A place to dream....

Our "stuff" arrived last Thursday, and after two weeks without our own beds and 5 days without any beds here at the house we were all very excited when Jack our  driver from United pulled up in his tractor trailer. It was kind of neat seeing him in Seattle, and reconnecting with him on this end, he's the one who told us about the Buffalo in North Dakota.  Jack does not seem like a real emotional guy, but, I wanted to hug him when I saw him knowing my bed and the rest of my bras (2 is not enough) were in the back of Gertrude. He named his truck Gertrude (maybe I could have hugged him?) and she has over 1,000,000 miles on her! This may or may not be why she broke down and arrived 4 days later than planned.

After a few days of unpacking and having Anna Grace throw massive amounts of packing paper around our home we set out to feel out our surroundings.

One evening after dinner we just happened upon this beach just a few miles from the house. It's hard to imagine we have an opportunity to live so close to sights like this.

Day after day we found beach after beach all within short drives of the house. Eli asked if we were on vacation and this is exactly how it feels. Salty hair,  reapplying sunscreen (because we finally actually need some) to sandy skin, and filling the cooler each morning has become part of our daily thing. My kids love the beach and there is nothing we love more than watching them do it. We have found our place.

And at the end of the long warms days I get the job of cleaning out the cooler, fishing out those  juice box straw wrappers and washing out sandy water bottles - BPA free of course. And I really don't mind a bit, because all the while I get the view out of this window. And when you see this out your window you just have to slow down because it just seems stupid not to. At a window like this you have big revelations about what matters in life and it becomes really clear that it has nothing to do with what your countertops are made of or whether or not that pile of laundry is folded up there....It's a place to dream and breathe and I love it even though the sink is kind of cruddy and the sprayer thingy doesn't work.

The way life should be!

Day 6 brought on Ohio and Pennsylvania, for which, we dug out a giant ziplock bag which contained ALL of the change our home had been collecting for 4 years. Tolls, people, tolls, we forgot about the tolls. You can drive from Seattle clear across our great continent and not hit one toll until Ohio. My children had never seen one before. After the first two Eli said, "Dad, what are you buying!" Anna Grace kept saying "Hey you gave him our money!" Camden was as amused by the tolls as he was by the Buffalo.

We finally arrived at our first destination outside of Philadelphia on Day 6. Right on time. Literally right on time. A month before we left I called one of my best girlfriends and said I think we will be there on the 16th around 5:00PM. Voila.  This only goes to show it is possible to be on time for most any event, and will be brought up plenty of times when my husband can't manage to get home from work on time a mere 20 miles away.

It felt good to be in someone's home rather than a hotel despite feeling like we had to make our own beds.  We got to see people we love and it made it all the better knowing we would see them again in less than a year for less than $2500 in airline tickets. We spent a few nights in Philadelphia and then headed to NY to visit with some family.

And then finally, after 9 long days on the road we made it. We made it to Maine.  And you have to feel good about moving somewhere with a welcome sign like this....

All my contemplations about this being the right choice for our family were put to ease at my first glance of Casco Bay. Done.  The air smelled salty, the breeze off the ocean was perfect. The sky is just a different kind of blue here, it's energizing and goes on forever, and you can sense the ocean is "just over there."

The first few days brought discovering our new (200 year old) home for now, our dream of a town and scenes like the following. I loved how dirty they all got, dirt from head to toe. This is the kind of yard that requires a daily bath, and that's just fine with us.

See what I mean about that blue!

 

 

 

 

 

 

And of course every child moving to New England from Seattle gets to try these. So sorry Krispy Kreme, you've been replaced, but not forgotten...

Say cheese....

We left our cozy spot and in Fargo and headed out bright and early headed for Wisconsin on Day 4 and Ohio on day 5. We passed through Minnesota and Illinois and Indiana too - no offense to the Ohioans, Indianan, Minnesotans, and whatever you call people from Wisconsin, but we both agreed unless we are changing planes in Minneapolis or Eli is a quarterback for the Vikings we will probably not be going back to those parts.

No Buffalo roaming the rest stops, or magical mountain views.  We did manage to have a great view of this from our Wisconsin home for the evening!

But, the next best view from those bunch of states was sadly this, which made for a long ride for all.

We did see Chicago, but Eli was in an intense session of Cut the Rope on my phone, and Anna Grace was actually nodding off, so you can all go Google images of the Sears Tower and let's call it good!

Erik and I are not yet sure if it's a result of a superior parenting style, or the fact that our children are so used to being as bored as one could be riding in a car for 8 hours, but, no matter - these children are awesome. There were very few tears, an average amount of "just because I said so"s,  and everyone slept for at least 6 hours a night. I consider that above average for any road trip let alone a cross country trek strapped down listening to your mom's Glee soundtracks hour after hour.

More to come....

Where the buffalo roam....

We laughed when we passed an exit sign that read "Home on the Range." Not some kind of billboard humor, a real - official, green with the white letters and little arrow sign! We were chuckling, oh, only in North Dakota could you see a sign like that. And of course we started singing....home on the range, with the whole buffalo roaming bit.

An hour or two past Home on the Range, we pulled off to a rest stop where Buffalos were inches from our car. Just hanging out. Anna Grace thought they were lions, the boys thought they were awesome and I felt they were just too close for comfort. We excused ourselves and parked, what I felt was safe distance from the wildlife that all the other North Dakota rest stopping folks seemed very comoftable with. Maybe it was all that motorcycle gear that made them feel so invinsible near these really huge, huge animals.

This was taken through the safety of my car window without zoom!

Day 3 was another success. North Dakota is beautiful. Fargo is actually a neat town. If Maine does not work out I may just plant my route-less seeds right in North Dakota. One of my closest friends has family there, I am sure we could crash with them. We passed more "no services signs," than services signs, got views unlike any other landscapes we had seen before, and landed at a fabulous hotel with an indoor water park.

Creating our own rest area

The view here is amazing, also of note my kid gets to wear shorts in June!

Apparently Fargo is not a hot spot for water parks on a random Monday night as we were the only family there. The boys swam and slid off some excess energy, Anna Grace clung to Erik for dear life, and I shamefully sat in the hot tub pretending I could not hear the screams beyond my jetted oasis.

And just like that we are half way there! Somewhere between where soda meets pop, highway meets freeway and new old friends meets old - old friends. Onward to Wisconsin....

By George....

Days 1 and 2 went smoother than expected. Our first stop was George. Sadly it took us a while to get it all until we saw this guy at the gas station.

The most exciting part of Day 1 was sunshine. We were all basking in it, but it took some getting used to as we had not seen it in a nearly a year.


We continued through Spokane, and got great weather and geography lessons from our absurdly geeky and well read 7 year old. I now totally get which animals can survive in the desert and why, and can easily predict weather from clouds. Apparently "columbus" clouds are fair weather clouds. And really, there are very, very many cactus bushes between Seattle and Spokane. Many!

We went through awesome mountain passes, where we felt on top of the world, and the snow lay fresh on the side of the road. We felt like Lewis and Clark ourselves, discovering the country and its untouched beauty. Few cars, ranching roads, and swelled rivers as far as we could see. It seemed as if we were so far from everything we were leaving behind. And then we pulled into our hotel. Directly next to a Costco - across from a target, and shopping amenities galore, we turned back into ourselves - two thirty-somethings, with three (not so clean) kids, and one over-packed SUV.

The next leg proved  more "rural" according to Cam. As he pointed out, we were far from any "urban centers." Most roads of the freeway read "Ranch Access/No Services." These are some of the only times I wished my 2 year old were NOT potty trained. We found ourselves some nice dirt roads, used our baby potty, and created our own services.

Tonight we settled into Miles City, Montana. We are surrounded by tired travelers, snuggled against one another. It's rather romantic with Erik and I and our Mac products aglow. But, it is these moments, the moments of quite togetherness, of sharing a room and space that makes this trip so special. I am hoping I remember that on hour 6 tomorrow when asked for that extra juice box, that I gladly oblige to, just before I put the straw in only to have that first gush of juice down my shirt.....

Empty house.

We came to Seattle from Maine 6 years ago for 1 job opportunity with 1 toddler and a promise we could move back within 2 years. Since then we have added 2 children, 3 Seattle area addresses and more legos, then I care to share or count. Proven in the very last moments as our kind movers discovered countless lonely primary colored bricks under beds, couches, and area rugs.

We consider ourselves, rather family-less people. We both come from small families, now dotted around the country living rather independent lives. We are "route-less" I tell friends, moving for us easier than most. I could NOT have been more wrong. I don't know if it's all that cold rain - (and don't believe them, it actually rains here all the freakin time) or what, but these Seattle people are some of the finest people you can meet. We have been welcomed into many families and homes for holidays and dinners. Grandmas have hugged our babies, and knitted them blankies. These are the kinds of friends you call in the middle of the night, who take your kids no questions asked. They will clean up their pee, and find their pacifiers. They love them when you can't and there is nothing better than knowing your babies are cared for in just the right way.

And tonight, we said our tearful goodbyes and got our last warm west coast hugs.

It started off as a joke - let's sell the house and move back to Maine. Let's simplify our lives. F*&% the manicured lawns and timed sprinklers. Screw the homeowners association and their rules on trash cans and house colors. Let's teach the kids to sail and to catch fireflies in a real yard in a house with character. You know the kind built before Facebook and wireless routers.

It evolved into today. Our 4 bedroom dream house on a park all but empty. Three small kids tucked in sleeping bags lined up together ready for the adventure ahead.

Tomorrow morning, we will stop at our neighborhood coffee shop for one last $4.00 mocha before hitting the road (and soon after my head against the dashboard I am quite sure) - for Maine. Yes, the real joke is we are driving to Maine with three small children!