Made It Home!

THE ENDING OF ONE EPIC JOURNEY

Wow. Sometimes it's still hard to believe I'm back here in Vermont. 

But it also hardly feels like I left. What an odd thing. SO many things happened on my walkabout/extended road trip.

But here it is near the end of June and I haven't posted a thing since returning to Vermont in early April.

It was quite a whirlwind as I arrived. (Literally - it snowed that week and the temps were in the teens) 

But prior to that -

I remember as I was crossing back across the country and I arrived at a state park in northeastern Texas - I became overwhelmed with emotions. When I got out of the RV and walked around, I was on dark soil with green grass, and I wandered by trees just beginning to sprout their green leaves. I stood next to, and heard the sounds of a lake as it lapped against the shoreline. It seemed so long since I'd experienced these things. It told me I was getting closer to home. 

I continued on to my next adventure, which was to meet Mom in Nashville, TN for a few days. On the way there, I stopped in Memphis. I'd slept at a Cracker Barrel nearby the night before. I figured I'd regret it if I didn't at least go into town for a few hours when I was THIS close. It was a Sunday morning, so almost everything was closed, but I walked around, took some pictures, and had a little breakfast at the only open place. I wanted to take a tour of Sun Studios, but the first tour was already full, so I just went in and looked around a little. Oh well. Then back on the road.

Memphis, TN

Sun Studios - Memphis, TN

In Nashville, Mom and I had a great time together as usual. We took a trolley tour through the town, went to the Patsy Cline Museum, ate lunch at Luke Bryan's restaurant, visited the Opryland Hotel, and generally walked around like the tourists we were. 

I dropped Mom off at the airport to catch a flight to Florida, and I began the trek to Cape Cod to stay with my dad for a few days. 

Patsy Cline Museum

At Opryland Hotel

At Opryland Hotel

Me & Mom

Although I'd enjoyed my adventures in Tennessee, my check engine light was on once again, and I was pretty stressed about traveling all the way to the Cape like that. After talking with Dad, I decided to just keep checking the fluids and keep going and have faith that I would make it there without any problems. I think it took me two or three days and it rained almost the whole trip up and over. VA, MD, PA, NJ, NY, CT, MA. Ugh. 

Well I arrived at Dad's with great relief and such gratitude. Seeing my dad was sort of like coming home, and I was SO close to getting to Vermont that it seemed I could almost touch it. We had a really good few days together and he had a mechanic solve the issue with the RV. We said goodbye and I set out for the last leg of my journey home.

There was a storm warning in effect he day I arrived in Vermont. Of course. I stayed with my good friend Lisa and her family and tried to keep the RV water pipes from freezing and the batteries from dying. Some funny and stressful stories there, but in the end, I was able to move into a little apartment owned by my friend Cheryl's parents, sell the RV, and buy a little car during the first two weeks after I arrived. All I can say is: Amazing!

So ...

I've settled back into this community in Lamoille County once again.

So glad to see everyone and enjoy this beautiful Vermont summer!