Traveling With Joy

We're going on vacation. Now all you burglers and robbers out there don't get your hopes up. When you live on a lake you have all kinds of folks volunteering to housesit. So there will probably be more traffic at my house than when I'm at home! My 21 year old grandson is our housesitter this time and like most single 21 year old young men there's a young lady, and there are friends, and you get my drift. I'm good with that.

Back to the vacation. I love vacations. I don't want a permanent one but I do want one. Or two or three. But just like candy I think if I had twenty they would make me sick. I'm not sure of that but I think so.

Anyway, we're getting the camper ready. Or should be. Jerry washed and waxed it! It's all shiny and beautiful. Today I'll go out and assess the situation and see what I left in there and what I have to add. It will take several trips. First, clothes: We're going to a bluegrass festival in Winfield, Kansas where the weather is much like it is here. There it will be in the 70's and will require slacks and shirts and maybe a light jacket at night. Then we're off to Estes Park, Colorado where we will need sweatshirts, wool socks, hats, gloves, fleece jackets. For me anyway. I have a picture of Jerry and I the last time we went there; I had on jeans and a long sleeved shirt and a fleece jacket. He had on shorts and a tee shirt. Our internal thermostats are a tad bit different! Our kids laughed when they saw it and said, "that's so Mom and Dad!" They know us well.

Second: Decorating. I will put a wonderful heavy quilt on the bed, which Jerry will kick off the first chance he gets. So I'll add an electric throw to my side which I can turn on to "Roast" if I want. I will put a beautiful, decorative platter on the dining table, which he will promptly fill up with his change, his keys, receipts from the last three hundred gas stations, and a leftover sunflower seed. I will line up the throw pillows on the couch, put the basket/coffee table squarely in front of it with magazines spread artfully across the top. He will add three pairs of his shoes thrown haphazardly in front of it on the right end. I will line up my clear glass cannisters behind the sink, in order of size. He will put the coffee filters on top on one of them, and sprinkle coffee grounds in a trail from them to the coffee pot. We both make our own contributions to the decorating.

Third: Food. I like to plan. Can you tell? I will make a menu, gather the ingredients, make everything ahead of time that I can, and store everything in the cabinets. Jerry will eat. Oh, and change the menu one day into the trip. And snack. And leave the wrappers/bags/etc. on the table. They add to the decorating scheme.

When we get back I will have a birthday and we will have an anniversary. All in one week. I know you think the title of this post is all about our vacation but it's not. It's all about life. I will be 63 and we will have been married 45 years. This is a journey I have been traveling with great joy! While we are gone I will try to post about the trip but when we get back I will tell you all about how Jerry and I met and began this journey. You'll like it. I did.