For months now we have been slowly marching toward this day, endlessly encouraged by all of you reading this and more who are not.

Weeks spent making preparations and researching to be sure that this entry would be made comfortably, and backed by nearly every solution to any problems that might have arose.

Days dealing with setbacks or what felt like disasters.

Hours of sleep lost daydreaming of, and dreading, the unknown.

Minutes of goodbyes and farewells.

In my mind there was only driving away.  In my mind it was huge; it felt huge just thinking about it at my desk or talking about it with others.  This beginning to a grand adventure, where the sun was shining and music I had picked a long time ago was hitting a crescendo as I smashed the accelerator and looked to Megan to see her enormous smile.

This morning’s departure was simple, but not simple in that those months, weeks, days, hours, and minutes were insignificant or invalidated, but simple, easy.

There was wet and snow instead of sunshine, which made me extra cautious.  There were checks and double checks to make sure things were safe and secure.  There were quiet podcasts rather than music, in order to listen to the thousands of pieces and parts working correctly and to hear the calm, clear directions.  Easy.

Even great big, life changing, challenging, things can be quiet and comfortable.  Especially if you put in the time.  There are a few things outstanding, but those are due to make things even better.

This thing is so big, we won’t ignore that, instead we are going to handle it.

This first stop is brief, as we are kind of running away from weather.  We have a mattress to pick up in Eugene, OR on Thursday. More on that later, with pictures.  Our next spot will be around Newport, OR, where we may stay until Thursday morning.  Traffic has been light and weather has been rain.  A few sun breaks near Astoria gave us some beautiful views of the coast.  We had to pass on stopping as we wanted some daylight to settle in.  It worked out just right, we pulled into a nearly empty Paradise Cove in time to beat the rain and start dinner at sunset.  The rain (which sounds like it is turning to snow as it moves inland) is dumping once every hour or so. We decided to play some cards and go to bed early.  Tomorrow we empty the tanks and roll south to Newport hitting some lighthouses and things along the way.  Hit us up with some spots around there!

Paradise Cove, OR. 1/9/17