We’re here!
We landed in Joliet and we’re already looking forward to leaving it. Not that it’s a horrible place, but our campground is bordered by 2 major highways and the noise is fairly atrocious. Lucky for us, our favorite local campground opens today, and we plan to make our way there while we have a few repairs done to our wheely house.
We’re also tending to yearly dr appointments, Rx refills, legal business and some consulting catchup for Bruce. But best of all…
We get to see our kids again!
Carolyn and Ben called dibs on as much of May as they could get. She wanted us to be available to help with her end of year activities at school. She hopes dad can teach a couple of her classes, and be a guest chapel speaker, and that mom will alter dresses and maybe even teach some sewing skills to a few kids. Then there’s this Macbeth banquet she’s planning…
Our last 2 stops were to see friends of many years. In Clarksville we caught up with some IL friends who moved during the pandemic. They’ve been there for 4 years now and having a face to face visit was overdue. But dang if we didn’t forget to take a pic!
Their little part of Tennessee is lovely. Their home is wonderful and their local eateries were fantastic. Cindy and I spent half a day just enjoying their downtown area. Food, shops and conversation being the theme of the day.
Kentucky was our next stop, to spend time with a high school friend of mine, and to meet her husband. We attended a small Christian School in the Bay Area during the height of the 70’s.
Parents were terrified of the drugs that had begun to show up on Jr/Sr high campuses, so opting for a private school was attractive. Our school was in its infancy, she was in the first graduating class and I was in the 2nd. We were in choir together and were both cheerleaders at different times. And we ended up reconnecting on that now, grown up platform,
Yep, we were part of the Great Parent Migration. We joined in the 2010’s, sending our millennials to Instagram, (but we infiltrated that too). Nevertheless, it reconnected us to past friends, relatives and strangers that we’d never know otherwise. And Tracey is one of them.
I’m eternally grateful
We both sew A LOT! When Bruce was having surgery during the height of the lockdown she did a FB tutorial, late one night, and showed me the tricks of mask making. Then, she offered to shop for fabric and send it to me! I even got to meet the quilt store owner who sold it to her on the sly. That pandemic will define us all for our lifetimes, won’t it?
We spent a day touring quilt stores near Lexington, and she rode along with us while we visited Berea, to see the Appalachian Art community.
Can I just say…Kentucky is gorgeous!
The roads twist, turn, climb and drop with amazing speed. It’s a perfect place for a convertible. In a diesel truck?
Sigh…
Probably the only thing about this life that I’ve concluded is a drawback, is how much time we’ve spent in a truck. Part of the problem is that I pick campgrounds that are at least 30 min from any of the sights we hope to see. And the other part is how my husband drives. Every car is a sports car to him, even a truck.
Indy here we come
Because of all the driving, and the learning, and the traveling, and the sightseeing, we’ve decided that this life needs a different approach for the next year. As we plan the next leg of our journey, we’re reserving places for a month or more at a time. Our hope is that it encourages us to work more, rest more, walk more (bikes are on our wish list) and enjoy more of the local culture.
Bruce’s consulting work is beginning to take off and he wants to pursue it more actively. It’s been a challenging learning curve, especially when it comes to collecting money. The feedback he gets is positive and he’s so grateful he can do it anywhere we land. As long as the Wi-Fi is strong!
And I have no trouble keeping busy, there are always things to do in my world. Especially when I have a computer and sewing machine. Writing and quilting have a powerful attraction for me and my fabric stash along with my life experiences occupy me well. In fact, my fabric stash has grown, almost beyond capacity…
Quilt stores shout my name
Sooooo,
Once we head to Michigan for summer, our sightseeing will diminish and our living time will be more prominent. But it’s all good, and we’re still loving it. Neither of us are ready to pick a permanent home, and the adventure of being in different places keeps us challenged if not entertained.
It’s a crazy kinda life!