Home again
25/07/13 05:33
After my mother was widowed, we would sometimes encourage her to consider buying a new bed for herself. Her old wooden bed frame was nothing special and the mattress was a bit worse for the wear. She would always reply that she didn’t want her bed at home to be too comfortable because she never wanted to give up traveling. She didn’t want to become someone who would turn down an adventure or an opportunity to travel simply because things were too comfortable at home.
She never gave up her sense of adventure or her love of traveling.
We have a comfortable bed in our home, but it isn’t that much more comfortable than the bed we have in our camper. And most motels have fancier and nicer beds than we have in either place. The amount of money spent on a bed has little to do with our overall happiness.
We slept in our bed at home last night after a little more than two weeks on the road. We covered 3,305 miles and spent ten nights in just two campgrounds – five nights in Anacortes, WA and five nights in Olympia, WA. We stayed in six other campgrounds for one night each. The camper and truck served us well and we were about to try out the new-to-us camper in a variety of different settings. During the adventure I got better at backing the camper precisely into a variety of parking places and we got pretty smooth at the process of setting up and breaking down a campsite. It was a great adventure.
Still, it was nice to go to sleep in our own bedroom last night with the breeze blowing through the curtains and the sound of a small thundershower in the night to water the lawn and freshen the air. Our home and yard look remarkably good for having been gone for two weeks. The grass needs to be mowed and there are lots of weeds to pull, but other things are looking good. Despite the very hot temperatures during our absence, there was enough rain to keep the hills green and keep the fire danger in the moderate range. There is a small fire near Harney Peak in the Black Elk Wilderness Area, but crews have responded and we didn’t notice any smoke as we drove into the hills.
It is always a challenger to switch gears after a trip. There is a list of chores related to the return home that need to be done. The grass needs to be mowed, the camper needs to have the bugs scrubbed off the outside and be taken to the storage area, there is laundry to do and a bit of unpacking and putting things away that remains. We got in early enough yesterday to get started on the list.
There will be a long list at work when I arrive at the office today. There will be messages and e-mails that need response. There is a worship bulletin to get out, there are reports to hear about activities and events in our absence and the usual business of a busy church that needs attention.
It didn’t make the headlines in too many papers, but we weren’t the only ones traveling yesterday. President Obama made a visit to the University of Central Missouri to make a speech and praise the “Missouri Innovation Campus” that has a special program in partnership with public schools and a community college to offer low-cost, fast-track college degrees to students in partnership with area businesses. It was the first trip the president has made to Missouri since he spoke at the Joplin high school graduation in May 2012 – one year after the tornado devastated the area.
We took notice of the president’s travels because we got the news from our daughter, who lives in Warrensburg and who works on Whiteman Air Force Base. She was on the shift that closes the child development center at 6 p.m. and they couldn’t leave base immediately because the base was locked down for security. So they got to watch the president’s motorcade as it returned to the base and Air Force One as it departed. It was a bit of history in the making and it is fun to be an eyewitness to it as it happens. Base security frowns on photographs and video, so what she had to share with us was the story and the telephone is pretty good for storytelling.
The president probably went home and slept in his own bed last night. Except the president doesn’t really own the white house. It is a temporary residence. After eight years, another president will take up life in that place and this president will have another place to live. I suspect that presidents don’t spend much time or energy thinking about mattresses or beds. They’re probably pretty much used to sleeping on new or nearly new mattresses wherever they go. Although travel can mess with sleep patterns and no one is immune to jet lag, I don’t think that world leaders have much problems with travel discomfort.
The rest of us, however, have the opportunity to travel if we are willing to put up with some things that are less than ideal. Some of the campgrounds where we stayed didn’t have high speed Internet service. One didn’t have cell phone service. I uploaded my blog every day, but had to be a bit innovative and it took some extra effort. Although our camper has a very nice kitchen, cooking on the road is different than being at home. Grocery shopping is a bit more challenging because we don’t know where things are in different places. Some campgrounds place the campers too close to each other and getting used to the comings and goings of neighbors is different than at home. I could make a list of things that require adjustments each time we travel.
But the minor discomforts of travel are nothing compared with the joys and benefits. We are indeed fortunate to be able to travel and see places far from home. The photos and memories of this trip will linger for a lifetime.
Mom was right. Don’t get attached to a bed. A little discomfort isn’t anything to worry about.
She never gave up her sense of adventure or her love of traveling.
We have a comfortable bed in our home, but it isn’t that much more comfortable than the bed we have in our camper. And most motels have fancier and nicer beds than we have in either place. The amount of money spent on a bed has little to do with our overall happiness.
We slept in our bed at home last night after a little more than two weeks on the road. We covered 3,305 miles and spent ten nights in just two campgrounds – five nights in Anacortes, WA and five nights in Olympia, WA. We stayed in six other campgrounds for one night each. The camper and truck served us well and we were about to try out the new-to-us camper in a variety of different settings. During the adventure I got better at backing the camper precisely into a variety of parking places and we got pretty smooth at the process of setting up and breaking down a campsite. It was a great adventure.
Still, it was nice to go to sleep in our own bedroom last night with the breeze blowing through the curtains and the sound of a small thundershower in the night to water the lawn and freshen the air. Our home and yard look remarkably good for having been gone for two weeks. The grass needs to be mowed and there are lots of weeds to pull, but other things are looking good. Despite the very hot temperatures during our absence, there was enough rain to keep the hills green and keep the fire danger in the moderate range. There is a small fire near Harney Peak in the Black Elk Wilderness Area, but crews have responded and we didn’t notice any smoke as we drove into the hills.
It is always a challenger to switch gears after a trip. There is a list of chores related to the return home that need to be done. The grass needs to be mowed, the camper needs to have the bugs scrubbed off the outside and be taken to the storage area, there is laundry to do and a bit of unpacking and putting things away that remains. We got in early enough yesterday to get started on the list.
There will be a long list at work when I arrive at the office today. There will be messages and e-mails that need response. There is a worship bulletin to get out, there are reports to hear about activities and events in our absence and the usual business of a busy church that needs attention.
It didn’t make the headlines in too many papers, but we weren’t the only ones traveling yesterday. President Obama made a visit to the University of Central Missouri to make a speech and praise the “Missouri Innovation Campus” that has a special program in partnership with public schools and a community college to offer low-cost, fast-track college degrees to students in partnership with area businesses. It was the first trip the president has made to Missouri since he spoke at the Joplin high school graduation in May 2012 – one year after the tornado devastated the area.
We took notice of the president’s travels because we got the news from our daughter, who lives in Warrensburg and who works on Whiteman Air Force Base. She was on the shift that closes the child development center at 6 p.m. and they couldn’t leave base immediately because the base was locked down for security. So they got to watch the president’s motorcade as it returned to the base and Air Force One as it departed. It was a bit of history in the making and it is fun to be an eyewitness to it as it happens. Base security frowns on photographs and video, so what she had to share with us was the story and the telephone is pretty good for storytelling.
The president probably went home and slept in his own bed last night. Except the president doesn’t really own the white house. It is a temporary residence. After eight years, another president will take up life in that place and this president will have another place to live. I suspect that presidents don’t spend much time or energy thinking about mattresses or beds. They’re probably pretty much used to sleeping on new or nearly new mattresses wherever they go. Although travel can mess with sleep patterns and no one is immune to jet lag, I don’t think that world leaders have much problems with travel discomfort.
The rest of us, however, have the opportunity to travel if we are willing to put up with some things that are less than ideal. Some of the campgrounds where we stayed didn’t have high speed Internet service. One didn’t have cell phone service. I uploaded my blog every day, but had to be a bit innovative and it took some extra effort. Although our camper has a very nice kitchen, cooking on the road is different than being at home. Grocery shopping is a bit more challenging because we don’t know where things are in different places. Some campgrounds place the campers too close to each other and getting used to the comings and goings of neighbors is different than at home. I could make a list of things that require adjustments each time we travel.
But the minor discomforts of travel are nothing compared with the joys and benefits. We are indeed fortunate to be able to travel and see places far from home. The photos and memories of this trip will linger for a lifetime.
Mom was right. Don’t get attached to a bed. A little discomfort isn’t anything to worry about.