Home Sweet Home!

I started writing this blog on our way home and it has taken me this long to finish it up and get it posted. Once we made it home, we just got busy with life. People often say they are busier in retirement than when they were working, and since I'm practicing being retired with Mark this year, I'm sticking to that story!

Mark is like a horse heading for the barn when he decides that it is time to head home. The last three days of our trip consisted of all driving, with stops for meals, gas and washroom breaks. I did convince him to stop at the giant Van Gogh painting in Goodland, Kansas and the arch in St. Louis so I could get some pictures of this leg of our trip. Otherwise, I was going to be left with pictures of the highway and the never-ending roadkill, which usually consisted of deer. We had seen so many deer in the last couple of days of our trip, both dead and alive, and Mark was dealing with a little PTSD from the last deer. He really didn’t want to hit another.

I have been collecting fridge magnets all along our trip. It is something that I started a long time ago when travelling and I have got quite a collection. As we were making quick progress home, I had to keep on my toes to ensure I bought a magnet from each state. I had Utah and Colorado, next I would need Kansas, then Missouri. We popped into a travel centre for me to grab my Kansas magnet, but we noticed that all they had were Missouri magnets. I asked Mark, “Why do they not have Kansas magnets?” His response was, “I guess we are not in Kansas anymore.” Okay, Dorothy… what do you mean we are not in Kansas anymore? I didn’t get my Kansas magnet! Clearly, Kansas City, Missouri, and Kansas City, Kansas are not the same thing! So I picked up my Missouri magnet, and we headed out. I would like you all to know that there is a magnet missing from our travels. We are definitely not in Kansas anymore, and I am short a magnet! So friends… should you find yourself passing through Kansas, could you pick me up a fridge magnet, please?

My magnet collection is currently in a bin, as I'm waiting for Mark to find time to build a display for them. However, he is swamped being retired at the moment.

Once we arrived home after a quick stop at Trader Joe's to pick up the American essentials, it took us a couple of days to unload everything from the trailer, winterize it, and do the never-ending loads of laundry. It was a busy time getting back into the swing of being home. We had people we needed to connect with, I popped into the school to help out for a couple of half days, we hosted Christmas with my mom before they headed to Mexico, which gave me a good excuse to get the Christmas decorations up. Finishing up our travel blog had taken a back seat. I started to really buckle down and get ready for Christmas, and Mark was busy booking things for the next leg of our travels in South America. The next two months being home were going to fly by, I was sure!