Colorado to Nova Scotia: The Beginning

In 2019 we took a big, big trip. All the way to Alaska and back for about two months, thanks to an amazing boss, co-workers, neighbors, family and the broader supporting crew who picked up the pieces back at home while we drove so, so far. 

We came home happy! Happy to be home, happy with our home and ready to stick around for awhile enjoying our little slice of imperfect but perfect paradise. With that in mind, we dug in and devoted our hearts and energy to a new, snuggly, loving and demanding family member... Joonah. 

Joonah, the puppy

Joonah, the 7 year old

We thought: The big trip-- the trip of our lives-- is out of our system. Now we can be normal, like our friends and family, and go on vacation for a day or a week or maybe two weeks and then come home and be happy. Just like that! 

And maybe we would have been happy with a simple, annual two week vacation but COVID happened. In hindsight, it was a beautiful, quiet, terrifying, family-focused time. We were fortunate: no serious cases, no hospitalizations, no deaths. (Read Sacrament to understand how fortunate we were. And infinite, forever, thanks to the superheroes within the healthcare community. They show up with loving kindness every day, pandemic or not.) 

COVID imparted a new sense of life for us. The importance of family, togetherness and time so evident each day we isolated, unable to give hugs or share love, face-to-face. The concept that we had limited summers left to spend together, as a family before the kids launched into their own lives, just became more, deeply obvious.  

Meanwhile, our big, big trip to Alaska grew it's own life - oh the lore! Our summers began to be about travel, nature and curiosity. The kids developed a healthy sense of LET's GOOOOO!!! Every time we had a day off, adventure became our anthem! - despite extra-curricular activities, pushing the limits of jobs and stretching our family financial stability.

And then...poof...Kenedy graduated from high school, and then from living at home, and our day-to-day lives went from four to three. When she moved to college, she took some of our sense of go - the urgency and the drive. Her Canadian school breaks did not match our American holidays and our time together became less about adventure together and more about just being together.  

Moving into Place Vanier at the University of British Columbia

She broke her hand skiing at the end of that first year in college. Unable to take finals, she came home early, looking save precious tuition and housing funds, be closer to the beloved desert, start working and maybe, just maybe, have one more adventure together. 

And so we did. We pointed the car (a new car, a bigger car, an electric car but not a Tesla) in the (sort of) opposite direction of Alaska, at the last minute, without a real plan, and off we went. 

Nova Scotia (Lake Superior, Ontario, Quebec City, Bay of Fundy, Cabot Trail, and visits to UVM, Syracuse, and Skidmore for Tucker) here we come!