Calendar dates can be very significant.
December 30 has become one of those significant dates for me.
It was the date that I became a grandma at age 60.
It was also the date that we headed out for a new adventure, living life on the road for a few months at a time.
Six years ago today, December 30, 2013, we headed out on our big adventure - with a few fears about the unknown and lots of hopes and dreams. It’s fun for me to look back at those months and revisit the links to things I have written about the various spots and to share them with my readers.
Three years earlier we had decided to downsize and sell the tree farm. We thought it would be fun to explore other places for awhile before deciding what to do next. So we sorted and pitched stuff for two years while trying to sell the farm. Buyers came and went but without being able to put together a purchase. Eventually we found renters for the big house and moved ourselves into the cabins out by the road - first one and then the other.
We found the perfect RV for us and headed out toward the American Southwest on this date, December 30, 2013 anticipating the adventures ahead.
We lived in our little rig in Southern California where we served as work-campers in a small county park for the winter and spring.
In the summer we drove north to Canada and the Alaska Highway. We were able to get a campsite just behind the Black Bear Cafe where our daughter worked as a manager and barista. ’Twas a glorious 5 weeks to live in that place and get acquainted with her Denali world.
Autumn brought the final sale of the tree farm so we got rid of more stuff and packed the rest of it away in a storage unit because the 28-foot fifth-wheel was now our only home.
December 30, 2014 saw us hitting the road again for another winter in the south. This time we lived on three different islands for a month each:
- January - Dauphin Island, Alabama
- February - Anastasia Island, St. Augustine, Florida
- March - Emerald Isle, North Carolina
We rented a campsite in southeastern Michigan for the spring and summer and then moved to the west side of the state to welcome a new grand-daughter in September.
We also lived at a lighthouse in western Michigan for two weeks serving as volunteers in the tower and the gift shop.
December 30, 2015 found us in Rockford, Michigan, wrapping up the year and preparing to return to the little village of Las Galeras in Samana, Dominican Republic, for the winter.
By December 30, 2016 we had come off the road and were experimenting with the idea of staying in one place again - namely Michigan - in closer proximity to our moms and our kids and where we could hang out with Internationals, a long-time dream of ours.
Sure enough; by December 30, 2017 we had decided to put down roots again - even buying a an old fixer-upper house in a historical neighborhood near downtown and the universities.
And here we are on December 30, 2019 still living "off the road" and loving our new life in our old house...
No comments:
Post a Comment