Farther/Closer to Home

we've come pretty far since the last post! we drove 3 days all the way to Cleveland, Tennessee to stay with my stepsister Amy and her husband Paul. yay family time!

I was sad to leave San Diego and my friends behind. we had a wonderful stay at Lisa's house, where we had wonderful dinner parties every night! there's some pictures of Lisa making pizza crust for our butternut squash pizza, and Danielle making a salad. but soon the fun ended to continue our journey into the unknown.

on the first day we drove from Ocean Beach to Flagstaff, Arizona. we went from driving in the hot desert with saguaro cacti to mountain tops with pine trees and snow. the second day we drove through new mexico, texas, and stopped in oklahoma city. we were both feeling pretty lost and confused at that point. being away from California made me really realize and appreciate how great it is. but we felt stuck, like neither direction was entirely right. we felt that we really needed to get awat from California, but going east didn't really feel good either. i figure there's something bigger driving us, and i just have to accept it. I am just grateful that we have each other and loved ones all over to support and encourage us.

so then we decided to come to Amy's house, and drove through arkansas and tennessee on the next day. it was good to get out of the desert and absurd traffic laws of texas. we started to see trees again and green rolling hills and lakes. we drove across the Mississippi river to Memphis, which is where the picture of the pyramid is. next we made it through Nashville, and finally made it though Chatanooga into Cleveland.

being here is such a different world to us. small town, some funny looks, non vegan biscuits and gravy, and beautiful mountains and rivers. today we checked out the river where the olympic white water rafting was. perhaps we will get to do some rafting this week! saw some awesome mountain views, and we are hoping to get a good view of the super moon today. apparently this is the closest the moon has ever been to earth!

I'm thoroughly enjoying spending quality time with family and lots of animals! (3 cats and 1 dog) plenty of time for furry snuggling. we are probably going to be here atleast a week. not sure what's next, I guess Virginia and Indiana. or who knows! i'm trying to embrace that the fun of adventures is not knowing where we are going to be or what we could be doing. its harder than you would think! the biggest thing i'm learning about it is to just think positively. instead of worrying about where we are going to be or how we are going to make money or anything I'm trying to focus on how lucky we are to be doing what we are doing and how much fun we can have and all the great things we can do if we open up to it!

biggest self discovery this week: I thought I was a wildernessy backwoods sort of dweller, but I've definitely decided I'm a big city girl. I guess a healthy balance of both would be ideal!