Our WAY Big Adventure

Right now I have “to do” lists to keep track of my “to do” lists. Many people dream about “someday” but our calendars get so busy that hopes and dreams get pushed aside…

Hilary wrote a paper a few weeks ago for school. Her thesis statement is proof that her parents are rubbing off on her. “In life there is room for mistakes, just not regrets.”

While this has been a lot of work and planning, and knowing we will miss our loved ones so much, I know we never regret the time spent with our children, and the sacrifices made to make it happen. This is a gift for them.

We are continuing to make plans for our “Big Adventure.” This fall we will load up our three kids, Hilary, Amber and Tyler, and Pepper the cat, to begin a 7 month tour of this vast and beautiful country. This is really two plans, meshed into one.  You see, twenty years ago my then boyfriend (who had trucked through almost every state) told me “Someday I’m going to show you the rest of the country.” I never forgot that promise, and remember how exciting that seemed to me, a girl who had rarely been out of my small home town. I even took a United States map to my geography professor, who had many, many stories to tell about places in the U.S., and the two of us spent a good amount of time marking it up! Fast forward about 17 years and three kids later… Scott finishes hanging a framed chart of “America’s Great Loop” on our bedroom wall (his Christmas gift from me) and we stand in front of it,   promising to someday enjoy this adventure together. The birth of yet another dream…that became a plan…that we decided to act upon.

We started planning two years out. He had a business to get prepared to run without him there, and I needed a few more years of teaching kindergarten, the best grade there is. We also needed time to get our kids prepared. Right now they are at the perfect ages 15, 13, and 7.  With a lot of preparations behind us, and a major change from a boat trip to a road trip we are almost ready. Reality is that we can’t leave it ALL behind. He will be working by phone and computer  a few hours a day, to keep day to day operations flowing smoothly, and I will still be teaching…but instead of answering to “Mrs. Way” as I’ve gotten used to the last 15 years, all my students will fondly refer to me as “mom.”

We are still not letting go of our other dream… the plan to enjoy the “Great Loop” by boat together, but right now we are busy and excited for our WAY big adventure as we head out to see all four corners of our country, and many spaces, places and special people in between.