Gearing Up for a Trip

My husband, Mike, is an electronics engineer contractor.  We're semi-retired, and so he works a while, then takes a couple of months off, then works some more.  I don't know how long we'll do this before he retires for good, but for now, it's not a bad way to live.  On the positive side this time, there's a good possibility he'll be able to return to the same company where he's working right now with a bright, shiny, new contract that will see us through for a little longer.  Knowing that will do a lot to quell my unemployment anxiety.

For two of the past three winters, we've headed south to escape the rainy Portland winters.  We're also known to have an occasional ice storm and that pretty much brings the city to a stand still.  Snow, we handle marginally well, but ice is a deal-breaker.  Last year our winter was relatively mild.  We were at home because he was working, but we both were longing to go south.  We are particularly fond of Death Valley National Park and usually spend at least a week there.

This year, his job will end just after Thanksgiving, and so around December 1st, our plan is to head south.  I greet this with both joy and trepidation.  I do like our travels.  We generally go for about three months, and then we're both ready to head home.  I will miss my sewing room terribly.  Of course, I'll take my sewing machine.  We have a pretty good-sized fifth wheel, but when I get my sewing machine out, I pretty much cover every flat surface with my sewing machine, cutting mat, and ironing board.  It's one of those table-top ironing boards.  Mike says he doesn't mind.  I think he does, but he knows how much I love sewing, and so he doesn't complain.

I told him I'd travel cheerfully if he'll take me to some quilt shops along the way.  I am looking forward to that.  I plan to keep my blog up, and I have always blogged in the past about our travels anyway.  When we're out of cell phone range, however, we're also out of wi-fi range, and so that does create a problem sometimes. 

We take George and Gracie with us.  They would much prefer to be home, but they mostly sleep through the winter anyway.  It doesn't much matter whether they sleep at home or in the trailer.  George has become more comfortable going out on a leash, and so I think he'll enjoy this trip more.  We will miss having our little Krissy with us this time, since it'll be our first trip without her.  (We had to put her down last January at age 19.  She was a great traveler.)

This will be our first time away from the kids for Christmas.  Erik, of course, is married now, and he just celebrated his 31st birthday.  He enjoys Mae's family, and so I know he'll be fine if we go.  They may even enjoy not having to plan to be with two families at the same time.  Erik's inlaws love my other son, Matthew, too.  Matthew is 26, and has traveled extensively in Brazil.  He's been away from us for Thanksgiving and Christmas in the past, and so I know he'll be fine spending Christmas with Erik's inlaws and his girlfriend Lindsay's family.  Mike and I never lived near our families after we were married, and so we always had Christmas on our own.  I was a military brat, and so we were never around my grandparents for Christmas.  I think it will be hardest on me to be away from the kids, but I'll live through it.  The two winters we traveled previously, we stayed home until Christmas only to get snowed-in for weeks, delaying our departure.  We live at one of the higher elevations, and so snow is always a possibility.  Neither of us wants to do that again.

So for the next several weeks, I'll be talking more about our upcoming trip.  I'll also be dusting off my cameras because when we travel, the photographer in me goes hog wild.  There's a lot to do when planning to be away from one's home for several months at a time.  As for my newly-sprouted lettuce and tomatoes in the greenhouse, I'm afraid their lives will be short this time around.