Trains...

I love trains.

With everything that we have sold and downsized and given up, I still have my father's lionel train set.

There is something so safe about trains. They have a schedule. They have a conductor. They have a track.

If it is your first time on a train, you are seeing everything new. If you are on the train every day, you just become lulled into a meditative half slumber, recognizing the landscape and feeling a certain safety.

As a little girl, I always loved hearing the train whistles in the middle of the night. My heart would thump and race; I would make up stories about the people traveling out of town on those trains. I wanted so badly to be on one of those trains.

And now I live in Grand Junction.
I hear those whistles every night.
And I absolutely love them.
Because they have brought me home.

PS (They drive Mike crazy but I still love them)

Lots of good juju happening

Honestly, we picked Grand Junction on a whim.

We knew what we wanted. High Desert. Sunshine. Active people. An artistic community. Good neighborhoods. Walking and biking. Great access to wilderness areas...
Holy Shit! We hit the jackpot.

We have only been here for 2 days and I am in love.
This is a small navigable city. There are bike lanes every where. (yay)
We found a magical apartment.
And it is Colorado's wine country?
Win Win Win

Now to go back East, organize the crap we have left...even better juju going on...Ian & Aly can probably use half of what we have left in their new home (fingers crossed...inspection was today) & then return and find work. (Sorry Ashley. I know that was a run on sentence)

Yes. This was meant to happen.
Did I mention that our block was yarn bombed?
And we have already had 2 neighbors welcome us to the neighborhood?

Still doing the happy dance.

Letting the magic happen

Well, we are approaching the end of our journey.

Tonight we are camped out in Canyonlands BLM recreation site outside of Moab.

We have been so lucky on this trip. Since we fled the snow in VA and decided to go as south as possible as quickly as possible, we have been blessed with sights that no one ever gets to see.

We have seen every single desert in full bloom. 

Yes. 

Every single one. 

It has been amazing.

I have reunited with people that I never thought I would see again, and the conversations picked up from 30 plus years ago as if barely a blip had gone by.

I have met incredible artists that have welcomed me into their world. I knew I would fit in out here.

I am anxious and trying to figure out what will happen when we get to Grand Junction. My old controlling side is kicking in. I need to just let go and let the magic happen.

Because that is what this trip has been about.

Letting the magic happen.

Reunions

What a joy it has been to reconnect with friends from the past and just pick up where we left off, as if only 5 minutes had passed since we last spoke instead of 2, 20 or 30 plus years.

Corrine & Bill sent us off with style...peeling out of the parking lot as though we were teenagers and filling our cooler with enough moonshine to violate every state law in the lower 48. Mike & I will laugh about that forever.

My cousin Jon introduced us to fabulous Mexican food in Phoenix and turned me on to the best hiking shoe ever. (inov8...in case you are interested) So great to see him without a funeral being involved.

Tim & Cindy made us the most brilliant Thai beef salad, played faulous music and welcomed us with open arms at the last minute. They also helped relieve us of the above mentioned moonshine.

Polaris & Tavin...wow. Wine tasting and a gourmet home cooked meal? I cannot wait to pay it back. The two of you are brilliant. If we have an actual house, you can bring a stray to drop off.

We are being a bit thwarted by snow at the tail end of our journey...we had a few more reunions planned in Boulder and Nederland...but we are flexible and we will be in Colorado, so the reunions will keep on happening.

For that I am forever grateful.

Fallon, NV

I am terrified to post anything.
I am on the trip of a lifetime and I cannot describe it.
All I want to do right now is paint.