That’s right folks, it’s been a year since we embarked on our trip. On that note, we wanted to lay this blog to rest. But, not without an update of course!

Just a week and a half ago, Whit and I moved back to San Francisco proper - Nob Hill to be exact. We had spent the last five months in Oakland, renting a room at our friend Mike’s house, where he lives with his girlfriend Vi and his cat Azul. We will miss all of them dearly.

I must admit though, it is wonderful to have a place of our own again; and the unpacking process has never been so enjoyable. About 75% of our things stayed in storage while we were living in Oakland, all in anticipation of being moved back to San Francisco. My parents came down from Portland to help with the move, which was done in a record-time of about 4 hours. It was great having them there - not only as extra hands, but helping to get our new apartment feeling like home right away.

We are almost done unpacking and putting things away and have been slowly tackling the task of choosing which pictures from the trip we want to frame, which is really difficult!

Otherwise, we are back in a routine. Whit is working as a video editor for Seesmic, and is finishing up a few free-lance jobs that started in the summer. I am back at my job that I had before I left - working in Account Services at a healthcare advertising agency. I’ve been playing rec soccer (go Heat!) and tonight we start Winter League for ultimate.

We’ll celebrate Thanksgiving Day with Whit’s relatives in Los Gatos, and then head up to Portland for Part II on Friday - where we’ll get to see my brother and his wife’s new family additions - Mikaela and Sebastian. Yes, twins! They’re so cute! (I went up at the end of October to meet them for the first time -they’re just little shrimps!) We’ll also celebrate Christmas with the Fisher’s in Portland before heading to Claremont and Pasadena to visit Whit’s family. Then, it’s off to Maryland to ring in the New Year with some old friends.

So, that’s a wrap. Please feel free to visit and revisit this page as your heart desires and to share it with friends who are debating taking a similar trip. We wanted to say thank you to everyone who followed and read regularly while we were away - it was so great to have support and know that we were missed as much as we missed everyone.

And now, a thought for the road:

“We shall not cease from exploration

And the end of all our exploring will

be to arrive where we started

And know the place for the first time.”

- T.S. Eliot

Much love and thanks,

Claire & Whit

The past month was a blast. We’ve seen friends and family all up and down the West Coast, playing ultimate, going to barbeques, watching 4th of July Fireworks, and most recently a camping trip with my family for me, and a baby/bridal shower for Claire (she’s not getting married or having a baby, she just went to one).

We have been posting photos along the way, and some videos are in the making. We’ll continue posting and updating our photos as time goes on, but I think the 186 Days may need a name change. I hear by open the blog up to you all for suggestions of new names. We’ll be keeping www.drewd.com/clairenwhit for the time being. The site has treated us well, and hopefully will continue to be viewed by all of our friends and family (and fans?) Stay posted… like I said, more videos to come.
-Whit

PS – This is Claire now, I just have to tell a quick story about the bizarre night we had last night. We came into San Francisco from Oakland so Whit could pick up a hard drive from Hilary’s place. Sounds like an easy errand, right? Around 10:30 we walked out to the car to go back to Oakland, only to find Ted, a neighborhood guy, looking under our car with a flashlight. He said that he heard a cat meowing from under or in the hood, so we popped it open to take a look. By that time, Whit and I had heard the meowing as well, but it took a good ten minutes to actually see the tiny face of a kitten nestled in the engine. How it got there will remain a mystery to us. Coaxing it out with a can of tuna failed, as did jacking up the car to try to get the kitten out from underneath. That’s when we called Animal Care & Control, who responded pretty quickly with some serious tools. The ACC worker proceeded to poke around under the hood for fifteen minutes before getting the kitty out, who was covered in fleas but otherwise uninjured. Ted and his girlfriend adopted the calico kitten and left with the ACC worker to the animal clinic, debating between Jetta and Volkswagon for names. Whit and I got in the car to go back to Oakland, at which point it was 12:45am. Four blocks down the road on California Street, the clutch went out – literally dropping all the way to the floor. We got the car off the road and called AAA, who towed the car to a 76 Station. This morning, Whit went back and figured out the problem with the help of a Honda Parts Store employee, and Wendall from the 76. Turns out a bracket that holds a shaft for the clutch had broken off completely, and was all that needed to be fixed (or so we think). And thank goodness for that! Also, thanks to Hilary for letting us crash at her place after going through these two ordeals in one night.

On a completely different note - a couple weeks ago, Drew showed us this website - created by a New York DJ who kept track of literally everything he did for a year. When we saw it, we thought it would be interesting to put together some numbers for our 186 Days of travelling; and here’s what we came up with:

Countries Visited: 11

Airmiles Traveled: 35,921

Nights at Farms/WWOOF: 47

Nights with Family/Friends: 127

Nights in a Hostel/Hotel: 21

Nights Camped: 31

Most Days in One Place: 28

Days of Ultimate: 23

Vehicles Rented: 5

Train Trips: 10

Airports Visited: 22

Flights Missed: 2

Miles Hiked: 65

Beaches Visited: 24

Restaurant Visits: 67

Photos Taken: 3,211

Photos Posted: 1,681

Videos Made: 16

Hours of Video Taped: 15

Unique Blog Visitors: 9,014 (and counting)

Museum Visits: 9

Books Read: 8

Movie Screenings: 45

Emails Sent: 552

Postcards Sent: 41

Belongings Lost: 6

-Whit

We made it to Stone Lake Farm where Melinda, a former professor of mine lives, with her husband Francis. Every year they throw a big party where all of there friends come up and camp on their land for the weekend. How rad is that? Very rad. Highlights included: Goats, Septic tank digging, Camp Kitchen, The Octagon, Solar Baking - Pecan pie, Arts and Crafts, and Melinda’s Birthday - which had an amazing song to it, made up around the campfire.

After staying on the farm from Wednesday to Sunday, we headed over to Amy and Cooper’s house in Arcata. Unfortunately our camera was out of batteries for this visit, but we’ll be back up there when I make a documentary about Coopers Bio-Diesel Company - Footprint Recycling.

On our way to Portland, Claire and I were fortunate enough to take Highway 199 to Interstate 5 via a Redwood forest. The views are spectacular and the trees are monstrous. Again, no photos.

So we made it to Portland and the adventures here have just began. Including, but not limited to:

Swimming at Jamie’s house
BBQ at Hannah’s house
Dinner with George
Hanging out with Jamie

Our plan is to be here through Father’s Day and into the next week at which point we’ll head down to Eugene for an ultimate tournament. There, we will meet up with Cara who is going to travel with us up to Seattle. In Seattle we’ll meet up with EVERYONE. There are a ton of people to visit in Seattle so that part of the trip will be pretty amazing.

That’s what we’ve been up to. For detailed descriptions of any of these adventures, call or e-mail Claire or myself. Also, stay tuned for graduation videos and talk about an upcoming documentary of our trip that you may be able to own! How exciting!

Earlier that same day, we planted a garden in Mike’s backyard in Oakland. The gardens in St. Croix amazed us so much that we were inspired to plant one wherever we were. In a few weeks we should have a good selection of lettuce, arugula, onions, and basil. There are already little sprouts coming up!

Over the weekend I also reconnected with a friend from my first year of college. My friend Aaron was visiting his brother Brad in the city, so we met up with them and wandered around Fisherman’s Wharf. Since the sun wasn’t out, it wasn’t too busy, but it’s still the most touristy place in San Francisco, so the crowds were inevitable. It was funny to walk around in the midst of foreigners, remembering that not too long ago we were like them. The highlights of our walk were seeing the sea lions at Pier 39 (they make me laugh), the treats at Kara’s Cupcakes, and driving Aaron and Brad down Lombard Street. We were also preyed upon by the “Bush Man.”

This weekend we’re playing at Cal States, an ultimate tournament in Santa Cruz. Early next week we’re heading north to Oregon and Washington until the Fourth of July. Before getting to Oregon and stay with my family in Portland, we’ll spend a few days with a former professor of Whit’s at her farm in Northern California. We’ll be posting along the way, so stay tuned for updates!

xoxo,

clairenwhit

That gets us to Friday, the day of Hilary’s graduation from the University of San Francisco. The ceremony is held at the St. Ignatius Cathedral on the school’s campus. The weather was gorgeous that day, and ceremony was nice and quick. After photos were taken we went back to the apartment for a yummy lunch made by Hannah. Hilary’s graduation was a pretty big milestone for the Fisher’s - for the last twelve years, one of the four children has been in college. Now, we’re all done!

On Saturday we all piled into the rental car and went to the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. The visiting exhibition “Picasso and American Art” was really amazing, as was the photography exhibit - Martin Munkacsi: Think While You Shoot! Unfortunately, it was really crowded, which caused all of us to be ready to leave before we really wanted to. So, we grabbed some food and had lunch in Alamo Square.

The weather remained beautiful the following day, so we decided to walk across the Golden Gate Bridge. When driving across, it’s hard to realize how long it really is. It took an hour and half to get across and back. Despite the distance, it’s a gorgeous walk. There were great views - San Francisco, Alcatraz, and the Marin Headlands. When we finished, the kids got dropped off at Hilary’s place and the parents headed to the airport.

The last few days we’ve been adjusting to being back in the Bay Area - staying with our friends Mike and Vi who we lived with right before leaving six months ago. It’s a great time of year to be back - everyone’s getting in summer-mode, and there’s alot going on in the city.

Backing up a bit - when we arrived on Friday we drove to Claremont to stay at Whit’s dad’s house. A BBQ had been pre-arranged with our graduating friends and their families. It was great to see everyone again, and a full-flight’s sleep prepared us to hang out and catch-up.

The next morning we went to Casa Jimenez for breakfast - a local phenomenon due to their $1.50 breakfast deal. That low, low price gets you a plate of rice, beans, and eggs (or pancakes), as well as tortillas - amazing! And delicious! A few hours later we ate more Mexican food at Paddy’s - Whit’s favorite. Lots of eating, definitely worth it.

The rest of the day we relaxed with Drew, who flew in from Seattle to see us arrive and enjoy the graduation festivities. In the afternoon we went to the park for a BBQ with graduates and families. It was a beautiful, warm evening, so it was slightly hard to leave and go to Pasadena for a pre-Mother’s Day dinner with Whit’s mom. After a pleasant evening there - and a nice brunch with Whit’s grandmother Joyce the next morning - we returned to Claremont to catch the commencement ceremonies. It’s been three years since I graduated, and although it’s weird that it’s been that long, it was fun to watch younger friends go through the same experience. And, the food was so good. What can I say? When you’re deprived of the things you love, you obsess over the moment you get to enjoy them again. With that said, last night’s dinner at Senor Baja’s (formerly known as El Taco Nazo) was simply divine. Never had a better fish taco in my life.

We just dropped Drew off at the airport, and most of our graduated friends have loaded their cars and said their goodbyes. We’ll be in the LA-area until Thursday, catching up with family and friends. So far, it’s been great to be back - we know where things are, how to get there, and have lots of old friends to accompany us. We’ve gotten the standard post-travel questions alot already (no, we don’t have a favorite place we went to - they were all amazing!).

Next weekend my sister graduates from college in San Francisco, so we’ll be doing more of the same, but Fisher-style. Our trip was incredible and it’s great to be home. But at the same time, it’s nuts to think that a week ago I was knee deep and sweating bullets while weeding the pineapple patch…

PS:: Thanks to Drew for capturing Whit’s enjoyment of the Paddy’s burrito.

Wednesday night at the farm was a Family Dinner night, and we were lucky enough to have Steven’s parents on the farm who cooked us a southern meal (ribs, beans, mashed potatoes, pumpkin pie, pineapple-bread pudding).  Some folks from the Nature Conservancy joined us for the occasion, and good times were had by all.

I can’t find the words to explain how it feels to have our travels be ending.  Amazing experiences and people made it easy to enjoy, and we’ll hold on to those new memories and relationships moving forward.

What’s next? Visiting Whit’s family and friends in Claremont, four graduations in two weekends in two cities (SF and LA), then on to the Northwest to visit my family. We’ll continue to update the blog (Whit’s got some videos in the making) as we travel up the west coast.

Stay tuned…

Saturday morning came too soon, especially since an ultimate game had been scheduled against some local high school teachers.  Under a blazing hot, morning sun, we went out on to the field - but only one teacher showed up.  The farm team split up and played some 5 vs. 5, and then headed out for ice cream back in Fredericksted. That afternoon, pretty much everyone was exhausted from the week’s work and the previous night’s fun.  After lunch, showers, and a nap, Whit and I walked up to the construction site of a new house being built on the farm.  Ben, one of the directors, will be living on a hill overlooking the farm to the southeast.  It’s a beautiful spot complete with a beautiful view.  Whit has been working on the house pretty regularly during our time here, but there’s still a good amount to be finished.

Sunday was one of the most humid days I’ve ever experienced - good thing I wasn’t competing in the Ironman.  Instead, Whit, Kristyana, and I walked down “The Gut” - a hike down from the farm to the beach following a creekbed.  It was all downhill, covering about a mile and a half, over green mossy rocks and around huge tree roots and trunks.  When we got to the beach at the bottom, the crystal-clear water cooled us off.  Another twenty minute walk got us to Sunset Beach, where we met Becca and Jess to get a ride back to the farm after a dinner of pizza at the Lost Dog.

Now, here we are again - back in another work week and in our final days of travelling.  Yesterday was spent weeding the pineapple patch and collecting loads of fruit from around the farm - have you ever had banana/passionfruit/mango/pineapple cobbler?  Well, it’s good, you should try it. We’ll be working up to Wednesday, and then it’s back to California!