Hua Hin Beach, Bangkok (again), and HOME!

These last 4-5 days in Thailand are a complete blur. While at our beach resort in Hua Hin, we found ourselves completely in vacation mode. We were tired, a little homesick, and perfectly relaxed swimming and hunting for shells on the beach. Our resort was very isolated from the city. It was a $6 taxi ride to get into the town of Hua Hin. By this point, we were not feeling very motivated to do much of anything. We ate at the same great restaurant 5 out of 6 nights! Chef Cha was pretty good. He even came and said hi to us on the 4th night and remarked that we were sitting at the same table each time. The menu had a good selection of Thai and Western foods. DD#1 was pretty happy with a burger by this point.

We happily spent hours hunting for shells at the beach. It was obvious that different critters occupied these waters.

We had laundry done for the last time. Receiving my laundry folded, clean, and wrapped like a present might be the thing I miss most about Thailand. (Kidding. But it is pretty fantastic!)

The girls and I headed to a nearby waterpark for one of our day's activities. Black Mountain Waterpark was so much fun! There were no lines and we spent hours rocketing down a variety of slides. DH stayed back at the resort and used the fitness facilities at the nearby Sheraton Hotel.

One night, we worked up the energy to head to the Cicada Market just south of Hua Hin. It was a great market full of authentic souvenirs. I bought a handmade wooden piano clock that I just love! The girls were happy to have their nails painted at the market. A 25 minute manicure cost about $1.50 plus tip.

Each evening, the clouds rolled in sometimes bringing a little rain. Usually, we could see an electrical storm off in the distance. DH tried to take pictures of the storm.

One morning, we found a special café for yummy smoothies, Thai iced tea, cake, and this marvelous red velvet waffle creation. Dessert for breakfast!

One of the many interesting snack foods in a Thai market.

We have all gotten used to special smoothies and iced drinks.

After many more kilometers logged around our resort's pool, it was time to head north to Bangkok for one last night. We checked into a different hotel, Bann Glang Soi, and explored yet another neighborhood. We did a little last-minute shopping at the massive MBK mall, ate one last yummy Thai dinner, and called it a trip! (Notice the no alcohol sign in the picture. We ended our trip on the holiday just before Buddhist Lent.)

We managed our nearly 15 hours of flying to get to Seattle. Ugghh. We flew EVA airlines and connected through Taipei. We stayed the night in Seattle with our wonderful family before heading south to Oregon.

I am so happy that we got to experience Thailand. It was a vacation that we will never forget! The food, traffic, history, weather, people, shopping, and pure adventure of it all will never be forgotten. I think we are all going to miss those $1 fresh fruit smoothies! But there's nothing like landing in the Pacific Northwest and seeing the mountains in the distance, the giant trees, and never-ending green. One of the best things about travelling is the reminder that there's no place like home.

So until summer 2017 (Europe again!) familyineurope bids farewell. Thanks for reading!