Road Trip to Isan Day 4

The final day of our little adventure. Really yesterday was supposed to be the final day, but that changed on Sunday and we all agreed to 'play it by ear.' This morning I thought I was awake until a knocking sound on the door woke me up for real. Pastor got to see me not bright and smiley, but I still managed to say good morning after I said, "no thanks" when he told me it was time for us girls to wake up. To this I responded, 'yes Dad' and promptly crawled back in bed. Dee-Dee joined me not long after, but we still managed to leave around 8ish. Some of us got breakfast at the main house before we went to their family's home again. Again breakfast consisted of beer, sticky rice, BBQ pork, grilled fish, some steamed veggies, and some spicy dips. While we waited for breakfast, Dee-Dee and I hung out in the hammock to read a book and we were joined by his 2 year old cousin Bai Fern. She smiles and dances when prompted and is quite the star of the show. After breakfast it was off to see their rubber farm. Jiit and I took the bike. While she drove, I took pictures of us. Then she let me drive. My favorite instruction was that she forbid me to pull the accelerator hard. I got that down and we made it safely to the farm even though I didn't know how to lower gears. Every day they have people come and cut the rubber trees and then the sap flows into little cups which are collected and rolled into sheets of rubber and sent from there to be processed. It was a pretty cool thing to learn about. Back at the house it was time to say goodbye! I hugged Jiit and was happy I get to see her next year, aka next week! We loaded up this time in different places as Jiit didn't come back to BKK with us and P Thongtip wanted to sit in the back seat with Dee-Dee and I. I got a great chance to get to know her better and practice my Thai. Dee-Dee and I also got to be friends too. He bought a toy at Big C that we put together. Back in Sikui, we stopped at one of Pastor and Thongtip's neighbor's house and then climbed up the mountain (in their truck) to where they own a farm with rubber trees. The trees are really young, so we got to see how they work to prune them, to grow straight and tall. We also dug up a tapioca root to see what it looks like. I got a chance to get my hands dirty digging in the dirt and it was great! Our trip was quickly coming to an end though. We picked up Dee-Dee, said goodbye to the neighbors and got on the road to BKK after getting my cellphone. Traffic was incredibly busy on the road as everyone is headed home to Isan for New Year's. While we were in traffic, a guy bumped us from behind. Pastor got out to check, but there was no damage, so everyone continued on. Now it's back in BKK and back to work, for me at least. This was really a wonderful break! I am so glad I had a chance to travel with all these people. It was so relaxing and I'm glad I had a chance to just be a tag along like one of the kids of the family! We joked in Big C that they could tell people I was adopted and that Robin was Thongtip's sister!