Journey's End

Over the last eighteen months I would sometimes look around me and marvel at where I am and how I got here. Two years ago I would get up in the mornings, go to a job that I didn't like, and try to squeeze all of the rest of my life into nights and weekends. Then one November day a casual conversation changed all that. Next thing I know I'm waking up in a different place every few days, looking out over vistas I'd only ever seen in picture books or in movies. How lucky I've been! No...no...it's not luck. It's something Nancy and I were able to do because of we way we lived our lives up to that point. Something that seemed crazy and impossible at first, but on closer examination was not only possible, but was the best possible thing for us to do at the time.

From the east coast...


...to the west coast...


...in the mountains...


...across the prairies...


...we've covered a lot of ground. We're often asked questions like: "What's your favorite place so far?" or "Have you been somewhere that you'd like to move to?" Check back soon: I'll be posting a "Best Of" list-of-lists of all of the favorite things we've done and seen along the way.

It was with mixed feelings, and not a little sentimentality, that we made our final camp of this trip. As we went through the familiar routines of set up, preparation of our evening meal, bed-time, and pack-and-load, we were acutely aware that it was the last time we'd be doing these things. Some things, like dumping waste tanks, will not be missed! The final drive, down the familiar roads of the home stretch, were bittersweet as well. One one hand there was comfort in the familiarity; on the other, there were competitive New England drivers and periods of stop-and-go traffic from pure congestion.

One really cool thing happened on the drive home. I got a call from my friend Gene, who commutes up I-91 from New Haven. We realized that we were on converging courses, and amazingly I merged from 691 onto 91 just a few car-lengths behind him! We pulled off into the Rest Area that was conveniently located 1/2 mile later, and we had the first reunion of the many that we look forward to upon our return.

So, all good things must come to an end. Occasionally we'd ask ourselves "Why must it end?", and truth be told, we could probably continue for many more months, even years. But it has to end because without a limit it loses its meaning. Without an end date we wouldn't have been driven to extract the most from each day, to get out and see the sights we'd travelled so far to see. No, this trip, the way its played out, was just right. We've done what we set out to do. We will now get back to the life that we put on hold eighteen months ago, and be content.

Or will we?

Thanks for following along!