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A few days before we left on our adventure, I was on the phone with one of my good friends talking about how nervous I was about this trip.  After giving me encouraging words about how excited she was for us, she sighed and said the thing she was most envious of about this trip is that we would have “time.”

Time…

Time to relax… to get away from the rat race… time to unwind and decompress.

Time…

Time is a funny thing – and even after just 10 days on this trip I’ve realized that time is just going to happen a little differently for us this year.  Already, we’ve realized that so much of our lives have been spent on auto-pilot – you get up, drive the same roads to work every day, sit in the same office, drive home, have dinner, watch a little TV and go to bed.  Maybe somewhere in there you run some errands… do some shopping… spend time with friends.  But basically it’s the same thing every day:  working your tail off to make money to fund the big house and all of the stuff.  Everything is automatic – sleepwalking through our lives.

We knew we were on this endless treadmill – and we knew we wanted off.  But it took until we actually got off the track to really look objectively at how we spent our time up to now.

One of the things that has been difficult for us so far on this trip is that everything takes TIME and thought.  There is no auto-pilot… at least not yet.  No real schedule, no routine.  Exactly how did we used to fill 24 hours?  And how are we going to fill them now?

It’s just different now… different routines, different stresses and different priorities.  We aren’t far enough into this to know exactly how this is going to play out – but I am getting the sense that it isn’t going to be more or less free time as much as it is just going to be spending our time differently.  Some things that were automatic before take more time now – getting connected to the Internet, doing laundry, getting to the store… that kind of thing.  Cleaning and organizing… trust me, 160 square feet can get dirty and cluttered REALLY quickly!  So cleaning as we go, and constantly picking up and organizing is essential.

But that takes time…

On the other hand I have already finished two books this week and we’ve been able to do a little sightseeing too.

Right now it is impossible NOT to compare how we are spending our time now against how things were before.  At some point I hope that we’ll stop comparing then and now and just live it.  If you are tired, sleep… if you are hungry, eat… do what you want to do.  Getting there is going to take time… part of the evolution of this trip and this next step in our lives.

 

 

We’ve come a LONG way baby!  Week three and we spent most of it busting out miles trying to make up time and stay on schedule to Alaska.  Schedule? I know – we aren’t supposed to be on a schedule!  But I have a meeting back in DC June 1, so that means we have to get to Anchorage by May 30 at the latest so I can fly back east for the week.  It kind of stinks – we feel like Ewan and Charley in Long Way Down (“I want to ride through all of Africa without stopping, without getting to know the people, or experiencing any of the culture”).  But I think we’ve decided that we’ll make up for it on the way back from AK later this summer by taking LOTS of time coming back through Canada and down to Montana, Idaho and the Northwest for the early fall.

Heading out of Nashville we headed North and stayed at Camp Turkeyville outside of Battle Creek, MI (yes it is really called that!).  Trying to figure out where to stay during this trip has been really difficult – do we go the full-on KOA route (which is kind of like eating at McDonalds when you travel to Paris – pretty cookie-cutter at times) or do we mix it up with some state parks and private campgrounds?  The problem with the state parks is that often they are off the beaten track, and they don’t offer services such as water, sewer, or wifi.  They can be beautiful – but unfortunately because we are working we just can’t be off-grid too often.

Private campgrounds are kind of like Marriott Hotels (sorry Mr. Marriott) – they are very hit or miss.  Many times private campgrounds are mostly filled with “seasonal” campers – these are essentially folks who live full-time in the campground.  And while sometimes seasonal campers are tidy and keep a nice looking site more often than not you feel like you have just stepped into the filming of Deliverance.  I know… I know… that sounds so snotty… but sadly it is true.

Camp Turkeyville was pretty nice for a private campground – the people were wonderful and the facilities were beautiful.  Fred enjoyed it!

After commiserating with the poultry, we kept heading north for one of the highlights of our trip, a concert featuring Alter Bridge (members of Creed and the singer from Slash’s band).  Check them out if you haven’t every heard of them – Myles Kennedy has a rockin’ voice!

We had wanted to see them in DC but we were going to miss them so we decided to make this a stop on our own personal tour!  Did you know that you can still smoke indoors in the Indian-run Casino’s in Michigan?  Neither did we…. yuck!  But the concert venue was intimate, we had great seats, and the band was in fine form.  It was an awesome show!

Duluth, Winnipeg, and Saskatoon rounded out the week and now we are working our way through Saskatchewan and Alberta.  We are really liking Canada (BTW – have you ever noticed how CLEAN it is in Canada?  No litter… anywhere… seriously!  They do need to work on their roads in spots (can you say BUMPY???), the scenery has been serene – flat farm and ranchlands – and the weather has been impeccable

As I write this we are in a campground in Grande Prairie AB (a private campground… it’s only for one night).  Our stress levels are still pretty high because of our travel and work schedules (and a few other challenges we are trying to work out) – so we are still a bit on edge.  But we can’t wait to get to Alaska so we’ll keep pushing on…

So here we are at the end of week two of Michele and Darryl’s Excellent Adventure spending a few days in Nashville, TN.  It is always so wonderful to be in Nashville visiting family and friends – too much food, definitely too much wine, too much laughter (is there such a thing?), and wonderful conversation.  It’s no wonder this is our third trip to Nashville in the last year – and why Nashville has moved up on our list of places to live after the trip!  Many, many thanks to my Cousin Chris and his wife Marci, my Aunt Janice, and great friends Missey and Brad for taking time to get together with us during our stay!  You have no idea how much your excitement for our trip and your words of encouragement mean to us!

As I’ve mentioned, we wanted to start the trip in familiar places with friends close by to help us get into the swing of things – and Nashville is the last stop on the “friends and family” section of the tour.  From here, we head north into the real beginning of the adventure.

Two weeks in, and we still have our good days and bad days – I’d love to say that we are adjusted and comfortable with our new routine and raring to go into the Great White North.  But I’d be lying to say that we have it all worked out just yet and that we aren’t still more than a little anxious and nervous about the next phase of the trip.

It has definitely surprised us how much time we have spent working, and how at times it feels like we have just sat in the trailer all day and worked, had dinner, watched some basketball (Go Spurs and Wizards!), and gone to bed… just like any other night.  We have had to have a few honest conversations about the impact of our jobs – neither of us really expected to be working during this trip so we’ve had to reset our expectations a bit.  We’ve also had to think long-term about the time commitment to work and the impact that will have – do we really WANT to work this entire year?  Can we afford to?  Can we afford NOT to?

We had a 10 hour drive today (because we kind of screwed up our scheduling in Nashville – still not sure how that happened!) and we spent the first few hours talking about our thoughts and feelings so far into the trip.  We actually came up with a name for it – the trip-o-meter.  At least once a day we check in with each other on how we are feeling that day (from 1-10 – decimal points and fractions are encouraged).  I think it says a lot about the strength of our relationship that we’ve both made a real point of checking in with the other person and discussing the good and the bad of this trip – frustrations, issues, as well as what IS working for us.  When you are sharing 400 square feet, communication is pretty important!  LOL

This morning was a low – a 500 mile drive ahead of us, still anxious about the setup of our rig, making it to Alaska by Memorial Day… the fear that because we aren’t “settled in” yet does that mean that this isn’t for us?  Or maybe we are just overthinking it?  Maybe we just need to not worry so much and deal with things as they come?

By mid-day we were feeling better about things – driving through Louisville, KY in picture-perfect weather (sun shining brightly, 75 degrees) will do that for you I think.

And after a VERY long driving day we got to the campground, settled in and ate dinner, and actually started talking about how excited we are about heading into Canada to parts unknown (to us at least).

The “success” of this trip (if there is such a thing as “success” or “failure” for this kind of thing) is 100% contingent on our frame of mind and how we deal with the daily issues and challenges that will come up (and they will come up – there is no doubt about that).  It’s funny – we both knew that this trip was going to be a completely new paradigm for us but somehow we are both surprised at the unexpected ways we are feeling it.  But I guess that’s the good thing… we are both feeling it – and it is new, exciting and scary all wrapped up in one big silver package.

 

Since we weren’t expecting to be in Chattanooga, TN we hadn’t really looked into things to do in the area.  We aren’t really the type to do a bunch of touristy things…. but sometimes when in Rome…

The campground happens to be very close to Lookout Mountain – which boasts several attractions including a place called Rock City.  It looked pretty cool – so we decided to check it out – plus every time I saw the name “Rock City” I could hear KISS singing “Detroit Rock City” in my mind…

We were expecting a small state park-like area with a parking lot and maybe a wooded trail.  Not so fast my friend…. this was more like a small-scale Disneyland.  A little confusing, more than a little expensive.  But when they say you can see 7 states from the overlook, who can refuse?

I have to admit it was pretty cool – the view was pretty awesome.  And did I mention the weather has been freaking amazing for the past few days?

Here are Darryl and I at a section of the path called “Fatman’s Squeeze.”  I’m guessing they named it that a LONGGGGGGG time ago….just a wee bit political incorrect, no?

Sometimes even a tourist trap can be pretty impressive.