Our Travel Route to Indiana

As I mentioned before Bob and I are driving our animals to our destination. We are looking forward to the (almost) cross country trip. We haven't been alone over night since we left Ohio for New Mexico and the time alone together is just what we need. We are the kind of couple where the more time we spend together the better we get along.

We have booked our trip in a way that will allow us to spend as much time out west as possible. We are traveling through Oregon, Idaho, Montana, South Dakota, Iowa, Illinois, and then Indiana. Our first stop will be in Missoula, Montana. I am sooooo excited for this destination. After that, we will be stopping in Rapid City, South Dakota. Then we are on to Sioux City, Iowa. Our last leg of the trip will land us in Camby, Indiana - Our new home.

While moving to Indianapolis is absolutely the right move for us right now I would be lying if I told you that I am not sad about leaving the west. I do not know a single person who has ever moved out here (not Portland per se, but the west in general),  and not loved it. There is a freedom that you feel when you live out here - a wildness even - that just becomes a part of you. Of the people who I know that have lived out west and had to move to another part of the country all of them have shared with me or Bobby that someday they hope to return out here. I feel the exact same way.

So, this trip across the country will be a farewell (for now) tour. It will be nice for just the two of us to full enjoy our surroundings sans kiddos. I have a feeling the next time we come back out here our family will look a bit different as our boys are getting ready to head to college/careers in the next couple of years, and will most likely be on their own.

I leave here with a grateful heart. I feel a deep sense of gratitude towards Bob's employer for allowing us to lead the life we do. My kids are better people because of the experiences we have had - even when it has been brutally hard. Bob and I are hands down better people because of where we have been these last 3.5 years. My eyes have been opened to so many different things that I never, ever would have been able to see/know/understand had we stayed in Ohio. I have learned so much about our country and its people by living in such vast and different parts of America - things that you just cannot learn by vacationing there.

I am ready though - to head back to the Midwest. I am ready to recoup and regroup. I need to take some time to gather myself again and to gather the kids back together. I need to strengthen my marriage and our family. And maybe after some time has gone by, and with Bob's employer's blessing, we will be ready to hit the road once again. We are still so young, Bob and I, and I am looking forward to all that the rest of our lives has in store for us.