after 7 days of cross-country rail travel, it took a while for my body to get accustomed to being back on solid ground. while taking a shower, it was nearly impossible to shake the feeling that the floor was gently rocking. even the relatively simple act of standing still without swaying took a fair amount of focus and concentration. luckily, thanks to mike and mandi, we had a wonderful, spacious, beautiful home in which we could regroup and plan next steps.

while there, we also had wonderful company: lori, the kind soul who had so generously and diligently taken care of our little mazy while we were off on adventure. after 12 days together, lori and mazy were such good friends that mazy didn’t seem to have missed us at all. of course, mazy has been with tim and me all day, every day for almost a year now and it makes perfect sense that she would be happy to have someone new and exciting to play with. especially someone as indulgent and attentive as lori!

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when tim began getting ready to pack up the truck, he discovered that our truck topper had finally succumbed to the raininess of a northern coast winter and sprung a leak. enough water had seeped in to create the risk of a mold outbreak, so tim decided that the best course of action was to remove everything from the truck, clean and disinfect the bed, wash everything that could be washed, let it all dry, and then pack it all back up. it took us the whole day, and when we were done, our hands and the back of the truck reeked of vinegar. but still, it felt good to give our loyal rainbow a thorough spring cleaning.

it was a strange thing to see all of our possessions strewn haphazardly across the floor of mike and mandi’s garage. one one hand, it looked like a meager, unassuming heap of
junk; stuff that would have seemed perfectly at home gathering dust in some abandoned storage unit. on the other hand, i know from experience that with only these few objects, tim and i had survived rain and snow and stifling heat. we had cooked delicious indian curry and blackberry french toast. we had ridden through mile-long tunnels in the mountains of idaho and along the shore of the mighty willamette.

people sometimes ask us if we’re getting tired of living on the road. i guess these folks are working from the not unreasonable assumption that a traveler’s life is harder, more difficult and less comfortable than a more settled life. this, at least in our case, does not hold true. although it is true that  our life has been downsized and essentialized, it is also true that we lack for nothing.

as we left santa rosa and headed east along the serpentine roads of the coastal range, the joy of this nomadic life struck me full force. giddiness swept over me. the three of us — my happy little family — winding our way through forest and vineyard, along mountain streams and through suburban sprawl, ready to face whatever waits for us on the other side of the mountains. hawks stood sentry on fencepost and powerline. the earth shone vivid and green with life.samantha sang and the beegees began playing on the local easy-listening station and tim and i couldn’t help ourselves.

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Posted by Wordmobi