Summer visit to the US

Reuben and I traveled safely to the US at the end of July. He made friends on the flight from Tel Aviv to Boston, including one in first class who brought us snacks back in coach after Reuben ate every bite of the food I packed for him. We spent one night in Boston with Danny’s brother, David, who generously picked us up at the airport, prepared a homemade meal for us, and drove us back to Logan the next morning for our early flight to Montana. We had no major delays or lost luggage, so all was well. It didn’t take us too long to get over our jet lag, and we quickly fell into our new routine. We stayed in the new condo at Bridger Bowl that my mom’s husband, Dick, had almost finished building. Back in the early spring, when my mom had offered to let us stay there, I had no idea that it wasn’t actually finished being built. Dick worked tirelessly to get everything ready for us – before he even had a chance to enjoy the place himself. Contractors were extra busy in the area after the June floods in Montana, so there was a lot of stress leading up to our arrival, not knowing if enough electrical and plumbing work would be finished for us to stay there. My mom was furious about the furniture she ordered not arriving on time. The floors and bathroom tiles were installed hours before we arrived. My brother even spent a day working there to get things ready for us. The mountain views were beautiful, but we didn’t spend a lot of time there. Each day, we packed up the car with whatever we needed, and then drove the 25 minutes to Bozeman so we wouldn’t have to go back and forth more than once a day.

Overnight stop in Boston with Uncle David

It was wonderful to see everyone in the family, but it wasn’t really the rest and relaxation I craved. I ended up in the kitchen cooking dinner most nights, and I actually injured the thenar eminence on my left hand from literally carrying too much each day. Our schedule was packed during our stay. We took a fun float trip down the Madison River, went to the local farmer’s market, decorated the sidewalk with chalk in preparation for the Sweet Pea Festival, escaped the Temple of the Abyss on Danny’s birthday, went out for drink’s at my cousin’s bar, the Owl Lounge, in Livingston, MT; all in the first four days in town. We spent time with my extended family at the wedding, and stayed very busy throughout our visit.

Tubing on the Madison River

Chalk the Walk on Main Street in Bozeman

Celebrating Danny’s birthday at the Owl Lounge in Livingston, MT

Posing with the women in the family at Nick & Cassie’s wedding

My brother had booked a short trip to Yellowstone National Park when Reuben was hospitalized. I was too distracted to pay much attention to his messages, and I didn’t even tell Danny that we had a condo booked in West Yellowstone for a few days in August. We were exhausted, and almost had to cancel because Sarit got sick the day before, but ultimately, we packed up and drove through Big Sky en route to the condo. Reuben and Sarit loved the hotel since it had a huge indoor pool, a game room, and seemingly unlimited cable channels on the TV in their room. It would have been a good idea to just spend the day playing and resting at the hotel, but since we only had one full day to see the park, Danny felt compelled to see as much as possible. It was not a recipe for success. We started to fight almost as soon as we got in the car. Knowing we had a 10 hour drive to Colorado ahead of us, I wanted to hike or spend time by the river. Danny wanted to show the kids the mud pots, Old Faithful, and bison. It was a difficult day, to say the least.

Fun family hike at Ousel Falls in Big Sky, MT

Luckily, the beauty of the Grand Tetons restored order in our family on our way to Colorado. We loved Jackson Hole, and found a delicious vegan restaurant for lunch in town. We stayed overnight in Rock Springs, WY in order to break up the drive to Colorado. The next day we had lunch at a vegetarian place in Laramie, WY, and enjoyed shopping around town, especially visiting the multiple book stores and food coop. We ended up arriving in Boulder later than expected, but still making it to dinner at our friend’s house. We celebrated a B-Mitzvah that weekend, with a musical kabbalat shabbat and dinner by the creek at Bonai Shalom, and a Shabbat morning service at the top of Flagstaff Mountain, overlooking all of Boulder. It was wonderful to catch up with friends, and to see our kids reconnecting with their neighborhood crew. We were grateful to stay in our friends’ home close to our old neighborhood for a few nights while they were out of town.

Driving into Jackson Hole, WY

We moved to my sister’s beautiful new house in Denver on Sunday night, and picked up Kai from camp on Monday morning. He had the best time, and I hope he is currently writing a blog to tell you all about it. After starting the mountain of dirty laundry he brought back (we had to vacuum Ali’s laundry room after the first load because there was so much dirt left on the floor), we drove to Boulder for vegan Nepalese lunch and to pick up Reuben from his sleepover the previous night. We ended up driving back and forth from Denver to Boulder almost every day – to run errands, see friends, and to eat at Motomaki. I taught a Qi Gong class at the Boulder JCC on Thursday morning while Danny took the kids to play mini golf and drive go-karts at Gateway Fun Park. Ali and I took the kids to the Butterfly Pavilion on Wednesday, and to Elitch Gardens on Friday. We ran around town visiting friends, buying new clothes, getting haircuts, and stopping by every bookshop and library. I feel tired just writing about all of the activities we squeezed in (ok, I’m also still jet-lagged).

Bonding with baby Sage in Denver

Reuben reconnecting with his friends

Kids picture at dinner with friends

After a whirlwind round of goodbyes, dinners with friends, an outdoor qi gong class with many wonderful women, and one last trip to the grocery store to buy snacks for the plane, we flew to Atlanta for a short visit. Our flight was very delayed – we boarded on time, then found out there was a problem with the electrical system, disembarked, and waiting in the terminal for a few hours while they fixed everything, and then re-boarded the flight. We each received a travel voucher for our troubles, but Sarit declared that Southwest had lost our business forever. We spent a fun few days in Atlanta visiting with family, meeting our new niece, swimming in the pool, and shopping (again).

Qi Gong at Christiansen Park in Boulder

Baby naming ceremony for Zoey in Atlanta

Reuben and I had a multiple stops on our way back to Israel, with flights going from Atlanta to Boston to Paris to Tel Aviv. I was pretty certain that our bags would not make it, and I was unfortunately proved right. Our flight from Boston to Paris was delayed, so we missed our connecting flight in Paris. The next available flight on Air France landed at Ben Gurion airport at 2:30am. I overheard a man next to me at the customer service counter demanding that they move him to an El Al flight that was leaving that afternoon, arriving in Tel Aviv just after 8pm, so I requested that flight as well. The agent spoke with her manager, and told me she could book us on that flight. Poor Reuben wasn’t feeling well at that point – he threw up on landing and then again several times at Charles de Gaulle Airport. We had to walk all the way from the remote terminal where we landed, to the international check in counter (El Al is the furthest away – hidden in the corner and guarded by 4 burly men with machine guns). We arrived before check in had started, but when I showed the El Al agent the reservation confirmation from Air France, and she told me we were booked on the flight for the next day! There was nothing she could do because that day’s flight was fully booked. I asked her if I could get a wheelchair for Reuben, but she said it was not possible because we did not have a flight booked for that day. My only option was to have Reuben sit balanced on a luggage cart, and to walk all the way back to the Air France desk to fix the problem. Ultimately, we were able to get on the El Al flight that day, and once we made it back to their check in desk, a wheelchair came, and going through security to our gate was simple and fast. Our missing luggage arrived in Zichron this afternoon, 72 hours after we landed in Israel.

Happy to be on the El Al flight back to Israel

It is difficult for me to write about the emotional aspects of the visit. I feel sad that I am so far away from friends and family, and it is easy to see how the distance affects our relationships. I’m not involved in the day to day goings-on, but I want to be part of their lives. I try to keep everyone up to date with this blog, and social media posts, but I know that it isn’t the same as being there in person. It was hard for me to set boundaries, and to really spend quality time with the people who I care about. That said, everyone was so giving, and welcomed us with open arms. We are so deeply grateful for all of the home hospitality, meals, and generosity from our family and friends. I didn’t get as much one-on-one time with my friends as I had hoped for – unbelievably, I didn’t even have time for any hikes. Maybe it would make more sense for me to have a trip there alone next time. I always thought that Israel was just a plane ride away, but it take so much money, energy, and effort to travel now. It feels like the gap has widened. I’m deep in culture shock since our return to Israel. It will take me some time to get used to everything again. In the meantime, the kids did start school this morning (the impending teacher strike was resolved last night). Time to return to our routine…