John Denver is singing “hey it’s good to be back home again” on the stereo and we’re chugging along at 7.5 knots on the Chesapeake Bay, making the not-so-giant passage from Annapolis back to Red Rover’s current slip in Baltimore, Maryland. It’s so good to be home, even though it is temporary.
I haven’t written much on the blog for the last year. I miss it. At first, it was just too painful. I felt like our dream that we worked so very hard for had come crashing down. First world problems, I know. This is not lost on me. In reality, this temporary change in our world has been simply a small speedbump in a pretty glorious life. We have our health and each other, we have been able to reconnect with people we love, and we’ve come to some even more firm conclusions about what matters to us.
Kevin and I landed in Seattle on January 7, 2023 to stand watch on a very different ship – Kevin’s company, Waypoint Sign Company. Kevin’s general manager, Darren, as many of you know, had been diagnosed with Stage III Colon Cancer. Pretty serious stuff. Much more so than my temporary life interruption. Thank you to everyone who cheered Darren on through emails, social media comments and texts. The best thing that happened in 2023 is that Darren beat cancer. And he beat it with the most positive attitude – an outlook that provided me with a good kick in my grumpy pants and a reminder to be grateful for all that I have. Thank you for that Darren. You are truly an inspiration.
For the last year we’ve been bi-coastal, living in an apartment in Seattle, visiting Red Rover once a month and taking a few short little cruises. I’ve temporarily gone back to work, adding to the Diesel Fund. Kevin goes to work every day. It’s been a giant shift for both of us. And for Max, of course, who thinks that the cold and rain in Seattle is ridiculous. But what did we discover through all of this?
Nature, it seems, is our stabilizing force. I used to work with an incredible coach, Julie, who helped me to grow my business and my self-confidence. At one time, Julie and I worked on an exercise where I came up with my three basic needs – to be outside, to be free to explore and to be in nature. Kevin worked through the same process and came up with very similar results. Interesting. I’m not sure how we allowed ourselves to forget this.
Our first few months back in Seattle felt incredibly confining. We lived in a box. It was dark, wet and depressing. In the spring we bought Avocado Toast (our 2008 Honda Element) and Kevin converted her into a mini-camper. The light began to creep back into our hearts and minds. The summer weekends were full of camping, hiking and cooking over bonfires. We fell back in love with our home state and its gorgeous peaks, forests and beaches. We saw Washington with new eyes – choosing to have an explorer mindset even though we had lived here for many, many years. Nighttime entertainment involved watching stars, days were spent adding dirt to legs that carried us up and down mountains. Cell service was blessedly non-existent. We were away from people, mental noise and constant messaging that tells us how we must “buy, have, do, compete.”
Fall came and the rain began to come back. Avocado Toast was disassembled and transformed back into an urban transportation device and our sadness started to grow once more. We needed a solution that allowed us to escape to nature (regardless of the weather), to continue to feed our need for adventure and to be away from the must-consume culture of living in a city. Oh, and of course, maybe Kevin needed some sort of project that involved watts, amps, ground clearance, water systems and building things.
Enter Lola, the newest member of our mini-fleet. Once a brick-laying van in Los Angeles, Lola is definitely a show girl. And now, as we convert her into a Sprinter adventure van, she’s our Pacific Northwest connection to the experiences that feed our soul. One day soon we will introduce Lola to Red Rover. We’re pretty sure they’ll be fast friends – kind of a “one if by land and two if by sea” situation.
It’s New Years Eve, and as usual I’m peppering Kevin with questions about his “intentions for 2024.” I’m a planner. I like to have some idea of what is around the corner. I even read the end of books first – no sense in getting attached to some character who is going to be a disappointment! Cruising works for me because there is so much research involved. 2023 was one of those years that did not lend itself to a plan. This was perhaps the hardest thing for me. But I think I’ve learned to trust that things will work out. Maybe. A little bit anyways.
That said, it is hard to teach an old dog new tricks and I’m of course working on some ideas for 2024. We’re pretty certain that our year will be centered around adventure, time outside and days split between dirt roads and the big blue watery highway. There will be some work too. I might lean into writing that book I keep talking about. Kevin will likely learn how to install solar panels on a Sprinter Van. We’re intending to spend many weeks of the summer with Red Rover in Maine. And hopefully, we’ll get back to planning the next big steps in our cruising life.
Cheers to 2024! May it be a year to remember!
