We've got friends in low places

After a break-neck last week, wrapping everything up at work and packing up our apartment, we flew off to DC and New York to visit friends and family.  Some might think of us as ego maniacs, others might think of us as party animals, but either way we couldn't leave the country without a few more goodbye soirees with our East Coast peeps.

I blame my roots,  Sara showed up in boots

First, we celebrated Sara's 3*th birthday with her family in Northern, VA. While it is still hard for Sara to say her new age out loud, spending her birthday with her mom, dad, sister, nephew and aunt was a great way to start her new year.  Leaving DC, we made our way to Brooklyn -- nothing like Venezuelan food with the SOM crowd to send us off.  Back through Philly, we had lunch with more of Sara's family, and then landed square in DC for a third (and final) round of farewell drinks.

As we write this, Julienne is slipping imodium into every spare compartment of her pack, and Sara is deciding about slipping another pair of pants into her compression sack.  While we don't yet know what will greet us in Africa, we do know how grateful we are for all the love and support from our family and friends through the past few weeks of transition.  Thank you all for the wise words and wise cracks, and we can't wait to share our adventure with you.

Little Baobab

We said goodbye to San Francisco last night with a fitting shin-dig at Little Baobab -- the Bay's homage to Senegalese nightlife.  It was a bittersweet parting, as we said goodbye to friends and family, colleagues, and the best sunny days we've seen since last September. 

Thanks for the great send off.  We miss you all already. 

Bags are packed

Maison Rose in the center of Dakar, mango tree and all.

The bags are packed, the tickets and malaria pills are in hand, and we're ready to head to Africa. We're leaving San Francisco on Sept 24 for a week in DC with Sara's family and a quick swing up to New York. Then we'll travel across the Atlantic to arrive in the western-most city of Africa, the New Orleans of the continent: Dakar, Senegal. We've rented the lovely "Maison Rose" for our first month's stay. We have a spare room, so come visit!