Going Home

As a child I traveled throughout Europe, Asia & Africa with my family of 10. I was only in 6th grade at the time when 8 of my girlfriends gave me a surprise slumber party and my first suitcase as a going away gift. That was the beginning of my love for travel. However, one of the negative things I do remember my mother saying was "if you want to see America, do it on your own time". Unfortunately, that made me think that America wasn't worth seeing. How wrong I was!

I cannot begin to explain how full I feel from this experience. Michael and I have met incredible people, from farmers to musicians, from other artists to other genealogists. We've met shop keepers, landlords, land owners, wine makers and brewers. We've met animals and children (funny how those two come together in one thought!) we will not forget. We've visited our children (well, some of them) and some of our siblings. We've met old friends now new again, even met Aunt Marie, in Taos, a woman we never knew but now is part of us.  

Aunt Marie

We've met other travelers with whom we've shared stories. I cannot even count the times someone has asked us where we are from and Michael and I share a look and smile and say "we are homeless" then share our story with incredulous faces eating up every word. Because it IS an amazing story, one we will cherish together. It has been 10 months of on the go, stop & go, 43 different types of housing, (which means 43 times we've moved!), over 3000 photos and over 13,000 miles,  coast to coast and back again in our four door sedan.

But now, with mixed emotions, this part of our long and winding road has come to an end. Simply put, we are tired and have run out of the steam that fueled our travels. Strangely our spirits are low and we don't know why. Perhaps it's similar to how one feels after the Christmas holidays, that let down of "it's all over".  We do look forward to our next twists and turns and the surprises they will hold. 

We  arrive in Bradenton, Florida on Monday the 20th of July where we will settle in for a bit, gather our thoughts, spend time with family and friends and set up our next adventure. We aren't sure yet when that will be or how long we will stay in one place but we do know it will happen when we are ready for it.



I thought I would share a few thoughts through the paintings of Norman Rockwell. 

 America the Beautiful!

Ahhh the people we have met

and the places we discovered!

We learned lessons, taught lessons, & even celebrated our birthdays (see blackboard!)

We had weird haircuts

and new types of shaves!

I painted,

 he did genealogy.

We celebrated Halloween in Clarksdale, Miss.

and Thanksgiving in Rio Verde, AZ, with Mary Kay, Mike's sister and her husband Carl  

and Christmas in Palm Springs, CA,  at a casino! 

The museum which made the biggest impression was the Civil Rights Museum in Memphis, Tenn.
NOT TO BE MISSED!

We thought a lot

and talked a lot, a lot, a lot!

Best lesson learned, people are just people everywhere. Living their own special lives .

and so much more that there will be stories of our own, back and forth to each other for a long, long time...

& finally

Going excited & coming home exhausted!

Thank you all for following us on our long and winding road.

Patricia & Mike