My visual perspective during the drive from Pune to Mumbai was a lot different than the opposite drive when we first arrived in India because it was no longer a culture shock. I enjoyed the countryside and everything else India had to offer along the way.

Before leaving Pune, our driver stopped here for about 15 minutes while we waited in the car with the air conditioning running. This was such a beautiful fruit stand, I couldn’t resist taking a picture.

… and here’s a pretty nice building on the outskirts of Pune I thought looked out of place.

The drive through the countryside is beautiful. Here’s a video taken from the car before heading down the mountain. Again, please be patient with the download of these videos. Depending on your device, they can take several minutes to stream.

Water tower.

“INDIA IS GREAT”

On the way down the mountainside, we went through several tunnels like this one. People drive through the tunnels with their emergency blinkers on.

Our driver stopped at this rest stop along the way for a 30 minute break. That’s our car on the right.

We had chai.

Closer to Mumbai, we saw many apartment complexes. Most people live in apartments, not houses. There are tons of new apartment complexes in various stages of construction everywhere, some of which appear to be abandoned.

Closer to the airport, Mumbai was bustling with people. The following video is broken down into two parts. Sorry, it was a bumpy ride …

Part 2:

I left San Diego with one checked in bag and a very small backpack/purse, and when I returned, I had stuffed that check-in bag with more stuff, and also checked in a Baggellini stuffed with a yoga bolster, blankets and other items. As carry-ons, I had my new small carry-on suitcase and another Baggellini that was half full. That half-full Baggellini was originally a lot more full, but at baggage check in, I was asked to play some musical luggage to make my carry ons lighter.

The 42 hour travel from Pune to San Diego (this included transport to and from the airports) ended yesterday when we landed at LAX at 1pm. Bruce was there on time to pick us up, but had to drive around the airport for an hour and a half while we went through Immigration, luggage pickup and Customs. Luckily there was no traffic on the way back, so we made it home in good time.

First on the agenda when I got home was to show Bruce all the stuff I brought back, then a shower and dinner at Jimmy’s (Famous American Tavern), followed by a visit to Akuch and Robb bearing gifts from India.

Akuch and Robb are anxiously awaiting the birth, which will be occurring today or tomorrow. They’re packed and ready to go! Stay tuned for updates.

I think I can safely say that I probably got 3 full hours of sleep on the combined three flights, then last night I got 5.5 hours of sleep. This morning I woke up at 3:45 and couldn’t get back to sleep. What better time is there to blog??

It’s good to be home.

From OB with Love!

p.s. to Kevin … Keep the coffee hot. I’ll be seeing you soon!