Our dear friends Sujata and Chris met for the first time at our shared birthday party in 2000, in Muir Beach and didn’t see each other a second time until our wedding a year later. They reconnected several years after that, and now have two beautiful children together, and live in the darling beach town of Atlantic Beach outside of Jacksonville, FL. They have been high on our list of people to see as life, work, children, health issues, and more have prevented us in getting together for several years now. And once again, health challenges nearly prevented our visit. Their sweet daughter was scheduled to go in for surgery a few weeks after our scheduled visit, and we had to be extra careful about Covid.
While we all had a low to medium level anxiety about being together, it all worked out that none of us had or shared Covid with each other. And we enjoyed one full day and two partial days of walks, playing on the beach, eating together, watching the kids put on a play, visiting Suji’s parents, and just hanging out together while it rained outside. It was so great to catch up with them. And it was so nice to see the kids just drop in together and become so close, it seemed like they were cousins who’d always known each other. (And the surgery went well, and their daughter is home recovering quickly!)
Sometimes we joke that this trip is really just a tour of Leisure Travel Van repair shops. Inevitably, some small thing has broken or isn’t working… small enough to not be dangerous, but big enough to warrant heading to a repair shop. We paid our bi-monthly visit to a dealer in Wilmington, NC which required us heading back up the coast. We stopped for two nights at a Harvest Host location where the girls were able to help care for and saddle up the horses at the Equestrian Center. We were even lucky enough to secure them a horseback riding lesson.
Once we made it into Wilmington, we stayed at a KOA with a lovely warm pool. The girls and I spent the late morning in downtown Wilmington doing a tour of the historic district by horse-drawn carriage while Mark waited with the rig at the repair dealer.
As we ate ice cream by the river, we read about the tragic history of Wilmington, the home of the only coup d’etat that happened in the U.S.. It happened in 1898, when the city was majority-black, racially integrated city. Armed white paramilitary insurgents worked to suppress black and republican voting. White democrats overthrew the black and republican elected leaders, burned down the black-owned newspaper, and murdered several hundred people in the process. I never learned this story in history class, and was grateful to be able to share it with the girls to go deeper than the beautiful brick lined streets with antebellum mansions.
The van repair went quickly and they got everything done! Every dealership is surprised that we have issues since they are so well made, but being full time with four people makes for extra wear and tear. Our next big stop was Lexington, Kentucky. But to get there from Wilmington is a long drive.
We always love to stay at unique places, so when we read about a Harvest Host location that was also a mushroom farm, we made a stop. Unfortunately, the heat caused the mushrooms to go into hibernation, so we couldn’t see any of them, but we still learned a lot about how they grow mushrooms, as well as were taken on a four-wheel driving “mudding” tour of their property. The owner and his friend were a riot, and we were highly entertained by their never ending stories. The next morning we visited the local farmers market (where they sell their flowers, tomatoes, and mushrooms (when they have them), which was a delight to stock up on some delicious goodies.
Our route also took us through Charlotte, NC. We couldn’t pass up another opportunity to see Yia Yia and Opa. They decided to “break out” of their quarantine in their senior living community to meet up with us at the park. We made the most of our time together, enjoying finally being able to give hugs, hold hands, and have a snack picnic together. Such sweet time!
After leaving the heat of Charlotte, we were delighted to get into the cool weather of the mountains. We camped at Davidson River Campground for a few nights, and did a delightful hike in DuPont State Forest. We quickly realized that we’d done that same hike almost 20 years ago, the weekend that we got engaged. We did a re-take of a photo we took on a covered bridge… such a fun memory!
We loved the outdoorsy, mountain town of Brevard. We had an epic meal there after visiting an equally epic toy store. It definitely seems like the kind of town we’d like to spend more time in. We drove through Asheville and walked around their downtown for a while. Unfortunately, many things were still closed due to Covid, so we didn’t really get a full sense of the town, but we enjoyed our time. From there, we stayed in Hot Springs, a tiny little town that is on the French Broad River. The Appalachian Trail runs right through town, which is populated with some good, local restaurants as well as great hot tubs for soaking. We enjoyed checking out the town, soaking in the tubs, and hiking up the AT to take in the view of the River.
We made some good time getting to Lexington, so we stopped at Boonesborough State Park to check out the reconstructed Fort, which was once home to Daniel Boone, the frontiersman turned pop culture icon in the 1950’s. We’ve been to many historical re-enactment sites like this, so much of the information wasn’t new, but we learned some interesting details about the difference between slavery and indentured servitude.
Then it was on to our reason for being in Lexington — seeing Mark’s uncle Dave and aunt Ellen. We were able to park in their driveway and enjoy catching up with them. The first night they made a delicious dinner we all enjoyed on the patio.
The next day, Ellen took the girls horseback riding on her horse Theo. The girls were able to help with getting Theo ready and cleaned up afterwards. But, of course, they most enjoyed riding! They made major progress in their comfort and abilities. By the end, they were both able to get Theo trotting without any help!
We enjoyed dining out and getting ice cream in town. We all celebrated Father’s Day together, and Dave and Ellen even gave us a date night (first in a LONG time!). The girls really did not want to leave, so they convinced us all to stay longer, and then begged Ellen to take them riding again. They got their wish and had a great time! All of us were very sad to say goodbye after our amazing visit.
We made the quick hop to Louisville and stayed with Brian and his family. Brian and Mark were roommates in college and we hadn’t seen them in many years. The kids jumped right into being friends and all enjoyed swimming in the pool together and playing imaginary games in the playroom. The adults got some good catch up time, and we enjoyed a delicious breakfast with them in the morning before heading on the road again.
Next stop was Cincinnati, OH. We met up with Mark’s work colleague/friend, Greg. We met up with Greg downtown where he gave us a tour of a development project he is working on, and we invested in. His company is rehabbing an old building to be used as a dorm for the art college next door. The project is amazing and these art students will be getting to live in the nicest dorms I’ve ever seen.
It was particularly fun to show this project to the girls. T had heard us talking about the project and expressed interest in investing in it along with us. She committed $100 of her own money (I think she only had $108 in her account at the time) to put into the project. We are all hoping that the school can openly safely in the fall, and that the students will enjoy this beautiful, historic spaces.
I was surprised by how much I enjoyed the city. We walked around the Over The Rhine (OTR) area of the city, checked out the local park, and walked past beautifully renovated historic buildings. There was a gorgeous museum about the Underground Railroad that I wish we could have visited (closed for Covid). We will definitely make a return visit here sometime in the future.
Greg invited us over for dinner after our building tour. The girls got to swim in the pool and play with their new puppy (in other words, they were in heaven! Again!). It was good to get to know their family — they are so sweet and generous. They treated us to a delicious dinner and breakfast in the morning! And the girls got more puppy time! We feel so lucky to have friends like Greg!
On our way to Chicago, we made an overnight stop at a Harvest Host farm location. The girls got to hold baby chicks, feed the alpacas, and milk the goats. The farm owners were super sweet with the girls and allowed them to help out. Unfortunately, the power on the farm wasn’t strong enough to power our AC unit, so we had to move north a few miles to a campground for the night. In this heat and humidity, none of us sleep well without the AC running, so power has become a necessity.
Three days and nights in the Chicago area … we’re camped in forest preserve in Palatine that is super small and near beautiful prairie and forest land, and is FULL of fireflies at night. We’ve had a chance to do outdoor picnics, walks, and catch-ups with a number of friends who live here. We had a lovely evening with JoAnn and her husband Scott. We enjoyed a potluck dinner and watching Scott’s son perform on a “get out the vote” concert event online. We also had a great afternoon with Scott Seagren including a walk through along the bike path and deep, thoughtful conversation. Scott joined us for a visit to see Hank and Wendy and Mimi. Seeing Mimi was high on my list. She is the grandmother of my ex-boyfriend. I became very attached to her and have a deep love for her, as though she were my own grandmother. She and I have kept in touch over the last 20 years. She’s is her late 90’s so undoubtedly that will be the last time I see her. I am so grateful that I could tell her my favorite memories of traveling with her, of discovering what fresh food really tastes like by trying it in her garden, and making sure she knows how much I care about her. I am still amazed at how attached I grew to her in such a short period of time.
The last few days of the month found our tensions and emotions running high. We’re having great discussions as a family about whether we want to keep going in the same way we have been, whether we want to put down more roots again, or if we want to change our strategy. We know that we want more downtime for self-care, we want more space occasionally from each other, and we want more ease. How we are going to get that still remains to be seen. But we’re thinking and talking and wondering into what might come next for us.
By the end of the month, we’d decided to head back towards the Pacific Northwest. We’re making a stop in Colorado for a week to play at the A/U Ranch and family camp, then hopefully seeing some more friends in Colorado as we make our way north for a stop in Yellowstone. Then back to Portland and the Northwest. We miss our friends, we miss our family. We have some overdue dental appointments. When we get there, we’re planning to rent a house for a few months so we can enjoy being in routine again, and laying low while we see how the Coronavirus and the pandemic response evolves.
