I finally got my wish. When we returned to Mumbai we experienced heavy rains and several days of flooding. During the short breaks in rain, we ran errands in Mumbai, finished our shopping and visited Nadia’s extended family.

After a lot of conversation and some soul searching, we decided to return to California to prepare for our next adventure: Russian lessons and volunteering in Kazakhstan.

We spent a little over a month in California studying Russian, packing and hanging out with friends and family. Highlights include time in the ocean kayaking and surfing, spending time with friends and family in San Diego and LA, BBQ on the beach, 75 cent rides at the Santa Cruz Boardwalk, nightlife in San Francisco and family reunions.

We are excited for the opportunity. More from Kazakhstan to come soon…

We spent two days in this very charming town bordering Sequoia National Park. Two days in the country were very therapeutic and provided much appreciated downtime, as well as a chance to spend time with Aunt Susie and our cousin Terran. There are so many wonderful attributes about Three Rivers, so I’ll just mention several of our favorites:

3) Susie’s house is located on the side of a mountain with an incredible view of Kings Canyon. Her house is surrounded with decks and the wall facing the view is almost entirely made of windows!

2) Kaweah River runs through the town. The North, South and East forks of the Kaweah merge into one river, which is where Three Rivers gets its name. The rivers’ presence creates waterfalls and lakes in the area, providing a number of very scenic hikes and opportunities for fun in the water. The most prominent noise from Susie’s deck is the soothing sound of the river rushing past in the valley below.

1) Susie and Terran have such wonderful friends and are very generous hosts! We had so much fun hanging out with the locals and especially enjoyed Terran’s baseball game on Tuesday night. It was a real nail biter. Go Diamondbacks!