End of the Road

Well, it's finally here! My last week on the road. Well, for awhile anyways. I, mean, really who are we kidding here? I think I was born with a passport in one hand and a fully packed suitcase in the other.  But I'm getting ready to hang up my gypsy shoes and head on home to Missoula and settle in to being a full-time student and house-dweller once again. The thought of rooms, and a real kitchen with a real oven and space to spread my kitchen tools out on, to roll out pastry, and a yard with grass for Daisy and Chloe to lay in, and my garden....oh, my garden! it all sounds like heaven to this road-weary soul.

I have been in a daze for the last month, dreaming and planning, plotting out new beds and mentally scanning the yard and thinking of new designs, new flowers and plants I want to try. I want to take that sunny corner in the back yard and move in that raised bed, expand it to maximize vegetable production. I need to get my mason bees from the gentleman on Fifth St so I can make sure my flowers are happy, that my apple and cherry trees can bear an abundance of fruit. I hear that my roses have taken a beating since I've been gone so I'm just itching, itching, to get my hands on them and bring them back to life. I wonder how my bulbs have fared. Will they be up, bobbing in the breeze, happy to see us? I had to laugh when I read Nici's recent blog about her garden day-dreaming. I could so relate.

So the girls and I are prepping and packing, handling those last minute details that need to be handled before we head off on our long road-trip north. I'm excited, jittery, ready to get going. I can not wait to leave this....

Clovis, NM otherwise known as Motorhome-Livin' Hell

for this....

Home Sweet Home

but I am really, really sad, anxious and distraught about leaving this....

The fam at San Simeon Pier

 My sweet husband is going to be staying behind with the behemoth (aka motorhome) to finish off the contract he is working and then, fingers crossed, he'll be taking an assignment closer to home. The plan is for him to come home on weekends, or for me and the girls to head to him on my school breaks so we can continue on with the Grand Adventure....with one foot mired in reality.

And the ultimate goal? Well, the ultimate goal is for me to bust my ass, complete my degree in Speech Therapy so I can then work alongside Erik while traveling the country...and, dare I say, maybe the world? I have a dream of working in Europe or Australia for awhile and if I can manage to get my act together and buckle down to the task at hand, this degree might give us the opportunity to live and work abroad for awhile. Ooh, now there's some motivation for ya!

But until then, I'm simply looking forward to the adventure before us. Tonight I'm making magic one last time (get your minds out of the gutter, people, I'm talking pizza!) in my tiny little oven. And I'll sit and drink a lovely Barbera wine with my husband, one that we picked up on our weekend excursion to the California wine country, and I'll soak in this moment, breathe it in deep, knowing I'll not be living this life for awhile to come.

And then Friday, I hit the road, loaded to the gills with Kitchen Aids and Cuisinarts, dog toys and strappy sandals. Missoula, here I come! A bit stressed, a bit weary but a whole lot of optimistic.

Cruising Home and Settling In

We made it! Ahh, our feet are firmly and happily planted on Montana soil once again and we haven't stopped moving since we arrived. We've reconnected with friends and family, I've started my pastry class (more on that soon!), we went and checked out the old motel we bought (that's a whole post on its own) and Erik even raced in the Rocky Mountain Roubaix. 

I'm still trying to unpack and settle us in our new location, Dillon, MT but here are a few photos of our roadtrip home and our first week back.

We went from this....

...to this. Well, hello, Dillon.

Our movable sporting good store

Downtown Durango. Finally, mountains and microbrews!

We went treasure hunting in Gallup, NM. I just couldn't resist these beauties.

 

What?! Green grass and no stickers? Riley thought he'd died and gone to heaven.

The new project, Hotel Albert.

Racing the Rocky Mountain Roubaix

Life is sweet thanks to my new friends at Posh Chocolat.

Everybody Challah! Loving my pastry class. Yes, mine's the round one in the middle.

Oh, those Pioneers! Looking forward to getting to know you better.

A view out my window

Sneaking off for a little fishing. This is our new backyard.

Evening fly-fishing. At least I'll know where to find him.

3 Weeks and 2 Days Until Liberation

Sometimes you just want to go home. Now, don't get me wrong, I love this traveling lifestyle. I still enjoy the waking up in new places and that moment of, "Where the heck are we?" and soaking in the scents and smells and sights and, well, different-ness of a new location, the peculiarities that make it so NOT home. It's fun, exciting, always an adventure. But, so far, no matter where I am, no matter what I'm doing, after a few months, it always hits. That longing for familiar. The longing for those sights, sounds and smells that set your heart to singing. And then you know...it's time to go home.

I haven't made it a secret that this assignment has been a challenge for me which makes the desire to get the hell out of Dodge (or Clovis, as the case may be) that much more intense. In one of my melancholy moods, I happened to pick up an old journal and I read something I wrote that really just sums it up.

 I remember the day so clearly. It was May of last year and we were on our assignment in Billings, MT. It was a Saturday and we had headed off into the mountains to soak up a gorgeous spring day. I was sitting in the sun on the bank of the Stillwater River while Erik chased fish and the dogs flopped on the grass beside me.

Erik and Riley flyfishing on the Stillwater River

May 8, 2010 - The leaves on the trees are bursting out, the birds are so active, the Swiftwater rushing by makes such a beautiful melody. What a gorgeous day! Mid-40's, sun is shining, snow on the ground around me but patches of spring grass warmed by the sun offers an inviting space for the dogs to stretch out on.

Oh, Montana, how I love you! Fickle though you may be, your beauty, your generosity makes the temper tantrums worthwhile. I am already feeling the loss of leaving you and moving on to our next stop even though I know adventure awaits. The gypsy life is a strange one. The thrill of waking up and wondering, "Where am I today?", the discovering of new places, new people never gets old.

Yet, I can't help looking back over my shoulder as I walk away at what I'm leaving behind. That sense of melancholy knowing you'll go on without me while I'm gone. Your snows will melt, your flowers will bloom and I'll be far away finding different flowers, different spaces but none to compare with those of my beautiful Montana.

Montana Wildflowers

 So, there you have it. And in 3 weeks and 2 days, we're heading back to Montana for the summer. Ahhhhhh......(soul-deep sigh).

Yep, I love traveling, love moving on. But, you know what I love even better?

Going home.

Poor Me Sucks It Up

Angel of Santa Fe

I was sitting here with still frozen pipes and my "poor me" attitude firmly affixed, looking out at a cold and not-so-pretty view and longing for the end of this assignment so we could just move ON already. I'm tired of red dirt and dust that filters into every crevice, flat-as-a-pancake, sticker and cactus encrusted plains, the smell of cow manure and frigid, freeze-you-to-the-bone wind and I'm really sick of the name...Clovis. Really? With such poetic and intriguing names such as Ruidoso, Tucumcari, Santa Fe, Taos and the always fun, Albuquerque, surrounding you, the founding fathers of this little burg chose CLOVIS? Someone seriously needs a reality check.

I have actually surprised myself with the depth of my self-pity. Though some of our assignments haven't been in the best of locations, I've always enjoyed the experience and the thrill of exploring a brand new corner of my world. Not quite sure why this one has worked me over so badly but, as I listened to that voice in my head bitch and complain and go on and on about how miserable she is, I decided enough was enough and it was time to pull up my bootstraps and focus on the really amazing and beautiful spots we've discovered while cooling our heels in Clovis, NM.

So, without further ado, here is a glimpse into our world and an "Up yours!" to that whiny voice inside my head:

Santa Fe Overpass

Desert Landscape near Santa Fe

Camel Rock

Erik and Chloe stretching their legs in Palo Duro Canyon, TX

 

Palo Duro Canyon, TX

Pot-bellied stove in Lincoln, NM

Mission in Lincoln, NM

Defense turret in Lincoln, NM

Grandparents farmhouse, Circleback, TX

Last sunset of 2010

 

Wildflower Safari

One of the best things about this Grand Adventure that we're on is getting the opportunity to explore places we might not make the effort to get to if we were at home. This weekend, we headed out to Anza-Borrego Desert State Park and went on a wildflower safari!

I can't even begin to tell you how much fun it was to stalk, with camera in hand, through the wild desert landscape and come upon a mass of blooming flowers. It was like the ultimate Easter Egg Hunt with a twist. You had to be very careful where you were walking and take a good look before you knelt down (yes, I learned this the hard way!) because the number of plants and animals that are willing to run you through and take you down out there are innumerable. And let me just say that pulling Cholla cactus spines out of any body part is not a pleasant experience. I still find myself looking carefully where I'm stepping. (Can you be psychologically damaged from a wrestling match with a cactus?)

The other thing that stuck with me (yuck, yuck) is that the majority of these flowers are so delicate, and so fleeting. In such a harsh landscape, you expect the big strong cactus and creosote bushes and agave but stumbling upon flowers with paper-thin petals and delicate tiny leaves was so surprising...and confounding.

Another interesting dynamic was seeing a delicate, beautiful flower perched on top of a frightful plant body. It was like the face of a supermodel with Rambo's appendages. Bizarre and strangely disturbing. Take the Desert Lily, for example. Those leaves! What the hell is that? I was afraid to take my eyes off of it for fear that, when I wasn't looking, it would slither over , grab my ankle and toss me into the closest cactus. Creepy!

With all of the rain this year, they should have a bumper crop of color extravaganza out there in the desert so if you happen to be heading to this corner of the world between late February to about mid-March, it really is worth the effort to get out and stalk that elusive desert sunflower! Happy almost Spring!


If you want more info, check out my article at Examiner.com. For more photos, I put up a web album here. Yes, I went crazy with the photos. Over 200. I just couldn't stop. I was like a soon-to-be bride at the basement sale of Filene's. But, not to worry, I only put up about 35 or so.