Many Thanks!

I probably should have posted this a long time ago. Unfortunately, it got away from me. I want to thank all of the people that helped me to make this journey happen.

Why did I decide to do this?

I likely didn’t relay this anywhere on my blog, but the real impetus that set me on this journey was an awful date. Truly. Not necessarily a bad man, per se, just really made me think, what am I doing??? We were meeting for a drink and yet I get there and he has a dinner reservation. Okay, I”ll eat. Three hours later of listening to someone talk about themselves and their dead wife, dead friends, dead family, I was like – GET ME OUT OF HERE! He asks where I parked and I tell him, he tells me he has flowers for me in the car (WTF). So I walk to his car with him and get the flowers (vase and all) and high tail it to my car.

When I get home I call Max and Elle to share my evening with him and I begin to think, what am I doing? Really! What do I want. So a few days later I am at Madeleine’s and I tell her, I’m thinking about buying a van and traveling for a bit. She’s all for it! Later that evening I call Max to get his input, he agrees, go for it! I then reach out to my mom and sister and again, they are both supportive. So to my family, I say THANK YOU! I have only felt support from everyone and I probably couldn’t have taken this leap without that support. This is my family!! (Minus Kelly, my sister!)

So much to do!

This was spring of 2024. I still had a lot to discern; adopt a dog and research vans to name a couple. Figure out the time line. Quit my job. Finances. There was a lot to do. I decided to wait until Fall for the dog and the van. So in September I found Lambert. My mom and Madeleine came with me to meet him for the first time and Max and Madeleine came with me to pick him up. So THANK YOU!

Madeleine went with me to look at vans. You can read more about that here https://carriesadventure.com/the-beginning/. My mom went with me to test drive the van I bought and she approved! From there it was still a lot of research, shout out to all the Van Women Only Facebook pages that I perused day in and day out. The support and knowledge from those groups is amazing! Thank you to Kirk and Eric, for taking all my texts regarding warranties, engines, windshields and more!

It was difficult for me to quit my job. I enjoyed the people so much and did not want to leave them in a crappy position. In October I told Kira, my boss. I wanted to give them at least a month, although I ended up staying through the end of the year and doing some training in January. THANK YOU to everyone at Sno-Valley Senior Center, not only for the encouragement but the friendships that I gained. I am truly grateful.

It’s getting close….

As time drew near and logistical things had to happen, renting my house, packing, getting rid of stuff AGAIN, moving stuff to storage, getting the van ready. It was very overwhelming. I lucked out by posting on FB that I would be renting my house in the spring. Adam, my nephew-in-law, reached out and was interested and we made it work. So happy to have family in my home!

Madeleine took a couple of voyage runs with me in the van. The first in October to Deception Pass, it was a success. Then in February we went again, nice to be able to ‘camp’ in February in Washington, perks of a van!!. I wanted to try out a few things with someone else before I did them on my own. 1. Harvest Host 2. Ferry Ride. So we headed to Aberdeen first, to see Kurt Cobain’s memorial and then to a Harvest Host. Snowbird Farm and Cidery, and they had eight day old baby goats!!The next day we drove the Olympic Peninsula, stopping for a visit with Val to see her new home and pilates studio, Magnolia Studios. Then on to the Walsh’s driveway to sleep (and drink wine with Mike)! THANK YOU for the hospitality!

Prior to the February trip I called KC, an old high school friend. I brought the van out to his house and asked him tons of questions. He asked me about winterizing, hmmm, I had not thought of that, so he helped me get that done!

I also needed a tool box. Again a big thanks to the FB groups, their posts helped me to create a great list, which I then sent to KC, Kirk and Jim, my oldest girlfriend, Ginger’s hubby!! Between the three of them and me I got my tool box together and TBH Jim probably stocked 75% of it from his home! THANK YOU ALL!

Logistics of moving (storing) stuff. I will not be moving back to Duvall and the storage unit costs in Seattle were much cheaper, so that was my plan. But do I really want to store all of this? Does anyone want this stuff? Back story for those that don’t know, this isn’t my first downsizing rodeo. I went from a 3200 sq ft home plus a 2700 sq ft beach house to 1800 sq ft. I know how to downsize. So here we go again (on my own, walking down the only road I’ve ever known) sorry White Snake got into my head! Thanks to MaryEllen and Heather for remembering to save boxes for me too!

THANK YOU to all of those people I don’t know that bought my stuff on FB, to Goodwill and Re-In-Carnation Thrift shop for taking all of my donations. And for Bob and Janet for storing my flat top, Mary for storing the Adirondack chairs, my mom for storing all the crap I left there and Kelly for taking the yard art. Also, my kids for hanging onto speakers, record players, yard art, furniture and whatever else they could manage. Another shout out to Ginger and Jim for coming over to help me take down the TV’s! People say it takes a village – I think I have a city!! XOXO

Another THANK YOU to KC and Kirk, for always being there to answer questions, sending me links, reminding me of things to do. And KC for coming over one last time to make sure I had it all ready to go!

It’s happening

Moving day was here and I could NOT have done it without the help of Bob and Janet and my kids! It was a long ass day and I ended up having to get ANOTHER storage unit, WOWZA! But we made it and I think we are all still friends. Right??

It was now time to pack the van. Overwhelming!! THANK YOU to Kellie W for coming over and helping me figure out what goes where, and what doesn’t go at all! And another shout out to Madeleine, Kelly, Mom and Mary for being there the final days and taking the last bits to goodwill, food bank, where ever it should go! One last thank you, to Jenny, for thinking of my safety and bringing me pepper spray, a buzzer keychain AND an air tag for Lambert’s collar!

I am likely missing someone or something, so to those of you that helped along the way, please know I appreciate you too!! XO

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