Sunday, January 30, 2011

The Road Trip

Wayyyyy back in July we arrived back in New York after three years overseas.  It was Arianna's first time in America!  So much time as passed, but some of the most memorable thoughts remain in the forefront of my mind - the pride of seeing the first of many American flags flying proud, the first sights and smells of NY pollution via the highway - nothing quite smells the same and in some weird way, comfortably familiar - and driving on the right side of the road again, which made me feel uncomfortably weird!  In fact, I still find my self questioning where I should be on the road after making a turn sometimes.

But, it is the road trip that I hear calling me these past few days.  Maybe its because the weather is warming up out here in the desert, maybe its because our shag-o-licious van-mobile still sits outside my window long after I thought we would have it sold, or maybe its just the gypsy in me feeling the tugs on my wings again.  Whatever the reason,  I am ready to hit the road somewhere ~ soon.

And since I am sitting here in my living room, instead of behind the wheel of our car (Mike would be amused with that statement since I think I drove only about 12 hours across the entire country) I wanted to share some of those highlights.  Of course, being back to our roots, our families, was the absolute BEST.  Aunt Cat opened her home to me and my girls and Kimo for the first week.  Even though it was a crazy whirlwind of days and days of running and spending some long lost time with everyone in our family in both New York and Connecticut, they were treasured moments not soon to be forgotten.

A heat wave hit as we pushed off and our van broke down before we even made it to the highway. Luckily it was a small fix and we were on our way westbound in early August.  Our first stop was Michigan.  It was the first time our girls ever met Mike's brother's boys Evan and Quinn - who bonded like siblings immediately. Ray and Robin treated us to some good times out on their boat and took us on a tour of their beautiful town of Grand Haven. In fact, we had such a good time we stayed four days longer than planned.

With the kids, the dogs and the U-Haul trailer in tow, we headed in the direction of Chicago - for hot dogs and Wisconsin - for cheese.  Lots of stories still to come...

Wishing you all a very Happy New Year with bright beginnings and continued happiness the whole year through!

No comments:

Post a Comment