We have started the whole packing portion of the event. Media is packed and we are trying to figure out what clothes are going. Packing for 2 1/2 months is not as easy as one might imagine. We have to have everything we might want in our Kia Rio. We have to have the Gluten Free items that we need. The GF cookware to avoid cross-contamination. We need CPAPs, computers, meds, everything. Are we going to forget something? Yes. Are we going to be okay anyway? Absolutely. There is a plan to help us live better and healthier, and if you think about it, it is easy to see how. We cannot eat all the time so we have to eat smart in order to ensure we don't waste a lot of money. We want to get out into nature, see the areas we are traveling to and not just the rooms we are renting. We want to get to know new people and hear new stories. It is going to be great, if our bodies hold out throughout the trip. Our health problems are many and varied but we honestly have no intention of letting them win. Sure we have to be smart and take our limitations into consideration but they don't get control, we do. Any way, back to the salt mines.

The house is a fracking sty. Granted that is because we are packing things up and switching rooms and Katie is redecorating and moving furniture and bringing in more of their stuff and time is running down. So yeah, we are stressed. We leave here in 7 days, counting today, and there is so much to get accomplished. I know we are going to make it but man this is crazy making. The good thing is that we have managed to get rid of a massive amount of stuff that we were just sort of holding onto. Now that we have taken care of that, I for one feel lighter. We have lightened our load considerably. Naturally we still have a mountain of books, but we have managed to reduce that as well. I'm not sure what to do with that. But it does mean that in the end, there is enough room for all the stuff that is here.

Where we are

Working hard to both finish the move in after the room switch as well as work on figuring out what is and is not going to come with us. That is not as simple as you might think. We need to pack for 2 1/2 months on the road with little clue as to what weather events will transpire or how things will play out. True, that is part of the fun but it is a touch annoying in the prep phase. I have little doubt that we will be ready and head off on schedule. The Walkabout is sure to be fun. Our first stop has all the beauty and nature of the Shenandoahs right there, so there will be a great deal of suffering. It should be an experience, what with going out hiking and such a lot more than we have. How our lives are going to change should certainly be a great part of the fun.

We've Moved... to the other end of the house

Today was moving day, when Heather, Katie, Justin, and I swapped bedrooms. It may not seem like a big deal, but if Hogwarts were addressing letters to us, they would have to direct it to a slightly new location. The kids are very excited about having a larger space, a larger bed, a larger bathroom, separate closets... and Heather and I are adjusting to our drastically pared down "stuff" in a much smaller bedroom.

As we travel on this Walkabout, we'll be in a variety of different rooms - probably of different sizes, and with different features (good and bad), so this is a good transition-stage for us, I think. Still, it's new, and smaller, and wow is our HVAC unit loud!!!

We're getting closer and closer, 15 days and we'll be on the road for real. We've been collecting links and posts and notes about all sorts of interesting and fun things to do in Virginia, beautiful trails to hike, waterfalls to picnic near, giant pencils to visit, and more. I'm not sure how, exactly, we'll narrow it down to an actual, reasonable list for the measly little 31 days we'll have there, but at least we know we have options. Once we get there, we'll also be picking our next location and booking our Airbnb spot for September.

I would have included photos of the debris left in the wake of packing/moving/sorting/selling, just in my studio alone, but my phone is in another room, and really, if you've seen one messy room, you've seen them all, right? And if you haven't seen one messy room, who the hell are you and how did you manage that?

So in order to get ready for this Walkabout, Cindy and I have consolidated our stuff and recently held a yard sale. It did well and we got rid of a lot of stuff. We made some money for ourselves and then gave a lot of stuff to the Pagan Yard Sale to help our community. That was nice. Thing is, I hate having Yard Sales. When Cindy's mother died we cleared out her house and during the process we held two three day yard sales where we sold a lot of stuff. This yard sale will count as the seventh day of selling her stuff as there was a good amount of stuff that was hers. That whole process of two huge yard sales, combined with grief and mourning really hit us hard. The biggest reason I am know so anti-yard sale is due to that time. The recent yard sale brought a lot of that back, especially as somehow we scheduled it on the anniversary of her passing. So not fun. Like for real. However, we have still lightened our load and this will make it far easier to go walkabout. This way we will be able to have the stuff we really wanted with us and not be over loaded. Granted there is a small mountain of books in boxes that will be living in the garage but such is the life of a couple of bibliophiles. We are working on trying to narrow our book list down but so it goes. Three weeks until we drive away from here and start the journey.

Marshall Knobs Trail, Barfield Cresent Park, June 5, 2015

We decided to go for a semi-early hike Friday morning, and actually made it onto the trail by 9am (hey, I said "semi-early"). It was quiet and peaceful, a few people here and there, some with kids or dogs, but not overly crowded. This particular trail is paved for about .75 miles, then goes down some dirt stairs to the river, and becomes more of a "hike" and less of a "walk" for the rest of the 2.65 miles of the loop. We took a quick break for water and our #trailkisses photo along the paved area.

 

We stopped by the river for a break to enjoy the scenery and listen to the water burble. While there, we got to watch this guy for a while. He barely moved at all, until suddenly he swooped down, dipped his feet in the water, then swooped back up and looped around to land on the branch again. We're told he hangs out there a lot.

I didn't spend as much time taking photos this time, but there was one other image that caught our attention and I had to capture it. Rock Stacking! I did a tiny little bit on that last hike, but this was detailed and awesome. The reflection of the pointy rock behind it just adds to the whole thing.

This trail is a little steep for me in parts, wearing me out pretty quickly and requiring short breaks to catch my breath, but I'm sure the more we go, the easier it will get. There are two 1 mile loops off Marshall Knobs Trail that would make it into a 4.5 mile hike, and one day, I'd like to do the whole thing.

Flat Rock Hiking Trail, Murfreesboro TN, June 1, 2015

"Let's go for a hike tomorrow."

And we did. We both started the day off feeling less than great (by a good bit) and I mentioned a couple times that I felt like curling up with TV shows and fanfic for the day despite how much I would like to do the things we had planned for the day. But somehow, that little switch that's flipped in us both made it just easy enough to break our routine. We got dressed, pulled out the hiking boots, packed a picnic lunch and extra water bottles, and took off!


A Google search for nearby hiking led me to info on the Flat Rock Cedar Glades and Barrens Hiking Trail  just over ten minutes from our house. Early in the trail, we came across a field of echinacea that had several butterflies and dragonflies fluttering about. I swear I saw at least 5-6 of each at one time! It felt like a scene from A Secret Garden or something - magical. See that dragonfly to the right there? I had much better views throughout the day, but this is the only one I caught with the camera.

And then as I was taking photos, this big ole' bumble bee buzzed around the flower I was zoomed in on. I watched as he walked all the way around the cone of the flower and managed to capture this just as he came around the side and before he flew off (right in my direction - eek!). I just love it when I get cool photos like this. :)



As we followed the trail I stopped for a nearly ridiculous amount of photos - so many beautiful views, gorgeous wildflowers, and unexpected finds. If you'd like to view all the photos (and haven't already) you can see the full Google album here. I'm posting my favorites here, though. Consider this the top highlights. :)

Starting with the best company I could have asked for - my lovely wife, Heather.

I had a serious bit of deja vu once we got to the spot where the loop meats up with the first bit of the trail - it opens up from a tree-lined path to a clearing with a circle of trees around the edge along both forks of the path. Heather chose to start to the right, and in my overlapping memory daze, I stumbled after her. At one point, I decided to leave the trail to try and get a better view of the beautiful orange flowers that just popped all throughout the field. It made me smile to learn later that Heather was watching me and taking a photo of me we I wandered in my own little world.

By the time I was finished here, it was starting to rain but we figured we could keep walking in the rain - so we did. I'd guess it was maybe 20 or so minutes of rain, some of which was partly sheltered when we got to another heavily treed area, but we were still quite wet by the time it stopped. And you know what, I didn't even care. I told Heather a few times on this hike that it was the best I'd felt in a couple weeks and I wanted to enjoy every minute of it that I could.

Just toward the end of the rain, we paused for another selfie. I'd had to take my glasses off by this point because the weren't working out well in the rain. Heather gloated about the brim of her hat blocking the rain and keeping her glasses dry, but after seeing at least three little gnats or other flying bugs on her forehead and glasses, using her hat brim as their own person weather protection, I figure either option has its downsides.





And here's also something we've decided to make a tradition with every hike - trail kisses. :)






Other random bits of beauty along the trail...

 The striking red color of this wood was even more obvious because of the rain. I wonder why it was cut down, if it was a damaged tree or something, and why the tree is still there, instead of being taken out so the wood can be used for something.

The artist in me wants to get slices of that trunk, dry them, and do wood burned pictures on them.

This little vine caught my attention, and I got all zen thinking about how it's so pretty, and looks so strong and healthy and it's just sprung up out of the hard, rocky path. It's not a typically ideal place for a plant, but this one doesn't care; it's gonna thrive with the options it's been given. Yeah, I see the metaphor.

Heather pointed out the way the raindrops were beaded on these leaves, shimmering in the light. I tried several times to take the photo but it didn't take until about the 8th time - just after the sun peeked out a bit to glint of the water beads even more. :) Serendipity.





Some of the views were striking, at least to me, though I'm not sure I could explain why if you asked.



And then there was this - what we're pretty sure is a vulture carcass that's been eaten by other vultures. I knew it reminded me of another image I'd seen, but it wasn't until I got home and was editing the photos that it clicked for me - Eris, Goddess of Discordia.

Somewhere along the way we got off the main trail and ended up off the State Natural Area land by a bit (not that we were really aware of that until we saw the markers on our way back to the trail). We could have done the longer loop, and fully plan to sometime soon, probably without me stopping for as many photos and ideally with more water on us.

On the way back to the car for our late-lunch picnic (and man were we hungry by this point), I stopped one more time at the echinacea field, said hello to the Dragonflies again, and took a moment to stack a few rocks and just thank the Universe and Mother Earth for this experience. It was energizing and touching and fun and entertaining and educational and just a really great afternoon! The tasty picnic lunch after finishing the trail was the perfect cap to that trip.