Carol
writes: For me, one of the fun parts of this blog has
been researching appropriate quotes to capture a pertinent message or feeling
for each blog. I tried not to repeat any
quotes (well, maybe a few at the end which were particular favorites of mine),
but this time I will repeat two of my favorites, in their customary spots, that
have acquired so much more meaning for us after the past year’s adventure.
Our very
last stop in our yearlong saga on the road was in Clovis, New Mexico, for a
cherished visit with our dear daughter.
After such a
long time apart, it was such a treat to be able to relax together as a
family. Cold, icy weather blew in and so
we all decided to pile on the throw blankets and enjoy the long weekend together
watching a marathon 5th season of “Breaking Bad.” Excellent plan! That was one terrific miniseries!
On our last
day it seemed appropriate that maybe we could start patting ourselves on the
back that we had managed to complete a fabulous year on the road--including 8
months driving, camping and sightseeing in Europe--without any major health
problems or serious traffic mishaps.
Even our daughter confessed relief that we had traveled so happily and safely
for so long.
On leaving
Clovis, we had one more full day on the road ahead of us before we would be
pulling into our driveway on Highview. We left town over slick, ice-packed roads on a
frigid, snowy morning at dawn. We were
treated to a fabulous New Mexico sunrise as we left the outskirts of Clovis.
After about
four hours, we finally reached the Colorado border.
I confess
feeling a bit emotional as we entered our beloved home state. As we traveled north up the familiar route of
I-25, one by one we passed the Colorado landmarks that have become so familiar and
dear to us over the past 24 years. The
always impressive Spanish Peaks had their typical winter blanket of snow, all
the more gorgeous under a majestic Colorado blue sky.
We were
blessed to have one of those crystal-clear winter days in which we could
actually see Pikes Peak over 100 miles away.
Anticipation
can sometimes be greater than realization…but that wasn’t the case for us when
we actually pulled into our driveway and had our first glimpse of home in
almost a year. Yeah, there were a lot of
goose bumps going on at that long-anticipated moment…
It was with
a huge sense of relief and great pride in our accomplishment that we tucked our
little home on wheels away in its designated parking place next to our home.
For those of
you who are wondering how the caretaker situation turned out for us…we couldn’t
be more pleased! Our home was spotlessly
clean and everything inside and outside was well taken care of by our live-in caretaker. We would give the Colorado Springs affiliate
of Caretakers of America our highest
recommendation. They, along with our
caretaker, did everything as promised—and more--to take wonderful care of our
home. We will never forget how they
vacated our house with all our personal boxed items and cherished family pictures
when our neighborhood was put under a mandatory evacuation order during the
past summer’s horrific Black Forest Fire.
Over the
next few days, as we slowly unpacked all the boxes in which we had stored our
personal belongings, our daily lives gradually returned to “normal.” It seemed pretty luxurious to have our own
spacious and private indoor bathrooms with large walk-in shower (plus soaking
tub), full-size indoor kitchen with plenty of counter space, cable TV, heat at
night, unlimited Internet service, and our comfy recliners.
For all of
our readers who have followed us over the past year by means of our blog, we
would like to extend a heartfelt thank-you.
Your Facebook ‘comments’ and ‘likes’ were most encouraging and much
appreciated.
Al and I
haven’t gotten into any detailed discussions on where our next RV adventure
will take us, but we do know there will be future “chapters” on the road. For now, we intend to enjoy a wonderful
Colorado summer at home with occasional short RV trips to the mountains. I want to get back to my quilting crafts and
become more accomplished at catching those mountain lake rainbow trout, and Al
has several more fourteeners he wants to conquer. We have friends and family who have told us
they will be visiting us this summer, and we look forward to that very much.
With a nod
to my husband, who loves recordkeeping and math, I will sign off the last blog
for this European “chapter” with a few facts and figures:
We visited 13
countries…
Drove 23,000
miles…
Spent 50 weeks
on the road…
Read almost
100 books between the two of us (remember—we had no TV) :) ...
AND HAD THE
TIME OF OUR LIVES!
“Certainly, travel is more than the seeing of sights; it is a change that
goes on, deep and permanent, in the ideas of living.” Miriam Beard
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