The Cards Spend the Summer in the U.S.A.
My name is Peter Card. I am currently teaching and living in Al Ain, Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). This is the ninth correspondence to share my adventures living abroad. I am truly amazed at where life has taken me. I hope by sharing my experiences it encourages you to pursue your dreams as well. God Bless!
Summer 2016 was an interesting mix of events for us. Our original intentions were to travel to Brazil for the Olympics, but the Zika virus scare changed our minds. So we opted instead to fly home. With me being the cheapskate that I am, I chose the cheapest, longest flight home. We traveled from Abu Dhabi to Frankfurt to Montreal to New York to Atlanta. The whole trip was more than 24 hours.
{{more}}
After a few enjoyable weeks with family, we embarked on some domestic travel. We flew to Detroit for a cousin’s birthday and was very surprised by how lively downtown Detroit was despite their recent setbacks. A cousin gave us a tour of the city that is still quite nice despite many areas that remain neglected and abandoned.
After another pit stop at home, we traveled to San Francisco for a marathon and a west coast tour. San Francisco is a unique city with its own special character that we really enjoyed including the Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz, Pier 39 and Fisherman’s Wharf. We rented a convertible and headed down the famous Highway 1. It is a literally breathtaking trip full of tourists just like us pulling over to cliffside stops for great photos.
From San Francisco we then ventured north of the border to Toronto and Niagara Falls. Toronto is a wonderfully diverse city with a lively downtown area with many things to do and sea. We enjoyed a city tour and a boat ride to an island park just outside the city. Niagara Falls is just a day trip from here so we took advantage of this and joined large crowds of tourists taking our turn on riding as near as possible by boat to the falls. The roar and power of the falls is tremendous.
If this were not enough, our homecoming was extended even longer because our things were stolen while we were at home. Passports, driver’s license, wallet, electronics, everything out of our car while we were here in Georgia. Returning back to the UAE required a trip to Washington, DC to the UAE embassy as well as about two additional weeks longer than we planned in the country. Once this was settled, it was time for the long flight back (Atlanta, New York, Montreal, Istanbul, Abu Dhabi). If it sounds like a lot, just imagine actually living it. Wow! What a summer!
If you would like to hear or see more of my adventures, you may look for Peter Card in the UAE on Youtube or the Peter Card Facebook page. Feel free to leave a question or comment at either of these places or email me at cardsimon@hotmail.com.
