We felt that we needed to make a quick trip to Florence, South Carolina, to see a dear relative who has been unwell for some years. It was decided that Prisy and I would go. Prisy had never been to the States before and had a week of term holidays left. So we booked the flights and were off.

(I am writing this post for myself, including some key photos, so I can remember the sequence of events in later years.) I had Prisy in almost all my photos; she was patient with me.

We flew with United Airlines throughout. Uneventful, which is good. The food was not great, but did not make us sick or anything. The serving crew were wonderful throughout. All the flights—five of them—were on time.

We reached San Francisco on the morning of Thursday 25th September, five and a half hours before we left Auckland, after flying over 12 hours!

We had a few hours to kill before we boarded the flight to Baltimore. I used this time to call Pradan Annan, Prabhu & Carol, and Sandy Rogers, the Americans I would have loved to meet but couldn’t.

Landing in Baltimore later, we took an Uber to Vinod and Kavitha’s place in Potomac. Meeting Preethi akka and Kavitha was lovely, and they were so hospitable. I don’t think Panther the dog thought much of us.

26th Friday was our day for museums in DC. Every museum we visited needed at least a whole day to cover, and we “covered” four museums that day. This shows that we did not do justice to any of them. Maybe the Lord will give us another opportunity.

The first museum was the Bible Museum. It was the museum we enjoyed the most.

The other museums we visited were Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian National Museum of American History, and the National Portrait Gallery, also part of the Smithsonian Institution.

By 6:00 p.m. we were tired and wondered how we were going to manage another tour of buildings in DC till 10:00 p.m. We needn’t have worried, because the tour guide was excellent and kept the bus engaged for three hours.

27th Saturday was our day for shopping and preparing for the drive down to Florence. I could spend time with Preeti Akka and Prisy was able to accompany Kavitha to some of the shops to buy Jewish Bread, pastries, and items from Costco and the Indian store. That evening Kavitha took us clothes shopping too. We also included a walk in the park with a lake, across from the house. Kavitha had arranged for Simon to come home from his college. Prisy had not seen him before. That evening, we also got to see Vinod.

28th Sunday was the day to drive down to Florence. Kavitha had rented a minivan for the purpose. We would have taken the train, but driving meant that we could take a little detour and visit Anna in college.

29th and 30th were spent with the family, including young Tanish and Baymax the family dog. Watching David and Sangeeta trusting God in spite of their circumstances and in spite of their doubts and questions was moving. Sangeeta took us shopping.

1st Wednesday was the day Arun arrived from Canada. He had meant to surprise Prisy and me. But because of a comedy of errors, the surprise was disclosed the day before. Nevertheless, it was a joy to see him. During this visit, Prisy was meeting Sangeeta and Kavitha after over two decades. It was a joy to see the cousins meet. That evening Sangeeta took us to see the museum in Florence and visit a chocolate shop.

The morning of October 2nd dawned. After a Bible reading (Psalm 139) and a word of prayer, it was time to leave. Sangeeta and Arun accompanied us to Columbia. There, from the university, we picked up Pavit, another great nephew. Lunch, a visit to the State House, and checking into a hotel. And it was time for the final goodbyes.

We flew from Columbia to Chicago and then to San Francisco, before flying back to Auckland, losing the 3rd of October entirely.