Six and Twelve

I'm sitting in the Camping World just north of El Paso, Texas. Our water pump--critical piece of equipment--is having some struggles. These folks have fit us in and our going to do their darnedest to get us on our way, but in the meantime, I thought I would let you know why December 20 is an important day to us. 

The six in the title of this post signifies six months on the road! The good news of this is that we have six months left, with much to see and do and experience. The other good news is that we have had an extraordinary time thus far, having logged somewhere near 16,000 miles on the Minnie, hiked well over 600 miles, visited over 80 federal land sites, and eaten every meal together! If there is any bad news, it's that the trip is half over, but when I think back on the last six months, it has been an incredible adventure. 

What have we learned in six months? We love living in a twenty-three foot motorhome! Thank goodness. This post would certainly have a different tone if that were not the case. Though we generally keep our life fairly simple, living in a small RV has pushed us to simplify even more, and we are already talking of how we will keep it very simple when we move to Cate. 

We have also learned that there is so much to see and do in this country. When we first started talking about the year, many people assumed we would be traveling internationally and were mystified that we were opting to live in a small RV and travel only in the western part of the US. If you have been a loyal reader you know that we have visited so many unique, off-the-beaten path spots along with the big ticket places like Glacier and Yellowstone. Every time we end up in places like San Antonio, New Mexico eating scrumptious green chile cheeseburgers at the Buckhorn Tavern, we laugh and acknowledge that if we had not given ourselves this year, we might never have found these heavenly burgers in this tiny little burg. Time has given us immense opportunity.

While we have learned so much more on the road than I can chronicle in this post, perhaps the most important thing that has been reinforced for us is this--when we let go of fear and trust in the outcome, we end up exactly where we are supposed to be and that is often somewhere completely unexpected. Even today, sitting in the waiting room of Camping World, we are meeting other travelers from different parts of the country, sharing travel tips and ideas. For whatever reason, this is where we are supposed to be today, so we are just rolling with it with optimism and curiosity. 

Twelve. Alanna and I have been together for twelve years today! We both find this to be quite extraordinarily. This is the day, after spending months getting to know each other primarily in the company of friends, that I asked Alanna if she wanted to take the next step and officially date. My good friend Marcy helped me muster the courage, so a big thank you to Marcy for giving me the push I needed. Of course, as those of you who know the story already know, Alanna tried to break up with me via text message on January 1--luckily, her attempt failed. 

For the last eleven years, we celebrated this day by going to dinner at Firefly. This is where I took Alanna on our first official date so we returned each year to celebrate and acknowledge our good fortune in finding each other. This year, we will probably celebrate by having a quiet dinner in the Minnie, hopefully with a working water pump. Pretty sure green chiles, which have thankfully taken over our freezer, will be a featured ingredient. In thinking about the future, we are excited to explore our new home when the time comes to find our celebration places. Suggestions welcome in the Carpinteria-Santa Barbara area! 

In twelve years, we have grown tremendously, as a couple as well as individually, and while some questioned our sanity in embarking on this trip, thinking it would be the ultimate test of our relationship, it has served to solidify our love and commitment to each other. We are two fortunate people, we know this, and we are grateful to embark on another year of adventure and growth together.

More of the 21,000 petroglyphs left by the Jornada Mogollon people between 1000 and 1400CE