Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Rachie's Travel Blog - Day 1

Hi there – Rachie here. This is my first attempt at a blog. It was suggested to me that I keep track of our westward trek as we move our family (sans job and sans house) from Boston to Boulder. I have no idea what will happen along the way, but I’m pretty sure it’s going to be an interesting adventure!

Day 1
August 10, 2009
We started our journey from my parents’ house in Huntingdon Valley, PA, after staying there for the previous 7 days. The car was packed to the gills when we arrived, and we now had even more items to bring with us (mostly non-perishable foodstuffs that my mother kept adding to our already overfilled bags) on our journey. My amazing husband is struggling outside on the driveway, doing a yeoman’s job at the final round of “Trunk Tetris.” After much rearranging, bungeeing, and extreme amounts of sweating, we get everything in….and then hear our 10 year old daughter say, “Wow! It’s amazing there’s anything at all on the moving truck!”

We cram the kids in, their pillows and backpacks making a convenient barrier between them on the bench seat, I take my place in the passenger seat surrounded by various gifts and oddly shaped packages around my legs and on my lap, and we are, as they say, off like a herd of turtles.

Our journey begins, and we are so excited we can’t contain our energy! We’re singing along with music, we’re dancing in our seats, we’re chatting away and having a ball. After a while, we each settle into our own activities – the kids buried in their respective DSs, hubby J chilling out and driving, and me eagerly beginning the license plate game (in which, despite my enthusiastic invitations, the kids have absolutely no interest).

All is going well, we’re making terrific time, we make a quick stop for lunch, hop back into the car, go a bit further, make an even quicker stop for gas, and we’re on the road again.

At this point, we’re just outside of Pittsburgh and J and I decide that any moment now we’ll switch and I’ll drive for a while. We’re about to stop, and then we notice the enormous black cloud just a few yards in the distance. After about 2 more minutes, the mother of all thunderstorms descends upon us. Huge bolts of lightning cut across the sky, the wind is whipping all around the car, and the windshield wipers are no match against the driving sheets of rain. (Apparently God felt that a massive thunderstorm would cause less damage than me driving!)

We consider pulling over (as many cars do), but we press on through, and in a few more minutes the storm subsides to a steady rain.

We make it to Shaker Heights without further incident, and joyfully greet our oldest and dearest friends, their 5 year old son (my godson) and their 11-day-old baby girl. We have a fantastic time, talking and laughing until well past midnight.

As I climb into futon, I am filled with joy, as our first day has been so happy, easy, and fun. I can’t wait to see what tomorrow brings!

P.S. License plate count: 28

Deep thought for the day:
As we were getting ready to leave Pennsylvania, I noticed that I had very strong sense of feeling unburdened and unencumbered. I felt as though a heavy weight had been lifted off of my shoulders and that without the heaviness within/around me, anything was now possible!

I realized that this heaviness had been something that I had been carrying around for the past few years. It’s not that I was unhappy where I had been, but I certainly felt dissatisfied in many aspects of my life, and through choices I had made, I had gotten myself stuck in a pattern of not being true to myself. I am so grateful for this opportunity to make a fresh start for me and for the rest of my family. I’m thrilled to be showing my kids that if a situation isn’t right, they can make the choice to take control over it and change it. We are in control of the decisions we make in life, and since this is the only life we get there is no point in spending even one day being unhappy. One of my goals in this journey is to actively seek joy, and thankfully I’m finding it all around me.

4 comments:

  1. Very glad to see that you've started this blog and that all seems to be progressing nicely. It's always good to make a new start with things. Looking forward to keeping track of your adventures during the trip (and, might I add, afterwards if you keep the blog up. :)

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  2. I entirely agree with you about finding your own happiness. Life is too darn short to NOT be happy. This is a great lesson for your kids. I can't wait to show the U.S. off to Pearl and Abe. (And see you along the way.)

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  3. Rachel,

    How fun to hear of your adventures. I wish I could have met up with you as you journeyed through! Best of luck!!!

    Susan

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  4. Hi,
    Your journey is full of experience.You have talent of describing the situation correctly in the text.It is good to enjoy such lifetime experience.

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    ReplyDelete