Well, it's official. We're on the road. The journey has begun.
How did we get here? Lots of packing, last minute projects, enjoying some last Lake Geneva fun, and good byes with friends and family.
Packing went about as smoothly as it could. We had earlier in July filled a 20 yard dumpster with
 |
20 yard dumpster
|
"stuff" that had been floating around our house for 17 years, so we were not dealing with quite as much to sort through. But moving from a five bedroom, 2800 square foot home to a 35 foot fifth wheel is no small thing. In this case, the tortoise was successful, and little by little we got moved. As of this writing, we have not really needed for anything!
 |
Our rig "Haven" parked in the driveway awaiting packing.
|
 |
Getting packed, bedroom edition
|
 |
| Our girl was a big help in getting us ready to go |
We were able to get out on the lake a bit despite some engine issues with our boat. We (and especially Cyndie) will totally miss time on the lake and skiing. But alas, despite our best attempts, we have not found a way to do everything, all the time, every where. Meaning that our boating season of life has come to an end for now.
 |
| Tim |
 |
| Emma |
 |
| Cyndie aka "Ski Babe" |
Tim navigated the week before college in typical fashion, soccer, workouts, and getting as much time with friends in as possible. He was able to get some quality hang out time in with all of his various friends including one last overnight with the three amigos. What a blessing these guys have been to Tim. I really hope that their friendship continues as their stages of life change!
 |
| Two amigos sleeping |
 |
| Tim's adult league team - league champs! |
And then we left. After a weekend of final prep, cleaning the house, and general chaos we were sent on our way by a lovely group of people on Sunday night. We slept, and hit the road at 6a on Monday driving Tim's car full of his things and our rig 8 hours west to Western Iowa.
 |
| My driving partner |
 |
| Threatening Skies over Iowa |
After an uneventful trip* we arrived at Dordt University to get Tim checked in and ready for soccer pre-season.
*Uneventful is probably relative. We got a decent amount of rain and it was pretty windy. At this point we're extremely happy with our decision to buy a one ton dually (GMC) to pull our fifth wheel. We had 20 MPH winds all across Iowa and I barely felt them.
 |
| Dordt University's #24, Freshman Tim DeVries |
We've now left the land of KwikTrip and entered that of Casey's*. Whatever will Tim do?
*In driving around his college town, Sioux Center, we did see a KwikStar (the Iowa branch of KwikTrip) being built. Perhaps life will go on.
And now we're settling in to a new phase of life. We haven't found a new normal yet. That will come in time. We're at a beautiful little county campground right on the Iowa/South Dakota border where we are the only people (thus far through the first three and a half days we've been here) here in our loop. We wake up to a lake view and sunshine with our coffee. We enjoy the trails the campground has with the goal of walking at least five miles a day. We're enjoying the slower pace of life. We're enjoying being outside a lot. We're finding ourselves on our phones a lot less and rather passing the time reading, watching the water, and being together!
 |
| "Our" campsite on the Eagle View loop |
 |
| Swimming hole at Eagle View Campground |
 |
| Railroad bridge over the Big Sioux River, the border between SD and IA |
 |
| Haven |
 |
| We're official! |
Things we've learned this week:
- Leaving is harder than we expected. Even though we'll be back in LG frequently, it will not be the same. We'll miss places. We'll miss our friends. We'll miss our family. Leaving Emma and Connor in LG is probably the hardest. The two and a half months that they've been back have been a ton of fun. It's great to like your kids, but it's even better to get to know them as really awesome adults!
- Goals are good. We talk to so many people who want something similar to what we're doing (flexibility; financially, geographically, etc). We don't have any secret sauce, but we did set goals and were able to attain them.
Things we're looking forward to:
- Real soccer ... Tim's first scrimmage four hours away in Des Moines against Grandview University on Saturday.
- Seeing how Haven handles the heat; we're looking at high 90s weather starting on the weekend and heading through mid-next week. AC is very welcome!
 |
| Tim on the training pitch |
