join us on our adventure as we visit all of the lower 48 states in one year!
In 56 days we will be starting our 52 week voyage across the USA. Our family of four (along with our pug) will leave our 5,000 sq. ft. house and we will be making our 5th wheel, Gipzee, our home for those 52 weeks. Gipzee has a bit under 500 sq. ft. Looks like we’ll be living in 10% of the amount of space we’re accustomed to living in.
Is this bad? Not really. But I’d be lying if I said it wouldn’t be an adjustment.
I have probably already said it many times, but life is weird. And because life is bound by it, time must logically be even more weird. Time is relentless. Time is unforgiving. Time never stops. Good times fly right on by. Bad times do the same. Normal times get lost in the mix. Time keeps on ticking…
For some, the information I’m about to share with you isn’t new. For others who are just now joining us on our journey, I have been asked about what exactly happened the day I ended up in the ER in September of 2016. It was an eye-opener for me (and probably my husband as well) and can help explain why I am so excited and grateful to be taking this 52 week adventure-on-wheels. Making memories, doing life with my most favorite people, and taking on challenges, such as year long road trips – each day celebrating the life I am blessed to be living.
So, here is that story…
There is a “known” thing on my Mom’s side of the family, if there are any qwerks or oddities in any of our personalities, or physical bodies, we blame it on the Banks side of our family. Aka, Banksisms.
The females have coined a term, Bankles, because apparently on the female side the Banks genes create legs that run straight from the calves into feet, bypassing the ankles. At least any visible ankle-like formation. I, being a male, apparently don’t have this abnormality. Or maybe I do and have never noticed it. But to us Banks, Bankles are a real thing. And they are, unfortunately, somewhat traumatizing.
We are all different. Very different. For that I’d like to say, “Thank you, Jesus!”
Different things make each of us tick. Different things make us happy, sad, hurt, inspired…you get the point.
Today I want to talk about your happy place. And mine. For the sake of the conversation, let’s remove our family as our happy place. That should be a given. At least for me and my life, so we are going to the “next place” that we like to go when we need to recharge, rest, smile, laugh, dream. And all those other much needed releases in order to make life more bearable.
Our maiden voyage in Gipzee, our 40 foot 5th wheel, was to South Fork Colorado and it was a total success! Zeke, our beast of a truck, pulled the mountain passes like we were on flat ground. The weather was perfect, our campground was top notch, and the local food was amazing! We probably couldn’t have asked for a better experience. In a word, “AWESOME!”.
You know that Geico commercial that takes place in a boring, white office lunchroom and some guy is heating up a burrito in the microwave? For some reason, they thought that the song, The Final Countdown, by Europe, would be an appropriate theme song. For heating up a burrito.
I don’t like that commercial. Ask my kids. As little as we watch TV (no cable in this house), every time that one comes on I cringe. I might also lament out loud in anguish just so everyone around knows how much I despise the commercial.
I’m not sure how much I have in common with Johnny Cash since I never have or ever will meet him, but I believe it’s very little. I can play a guitar. And… That’s probably it. I’m even less sure about how accurate the movie Walk the Line depicted Mr. Cash. I imagine there are some truths, and other “facts” that were “tweaked” to make things more interesting. What I do know is that in the movie, Mr. Cash said something in response to his life that my life speaks to me. Over and over… And like him, what I want to say back is,
Don’t give me no rules. All I got are rules.
fish naked. ski naked. bake naked. hike naked.
These have always been weird to me, because I get mental images of people doing these things. Naked. Some seem wrong. Others seem painful. All seem a tad inappropriate for this family-friendly household.
As a geek who has been writing software, managing software developers or working in IT for the last 18 years, I have become very aware of the fact that my brain works in a binary way. 0 or 1. True or false. On or off. Hot or cold. Black or white. Yummy or gross. I don’t like operating in a grey area. Grey means there is either confusion, dissent or mediocrity. None of those terms are synonymous with satisfaction – at least in my opinion. Applying that to real life, two things have become very obvious to me.
Unknown = scary, but known = boring.