The drive went quickly and without incident.  We pulled up to the curb at Rob and Terri Allison's home at a bit after 4 PM -- almost 9 months and more than 27,000 miles after we left from the same spot in early February.  27,000 miles is about once around the planet -- or 1/10 of the way to the moon.  A long way, by most measures.

Joya came outside to greet us before we even got across the lawn.  We had not seen her in 9 weeks -- too long.  She looked beautiful and healthy.  After hugs all around, we went inside.

Here she is with her buddy Mikaila, the Allison's oldest daughter.

And this is how she and 'Kai lived for those 9 weeks.  Visualize a 9 week long teenage sleepover.  She and 'Kai were wearing each other's clothes, so they wisely combined them all into one humongous pile that they poked around in from to time to extract garments.  This saved the trouble of having to hunt around for them in pesky closets or drawers.

That night was the Homecoming Dance for Santa Barbara High School -- Joya's first dance.  This was one reason we wanted to be home on this date.

Below, 'Kai works on Joya's hair, while Joya simultaneously applies makeup and talks on the phone.

The ladies, after getting all dolled up: Joya, Kendra, Dana, and 'Kai.  They really were a beautiful group of nice young women.

Well, that's about it.  "The Trip" was officially over, and we were back.  Were we happy to be 'home'?  Not really -- we had grown quite fond of our unstructured, simple life as nomads.  Being home meant that I have to get a job.  No more sleeping till 8 and then wondering what adventure the day would bring.  While it was great to see Joya and all of our beloved friends, Jody and I  most definitely were not looking forward to diving back into a frenetic life.  We want to preserve some of the slowness and gentle pace of the past months.  Figuring out how to do so will most likely occupy us for quite some time.