Nate and I message periodically and he recently said, “Let me know how you are doing sometime. The play by play doesn’t tell me everything.” I guess that is true for everyone, so I thought I would take a minute to step back and address that.
I would say that we are doing great. We are approaching 100 days on the road and so far it has been going well. Logistically, our plans have come together pretty well. The constant planning is annoying, but it is also very exciting. Our car and RV are performing well and we don’t really have many complaints about either.
We love having nothing on our calendar. Every day I work from 6-2, Susan and the kids do school, and then we get to go explore. Some weeks, like when we are in a national park, are very busy. Others, like when we are just in a town, are not. The balance is good.
Did I mention that we have nothing on our calendars? That also means that we have no social life. None. Sometimes we have a nice neighbor we befriend for a short time. We have only run into one family that we really connected with. We planned to meet up with them later, but then the fires ruined our plans. We stay on the lookout for folks we might be able to connect with. This affects Susan, me, and the kids. We could all use some friends.
That is one of the hardest things about being in Des Moines. I know that I miss my friends and my morning/evening soccer. Susan misses her friends and the Willowsong meetings. The kids miss their block classes and soccer.
We also miss spending time with the Reagens. In Des Moines we usually see them several times a week. It is a community that is part of the foundation of our lives. We connect and share so much with them on a regular basis that it is odd to be without them. We try to keep in touch, but it is not the same as being together. This was especially evident on Susan’s birthday. I don’t mean to belittle our other relationships because we have many important relationships in our lives, both near and far. We have grown used to maintaining those as best we can. It is a change with the Reagens, and Mimi and Papa.
We used to see Susan’s parents very frequently. They would help us out a lot and the kids loved their weekly trips to the library and out to lunch. That is something they bring up about once a week that they miss. It is nice to know that we will be returning to Des Moines in just a few months.
We have been lucky to have some friends and familiar faces appear along the way: the Romans in Gatlinburg, the Herrels, Reagens, and Connors in Orange Beach, the Anhalts in La Conner, and we recently visited Susan’s friend Angie in Tacoma. It is nice to see familiar faces. We look forward to more family visits over the next couple of months. Hopefully we will see Susan’s sisters, Cameron, Susan’s parents, and my parents. Our neighbor Rick even talks about visiting us in California.
Did I mention that we are going to California? We head there in just a few days and I think we are all excited about the possibilities. It is that excitement and the great experiences that help us keep going through the planning and missing our friends. Susan and I recently took a look at the big picture view of our timeline, all the way through next Summer. It’s gonna be great.