Leaving Home

Our departure day was set for Tuesday, August 11, 2009. But it was not set in stone -- we knew ourselves well enough that we left it flexible as to when we'd actually pull out. The first leg of our journey was to be a camping trip with old friends and we didn't want to miss days of that, but what a job getting out of the house! Our to-do lists were HUGE. There were a thousand things, it seemed, to prepare for being gone for 2 months. Snowbirds must get used to this, but for us it was overwhelming. We accumulated all the things to be packed into the just-cleaned garage (wow - we actually got it cleaned!), and then worked hard on getting the house in shape. I honestly didn't think we'd make it out on Tuesday.


But at 8:05pm, we said goodbye to our house sitter, threw the last things into the motorhome, and rolled out. As we bounced down the road and our house faded from view, we began to realize just how long the way home was going to be. We were heading south and would be coming back from the north. The 11,000 mile loop had begun!


Our first 5 days were spent at Mayfield Lake, camping in atypical weather for Washington in August -- rainy (downpouring at times) and cold. But we still had a great time fellowshipping with friends and watching the kids play.
They managed to enjoy most of the camp activities, including lots of biking, occasional swimming, card games, and mafia by firelight, despite the chilly temps. We were just thankful one family had packed a mammoth blue tarp that the guys rigged up as our group shelter.

Today we are in Oregon at Mike's parents doing laundry and getting ready to leave early Monday morning for San Francisco. This seems like it will be the first real leg of our journey and the excitement is mounting!