It's such a bittersweet time right now...we are both completely excited to be getting home...we are both completely depressed to be getting home. Which is it? You can't have it both ways...or can you? We sure can be really looking forward to seeing Kent County again, after a year of living in this Van and staying in (seems like) 365 different places for the last 12 months. And we can also be a little glum about having to go home to face the real world again and no longer wake up every morning wondering just where the heck we are and what are we going to do next. Hence - bittersweet. Yet there is a lot to be said for getting home - and I suppose with getting on with Life. We have many projects planned, the major one being, of course, the New Restaurant, but also plenty of others for home and self improvement. We have been so fortunate to have had this year out and about, and we will never forget that.
The past couple days have been full of "this is the last time" things - last time (I hope) we'll do laundry before we get home, last time we'll fill the tank with gas, last time we'll stay in a State Park campground, last time we'll...you get the drift.
So, how has this year of wandering around impacted our lives? We think, mostly, that it has brought us closer to the Country as a whole. I know that sounds a little corny, and I don't mean it in a Patriotic way really, but in the sense that we can relate to so many communities and regions in ways we never could before. Now when we hear about a weather related event in the Yakima Valley, we'll know who is being affected. When we listen to a piece on NPR about how the town of 29 Palms in California is affected by the Marine Base there, we can picture the whole scenerio. If we meet someone from Hell's Canyon we'll be able to share our feelings about the beauty of the area. It's almost as if, suddenly, a lot more of the U.S. is important to us, not just our own back yard. I think Katrina perhaps drives that feeling home more than anything else - whenever we read a news story about the continuing clean-up along the Gulf Coast we can understand a little better now, what is going on there, because we have seen the "before" and we have seen the "after". We will probably have to subscribe to USA Today just to keep up with everywhere!! ha ha!! But seriously, while our voyage around the U.S. and Canada is coming to an end, we appreciate that all of those different places we spent time are now a part of us, and will be in our memory banks for a long time to come.
Okay, okay, enough of that CRAP...let's get on with the show here. We are presently in Wilmington North Carolina, basically for the night and basically in a Days Inn just to get this Blog done (so I better get to it, eh?) We've spent pretty much the past two weeks driving up the Georgia and South Carolina coasts, going from one barrier island to the next. It has been glorious. We strayed into Savannah (and no, we didn't wait on line to eat at Paula Dean's restaurant there), which was Okay, and also into Charleston, which was a lot better. We have been able to stick to State and County Parks for camping, which have all been pretty nice, and it's been so much better to just be able to stop and stay, rather than fuss and worry about reservations and such. Our favorite State Park on this leg? Probably Hunting Island, near Beaufort, for its proximity to the Atlantic - our site was just on the other side of the Dunes. Beaufort, btw, was a very nice little town. And while wandering around after lunch there, we happened to stumble into a gallery that was exhibiting some of Marcy Ramsey's work! that was pretty wild.
Anyway, I've got two weeks worth of pictures to post here tonight - and since it's 8:30 already, I'd better get started! Meanwhile, another "last" I guess - last post on the road. I figure my next Blog will come from the comfort of my own home. Or maybe the Chestertown Library, since I am now addicted to Hi-Speed and Wireless...
So, back to Jekyll Island, where we left off on February 13th...
