On The Road...Again

After four months of "crashing" with my mom and Marc in Grand Rapids Michigan, Katherine and I are back on the road.  We took the Canada route this time as we journeyed back to Vermont and during our second break at an "OnRoute" pit stop, we realized that they are all designed the same way.  When you're doing long travel days, this kind of consistency is surprisingly helpful in keeping your stops quick since you don't have to hunt for anything.

We made it to Vermont in time to check into our hotel and relax for a bit before turning out the lights.  Tomorrow I start on the checklist of activities to accomplish while in Vermont for what is likely to be the last time for quite a while.

As for Grand Rapids, my time there was wonderful on so many levels.  Spending time there came on the heels of five months of hard driving schedules as we tackled rental projects (one renovation and the sale of a unit), not-so-little property projects (have you ever painted a five-acre fence?), putting our house on the market, packing twenty-five years worth of life into boxes to be shipped across the country, all while keeping other plates spinning (one of us has a "regular job" that still needed to be done and the other one of us still had to keep the laundry done and food coming).  It's one of those things you look back on and think "were we nuts?!".

Anyway, it was a real treat for me to be able to spend so much time with my folks.  I haven't lived in the same state as my mom for almost twenty-five years.  We laughed a lot, talked even more, and even got some actual work done (if you consider planting flowers to be work).  By the time we were packing up to leave, we had actually run out of things to talk about!  Only kidding.  It turns out four months isn't long enough to exhaust the conversation possibilities for us so I guess I'll have to go back.

To my friends who, some with a little jealousy in their eyes, told me what a sweet time this would be with my mom and stepfather, I say...you were right.

To my mom and stepfather, who made room for us to spread out and even have some office space, and incorporated us into their lives, and helped to "speak truth" to an often unreceptive young lady, and made room for us to park in the garage, and...and...and gave us turns in the laundry room, I say...thank you - except for that laundry room part.  I'll be back as soon as I can (but I'll bring enough clothes so that I don't have to do laundry).