managed. Unbelievable. Knowing that it is still the same building that the current control room for the international space station is located.

There’s a very obvious irony isn’t there? That period of optimism where Kennedy challenged his country to achieve something for humanity “ not because it is east but because it is hard” and that goal being reached by the end of the decade. An achievement that propelled us all into a new era of human existence. Of positivity and optimism. And now, some 55 years later that same America propelling us into a very different and unknown future.

I was vaguely aware that we are heading back to the moon through the Artemis programme. Had no idea that the next launch could be next week. But off we go again to start the process of a permanent moon base.

So hangover in full swing post NASA I went to bed while David went to the hotel bar and restaurant for some entertainment and the next day, feeling refreshed we had brunch and decided to go to the Natural history museum. Looking at the map it was only 3km away and despite the cold ( we were all rugged up) we decided to keep the step count up and walk. Reaffirming that Houston is not a pedestrian friendly city we ended up quickening the pace as some parts were decidedly dodgy.

The museum was a surprise. And probably the most sophisticated and well resourced museum I have ever been in. We saw it all from the most magnificent dinosaur display, to a butterfly house, an absolutely stunning Terracotta warrior exhibition with artefacts so recently uncovered I doubt many Chinese people have seen them to a private collection of Faberge eggs and jewellery. There is money in this town. Lots of it.

4 hours whipped by and after a walk through Hermann park we tried ( unsuccessfully) to find a lunch spot. Lost and again the only ones walking in desperation we found ourselves in a hospital cafe for a break . Still not learning the “ do not walk in Houston” rule.

Looking at the supporters board Oil is behind a lot of this. Including for the McFerrins who only started their Faberge collection just over 20 years ago.

Next stop was Texas BBQ so off to the Pitt room. While we waited to order we had some crawfish. 🦞 basically a cousin to Yabbies. But way smaller. Delicious I have to say. The highlight being the 4 women who decided to basically take us under their wings , buy us shots and basically be raucous…lots of fun, instagram details traded and promises to come to New Zealand I hope we get to reciprocate the hospitality.

It was back at the hotel bar ( just for one wine) that we met the Texan judge and his partner. Hours of conversation later we bid farewell, having had a healthy exchange of ideas and perspectives. I thoroughly enjoyed the conversation and it’s left me wondering why I don’t initiate this more.

It’s expensive here, we’ve really noticed it, a bottle of water can be $5us a basic sandwich $15us and the bills quickly mount up. Add the tip and taxes and yowza! I wonder how people survive ? Or are we just in the expensive end of town.

For our last day in Houston we will head back to the museum district and try to go to the modern arts museum. If it’s anything like the natural history museum we are in for a treat.

Then we fly to Nebraska, to the final destination of this epic trip.

Thanks for coming along. It will end soon I promise!