For about ten days leading up to this "Big Trip," Aden would ask us if it was time to go to Goroka yet. His way of asking is always to say, "Are we going to Goroka after this night?" To which the response was always, "no, after 10 more nights," or "after five more nights." This went on until it really was "after this night." The anticipation was almost unbearable, and the boys' anticipation was almost unbearable for Mommy and Daddy. Probably two or three days before the trip, some suitcases were found in the closet and dragged out. They were packed and re-packed daily, and then pulled all over the house. Aden and Wiley had packed just about every article of clothing from their drawers, as well as books, stuffed animals, and toys. It took awhile for them to understand that this much stuff would not leave enough room for anyone else to bring anything, so we managed to scale down a bit.
The day had finally arrived, and we loaded up the vehicle. We weren't able to leave until 1p.m., and that must have felt like torture. We were finally on our way though and the boys, including Noah, could not have been more happy about a ride in the Cruiser. About an hour down the road, we stopped in the town of Kundiawa for a snack from the newly discovered European bakery. It seems a little out of place in this town, but we were glad it was there. As we piled out of the vehicle, Aden decided to stay back with Aunt Kathy. Mommy asked him if he wanted us to get him anything, to which he politely responded, "No, thanks. Bubu Jim will probably get me something." And of course, upon hearing that, Bubu Jim did bring him something. Sneaky little kid is already learning how to play the 'grandpa/grandma' card.
A couple of hours later, we were in Goroka, and mostly just enjoying being off that bumpy road. We stayed in the guest flats, where lo and behold, "THEY HAVE BUNK BEDS!!" came the cry. Despite the lack of naps, it was still hard to get to sleep with all of that adrenaline.
The next three days we enjoyed swimming at the Bird of Paradise Hotel, buying bilum hats, playing tennis back at New Tribes, riding scooters, playing basketball, football and frisbee; and then eating out at a Chinese restaurant, playing games and watching videos at night. 
Other highlights were Noah doing a little more hands and knees crawling (although he still army crawls when he wants to get somewhere fast), getting to ride in a little airplane car that one of the New Tribes kids had, Aden learning how to put
both feet on the scooter after he gets going REALLY fast, and Wiley getting complimented on his bilum hat by every passer-by. 
Eventually, the fun had to come to an end though and we had to drive on that bad road home. It was fairly uneventful other than the big potholes, water crossing, avoiding pigs and goats, and coming across some cows walking towards us in the other lane. That's the Highlands Highway for you. We read recently in the newspaper that they were proposing a four-lane upgrade to this same road. We are suggesting that they just fix the two lanes that they have.
The Goroka trip made an impression, and we are still hearing about it. Each day, Aden and Wiley get out their cars to play with, and most of the time the cars are on their way to Goroka. No details are missed, as the cars are packed, everyone who went has their place in the car and is acted out by one of the boys, the stops are made, and eventually Bubu Jim says a prayer for safe travel.
