Settlement was pushed up a day so at about 11:30 this morning, we sold our house. We haven’t finished packing it up, mind you, but at least we no longer own it! The end is completely in sight and we hope to be out by tomorrow evening. We should go back tonight and finish up some things but my parents plied us with a celebratory bottle of wine and a delicious dinner so I think we are taking the night off. There is almost no room left in the storage unit anyway, so really how much more is there for us to pack?!
Now we transition from packing up one house to outfitting another. We are still planning on pulling out on Wednesday and will spend the weekend getting the trailer ready. While in Connecticut, we plan to stay at Hammonasset State Park, which is about 50 miles away from the wedding festivities, but about as close as we can get to my brother with the trailer.
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Last night Elise and her friend Meg spent the night in the trailer with Danine. I was allowed to eat pizza with the girls, but then had to leave so it could be an official girls night. The girls ate sugar popcorn and watched “High School Musical.” I only missed the popcorn. But they had fun and it was a chance for Elise to spend time with a good friend before we leave. Meg, as you can see, bears some resemblence to Elise though they are not related. Their personalities are even more closely aligned. And they were born on the exact same day to boot. Now Meg has seen Elise’s home for the year, and it will give her something to visualize when she follows our travels. We want Elise to keep in close touch with her friends and cousins along the way this year.
In the same vein, we had our friends Bart and Kara over to the trailer tonight with their two boys Vincent and Anthony. Vincent is Elise’s age and they went to preschool together, and Anthony is 3 years younger. They all get along well and it was fun to catch up with them and have the chance to say goodbye. They were very good company on a miserably hot and humid evening. I don’t have any pictures of it. The camera wilted.
We continue to pack and change addresses and stop subscriptions (not Airstream Life magazine of course). We have lists of lists of things to do, but we can’t complain. We are close to the trip we’ve been planning for over a year!
And in the mean time we spent a week with Danine’s family at Bethany Beach. The weather was excellent, as was the water temperature and the waves for the most part. Elise learned how to jump through a cresting wave to avoid getting smashed (a handy skill). Danine blazed through a few novels. I rode waves with our 12-year-old niece and nephew, Taylor and Conor. Most everyone helped construct two grand sand castles on Thursday and Friday. They were really sand complexes with multiple castles, towers, villages, moats, gates, and walls. The ocean took the first one. The second was destroyed either by raining feet or high-jumping miscreants.
Thank you to all who have encouraged us and plan to follow along. Our hope is to hit the road the first week in September. We’ll head north to Connecticut for Danine’s brother Chris’ wedding. All we have to do until then is pack, move, cancel, schedule, load, store, and sleep, occasionally. Woohoo!
After an arduous four months of trying to sell our house in an awful market, we have a ratified contract and are due to settle on Aug. 31. We are excited, but right now I think we’re more relieved and a little shell-shocked. It hasn’t been fun living half a life, trying to be emotionally engaged and motivated about either staying for a year (or more) or going on the trip. For most of July we just wanted a definite yes or no. Well, we finally have a yes!
By the way selling a house you bought near the market high during a terrible market is a bad idea financially. Make no mistake. But we will be able to finance our year about and have something for a down payment when we return. And we are fairly certain we will return to the congested and expensive Northern Virginia area. Why? Because of family, friends, and community. Preparing to leave a place is an excellent way to come to terms with what you value in that place. I imagine being away from it will do the same thing.
So. On with planning (which we’ve been reluctant to do)! On with packing (whoa)! On with the trip! Our plan is to pack up and prep over the next few weeks. Danine’s brother Chris is getting married Sep. 8. We will hopefully be on the road full time the week after. If we get ready before Aug. 31, we’ll do smaller trips until the wedding.
Thanks to all for your kind encouragement and support. We’ll keep you posted! (A little more often now hopefully…)
