rtw with lucy

  Day number 335 of captivity.  It was a dull day.

We had coffee. We drove to Madrid. We walked aroung Madrid. And then, much to our horror, we saw a museum. An art museum.

And then, just to liven things up a bit, I´m sure, God sent us a storm last night!  You know, the kind of storm that broke our tent poles, got us soaking wet, and then made us sleep ( oh, how funny! The word I meant to use: Insomniacs) for the night in the car.

The only thought sustaining me through this never-ending monotony is that Paris, and then home is at the end. Oooooh! Wait a sec……I forgot–School work!  O.K., maybe I will stay in Europe. But just until High School is over. 

Erin

Well, here we are, six days from departure, and I’m barely dragging myself along. I have worked my tail off for these last 9 months or so. Has it really been 9 months? Wow, I guess this trip will be our baby.

I had a chance to sit down tonight and think about what all has had to happen to get to this point. Right now, we are homeless and unemployed, and feel like we’re in limbo. It is a different kind of feeling, and not one I can easily explain, except that it is probably a lot like the feeling you get when you’ve just graduated from high school. All that hard work is over, and the next phase of your life has not yet begun, but the possibilities are endless. You know it’s not all going to be wonderful and exciting, and yet you hope that most of it will be. I know that some full days will probably be spent waiting for something like a late plane, or a visa extension. That is the nature of long term traveling, and hopefully we’ll deal with it better than if we only had a two week vacation.

I must say that we have worked hard to sell a house and close out this part of our life, and said good bye to some wonderful friends. We’ve gotten rid of at least half of our stuff, and packed away what was left in storage bins and locked them away in a shed. We’ve gotten shots, and made arrangements with the bank, and sold our cars. We bought trip insurance, one way tickets to Brisbane Australia, and a car for when we get there. Whew, we almost missed getting the girls’ glasses in time, but they did come in this week, for which we are grateful, but when I think back on all that I am truly amazed and grateful that it ran as smoothly as it did. It’s not the year of travel that frightens me, it’s the thought that I may have failed to take everything into account, but as far as I can tell right now, it is all taken care of. It remains to be seen whether I am correct in that line of thinking!