We wander, though we are not lost…
Well we have made the leap. We are officially moved to Canada. I know none of you expected this but we had to keep it quite as we did not want to get turned around at the border.
To much has happened in the last few years to stay living where we have been.
Continue reading “If such and such happens I’m moving to Canada!”
To say that John and I are anti-social is a slight misstatement. Though we do not generally connect with people, or do the “small talk” thing very well, when we find people who think on the same level and understand personal space we actually socialize very well. We just do not believe in wasting time if there is no direction to where conversation is going. Maybe that will change in our personal lives once we figure out how to slow down a little.
In one of my more recent employee reviews I was reminded that I need to “Socialize” more, or connect with people at work to show them I care and am supportive. I am sorry, but people who socialize at work, do not always get the job done, and you need a mixture of both types of workers to be successful. I am one of the doers, so though I understand the intent of the advice I will be passing on it for now. And yes, being a doer while others are the socializers can be very frustrating, but you know what, I am ok with that as long as they keep their socializing to themselves so I can do my part. I realize that sounds kind of crabby but I just don’t have time for the small talk since I am usually doing part of their job, or am trying to make their job easier. That is how I show I care.
Ok, so I’m not officially retired, as this journey will end one day and we will both have to get back to reality. But what should have been a first official day of unemployment was interrupted by a small-ish electrical issue with the mobile condominium.
Somewhere between Valdez and Slide Mountain we got a grounded wire in our GFI system. Of course wires in campers are much like boats, they run in the most indirect ways and are permanently hidden between walls and cabinets where you just can’t get to them.
We are off. Headed out to see what we have never seen or to see things we have in a different way.
We left Valdez Friday night and arrived safely at Slide Mountain. We could not resist visiting our friends here Josh and Anna Stark and their family at Slide Mountain Cabins and RV Park before we leave Alaska. Good friends are sometimes found not made and this is one of those cases. I have to personally thank them for hosting many of our adventures here in Alaska,
Addy racing in Eureka
I’ll start by saying that most of the journey so far has been a no brainer. Really, who could turn down the option to spend a year learning and growing side-by-side with your kids and husband. There were so many days recently where I didn’t know who we, or I were anymore.
That being said, there have been a few hard choices through the process and that’s what this blog is about. Those decisions which seem to make sense now that I’ve had time to process them, but still leave tiny bits of doubt if I allow.
First was the decision to leave the cat behind. We got her at the shelter after the kids begged us to look. Their favorite babysitter started taking them to pet the cats and walk the shelter dogs. They fell in love with a cat named Cheeks, but alas Cheeks was not still there by the time we gave in. A great second choice landed us with Tinka. She was the absolutely best pound cat anyone could ask for. So after having her 6 years, we had the hard decision to let her go to a new home or run the chance of her getting out somewhere along the way and leaving her defenseless if we had to move on before she found her way home. We couldn’t live with ourselves if that happened. So we found her a good home (we hope) and she will stay in Valdez.
Second was my car. I don’t like the idea of attachment to any item, but growing up having a car of my own my entire driving years has been a symbol of my freedom. The ability to go where I want, alone or with others, has been the foundation of my independence, my way out if needed. Don’t get me wrong, I love my family, but I’m a realist and know full well that people change, and if it ever did not work out I have always felt at least some level of comfort knowing I am not solely dependent on my husband or anyone else. I’ve seen too many times where the wife has nothing when things go sideways, and that was not going to be me. So, getting rid of my car was a fairly emotional moment.
Food is probably one of the things I am looking forward to the most on our upcoming adventure. It is a huge part of life and if you limit trying new things to eat you might as well stay home and munch on some cardboard.
Most people associate trying different foods with traveling abroad. Well this is not the case and some of the best ethnic and diverse culinary experiences can be found right here in the US of A. A simple one is fried chicken. Since KFC is just a fried dough ball with at best a chicken nugget in the middle it is hard for most people to fathom that fried chicken, real fried chicken can be better than the best Kobi beef in the world. Don’t believe me.
Some of my favorite memories of being a child were of fishing and camping with my family. Summers at Pawtuckaway state park, the white mountains and in the back yard.
We always tent camped when I was with my parents and sister but my Gramps Gallup had a few campers over the years growing up and I remember these trips very well.
I’m actually lucky to even be here. Camping is dangerous believe it or not. Once I got lost in a state park camp ground while going to the bathroom. I couldn’t find my way back to the campsite. Luckily a park ranger found me and I was reunited with my family after about 10 mins of being lost.
I am of the opinion the same as Arnold Palmer.
“The more I practice the luckier I get”
Well travel is no different. I see lots of articles on travel, how too do it right and that sort of thing. This tells me that there must be a huge market of people that don’t travel.
Weather it’s by air, car, train, bus, rocket or Uber ( still not sure who named this company. Sounds like eww and booger if the Jabberwocky would say it) they all take practice.
The articles are always trying to tell you the best way to do things but with no practice this is just fruitless reading. You have to go and do it yourself. You can’t become a better golfer no matter how many issues of Golf Digest you read.
I think we are just weird, and I’m totally ok with that if it’s true.
I have had many different reactions when I tell people what we are doing. Most say it sounds very exciting, but others look at me like we are crazy or as if we are going to ruin our kids chances at a normal life. As if somehow missing going back to the same school with the same kids is going to make it so hard for them to adjust to school life once we land somewhere.
To be real, I have had doubts about our plans, and have wondered how the kids will adjust to a new town or school. I also have concern about them making friends along the way. In the end, I realize that seeing the world, and meeting new people will actually make them more prepared for what real life will be like for them when they get older. I also think back to our other travels and remember that they managed to find kids to hang out with at stops we made, and learned to accept others who were different because we went to places where the kids were in fact different than them.
When we traveled to England 2 years ago we were lucky enough to visit Shakespeare country. While there we visited Mary Arden’s farm the Shakespeare Museum and his house where he grew up.
Now most have not read Shakespeare’s writings or seen his plays; most I know anyway. If you have and have understood them I applaud you, you are far more cultured than me. However visiting these places turned into a one of the highlights of the trip for me, not for my own experience but for what I experienced there.
The above photo is one of my daughter looking out the window of Shakespeare’s bed room at his boyhood home. It looks out at the courtyard behind his house. I am quite certain he spent much time looking out this window given the indents in the floor created over time by the presence of someone standing there.
I did not see it at the time I took the picture but in looking at it later I could and can only ever wonder what she was thinking. Standing on the worn floorboards of one of the greatest writers in the world, what would you be thinking looking out that window?
Gallup Family Wanders 