Air Force One..... Almost

On Sunday morning, Seth and Cari flew home.  So, Dave and I had the day to explore Bangkok with Mitch and Emily.  We started out the day at Sukhothai, one of the places in my 1000 Places book.

It's a 5-star international hotel that "evokes the air of a Buddhist retreat."

Nice bathroom!

And then we went to check out the Oriental, often rated as one of the world's best hotels. The hotel ledger has seen many a famous guest check in including Prince Charles and Princess Diana.

And now they can add this super famous couple to their books as well!

Check out this "kiddie" pool - it's a gorgeous infinity pool right next to the water.  Hands down the nicest kiddie pool I've ever seen!

And fro there, we went to the Chatuchak Market to stock up on souvenirs  to bring home.

Coconut ice cream served in... a coconut.  Yum! 2 scoops for just 50 baht ($1.60).

Alas, it was time to head to the airport.  We flew from Bangkok to Seoul where we had a four hour layover.  And that was pretty cool because it coincided with the Olympics ending so every where we looked, we saw Olympians from all different countries.  It was very cool!

And they had an officially licensed Olympic store.  So, we are now the proud owners of a stuffed Soohorang (the tiger) and a super cute Soohorang hat, which Ella wears constantly and is super adorbs. 

Normally, I hate the traveling part of traveling.  But this one I was actually looking forward to.  Dave reads all the blogs and follows all the recommendations and tips on how to get the most points from various credit cards and such.  As a result, he was able to use points for our R/T tickets to/from Bangkok and even had enough points to upgrade to Premier Class for our way home.  Which means, we had access to this lounge during our 4 hour layover in Seoul.

Check out that spread!  So, this is what "the other half" has been doing all those years I have been shlepping it to and from terminals, sitting on the floor or in an uncomfortable chair with torn seat cushions.  Yup, this is whats going on behind the scenes - unlimited gourmet food, free wireless, beautiful bathrooms (with heated toilet seats!), etc. 

And in places like this, you're bound to run into someone famous.  Doesn't look familiar?

Well, it's Peter Alexander, a journalist that works for NBC news and is the NBC News White House Correspondent.  He is on NBC Nightly News, Today, Meet the Press, Dateline NBC, MSNBC and NBCNews.com.

And then we got on the plane....

And put our feet up!

And then perused the lunch menu

And enjoyed our appetizer served on china and linen.

For once, I didn't want the flight to end!

And look who we were sitting right next to - Peter Alexander again.  And whose that he's talking to?  Oh yeah, Sarah Sanders, the White House Press Secretary.  And who is that behind Peter?  Secret Service.  Why Secret Service?

Well, because look who else was sitting right next to us for a 15 hour flight - Ivanka Trump!

Here you can see how close we were.  I am in seat 10A and that is me looking at and taking a picture of Ivanka getting something from her storage.  I couldn't wait to see her all gross and nasty with bed-head and drool crusted to her face like the rest of us by the time the flight was over.

Sadly, she looked like this.  Life is so unfair.  And she was wearing 6 inch heals as she got off the plane.  I know, because I walked literally about 3 feet behind her for about 5-6 minutes waiting to get off the plane, then down the connector hall and all the way to the shuttle before she was escorted on to her own private shuttle with her secret service and "handlers."

What a way to end the trip!

By the numbers:

9:  The number of massages Dave and I had combined ($3-4 for 1/2 hour, $7-10 for an hour - how do you pass that up!)

10: The number of flights we had (DC to Seoul, Seoul to Bangkok, Bangkok to Chiang Mai, Chiang Mai to Bangkok, Bangkok to Siem Reap, Siem Reap to Bangkok, Bangkok to Krabi, Krabi to Bangkok, Bangkok to Seoul, Seoul to DC).

3: Number of days we had on this trip where we were not on a flight for at least part of the day

2: Number of countries visited.  Three if you count Korea.

It was a crazy, non-stop, jam-packed adventure.  And we absolutely loved it!  We feel so blessed to have had this opportunity to travel with family and explore such amazing places.  We also feel very grateful to be back home with our 4 babies who we missed and whose hugs around our necks when they ran to us feel so good.  And a special thanks to our niece, Lexi and Dave's parents who helped hold down the fort while we were gone!  Kop Kun Ka!

Ravishing Railay

On our final day in Krabi, we got up early and hopped on a Longtail and headed to Railay Beach, which can only be reached by boat.  It was recommended to us by Mitch's wife Emily.  And I have two words for this place: Hidden Gem.

Islands jetting up from the Sea. Crystal blue-green clear, warm water.  Not crowded. 

B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L

We found some kayaks that were available for rent for a whopping 100 baht (~$3)/person. 

We had the entire place to ourselves and we all agreed that it was the best $3 we've ever spent.

It's hard to pinpoint one "favorite thing" of the entire trip, but I honestly think this may have been it.  It definitely ranked up at the very top.  

There were all these nooks and crannies in and around the islands and we explored as many as we could.

Dave snapped this pic of Seth and Cari.  I think this picture best encompasses what it was like.  It was just the "total package" of beauty, serenity, solitude, warmth and sunshine.

After kayaking, we sat down at a little restaurant right on the beach and ate Thai pancakes.

And then we hopped on a long tail to head back to our hotel and check out so that we could head to the airport and fly back to Bangkok for our final night of the trip.

Once we landed, we met up with Mitch's wife Emily and their two kids and then headed to Mo and Moshi.  Dave had heard about this place before we left on our trip and he was bound and determined to pay it a visit!

We studied our options.......  Decisions, decisions........

But ultimately settled on this beauty.

A "thai-tanic" sundae ;)

Between the 8 of us, we made a pretty good dent.

Cheers to our final night of our Southeast Asia adventure!

Phi Phi Islands

On our second full day in Krabi, we decided to take a boat out to visit/see/explore the Phi Phi Islands.  Here is a map to give you a general idea of where they are.  As you can see, the Andaman Sea comes up into Thailand and is bordered by Krabi on the right and Phuket on the left.  And the middle of the Sea is dotted with islands - the Phi Phi Islands.  All the outings and excursions are the same regardless of if you stay on the Krabi side or the Phuket side, but our friend Mitch said that Krabi is less expensive and not as crowded, so that's why we stayed there.

Our first stop was "The Beach", which earned its nickname because of the Leonard DiCaprio move The Beach that was filmed here.

I can see why it was filmed here - I mean look at that water!!  And it's surrounded by gorgeous cliffs on every side while your feet sink into the silky soft white powder sand.

The downside is that, because of the movie, it's the most well known and visited of all the islands, so the crowds detracted a bit from what otherwise would have been the perfect place to stay for hours on end. 

I love all these longtails. They're colorful and unique and Asian.

After leaving "The Beach", we explored several other islands and snorkeled at a few different places, one of which where we just jumped off the boat and saw TONS of beautiful fish.  The "boat guy" dropped in some watermelon into the water and thousands of colorful fish surrounded us on every side.  It was so cool.

And then, as the sun started setting, we made our way back to Ao Nang Beach to have dinner and close out the day.