Ten Years Ago (Part 3)

Shenandoah National Park, Virginia - first time in years to experience a "real fall"

well, we finally did get out of there…. (part 1, part 2) with escrow still not closed, we hit the road and headed east.  it took a while to let go and for things to start sinking in….

8-29-01            Wyoming

Very anticlimactic – no news on escrow’s official closing due to the lack of Sprint service here in Wyoming. Meantime, it’s drive, drive, drive trying to get to Michigan in time for Labor Day.

8-30-01            Nebraska

It’s officially over – the money is in the bank.  Why am I not jumping up and down?  I think I’m a bit numb.

8-31-01            Iowa

We’re actually a little sad and subdued.  I guess it’s to be expected – we’ve given up a lot and the future’s not here yet to compensate.

we spent several weeks with my family in michigan – including 9-11-01.  in addition to spilling its sobering pallor over our lives, that fateful day would also end up limiting our travel plans in the east (everyone was being cautioned away from washington dc) and also having a major impact on our long-term travel plans  we had sold all of our real estate and had our money “safely” invested in the stock market.  our detailed financial planning basically fell apart in one fell swoop.  we chose not to dwell on it, however, and moved on….

after a few days at a huge rv rally in west virginia (learning how to be “full-timers”) we were finally free!! 

9-30-01            Blowing Springs Campground, George Washington Nat’l Forest, VA

Only our 3^rd day of real open-road travel and I’m in an exquisite spot – alone on the banks of some river in Bath County, Virginia, with the trees just starting to turn.  This is definitely what I’ve waited for and the future looks glorious – more of the same – I am so fortunate!  

10-3-01            Loft Mountain Campground, Shenandoah National Park, Virginia

So how do I really feel about all of this?  I do get brief pangs of missing my house, my work (!) (I said brief!) and So. California, but mostly I can’t believe that it’s true.  I sometimes think that I’ll wake up tomorrow and it will all be just a dream and I’ll have to go back to work.  It’s all happened so quickly in the larger scheme of things, like my whole life.  The freedom is simply awesome and the simplicity is grand – almost too good to be true.  The lack of things to worry about is mind-boggling.  It’s hard to imagine going back to a “regular life” right now.

 originally i thought i would be telling this whole story in one post - silly me, i should have known better!  not sure where it's going, but i will intersperse the "chapters" with current stuff as well and add more from time to time.  it's been fun and enlightening going back and reliving this adventure.  thanks for tagging along with me!!