Journey to the Past and the Future

Sometimes you can plan a trip for weeks, even months, and still not have a real idea of how it will play out until the time comes. We've been planning our June trip to Georgia to search for housing for several weeks now, but we had no idea that it would turn into a journey that circled back to where our relationship started and around to where our future is headed. Due to flooding along the Missouri River, we had to re-route our trip just days before our departure to avoid long, flood-induced detours. We turned this into a major positive; in exchange for about 90 extra minutes on the road, we were rewarded first with a dinner stop in Indianapolis with my sister and her family and my parents, and then by a night's stay back in our old stomping grounds of Cincinnati. It was great to have a brief visit with my family in Indy. We enjoyed the company, the kids got to see their cousins and we had Steak N' Shake for the first time in years. Then, we pushed on ahead to our overnight stop in Cincinnati. We got in at 8:30, 30 minutes past the kids' bedtime, but we couldn't pass up the unexpected opportunity. We popped open the umbrella stroller and hit the sidewalk for a short walk downtown to beautiful Fountain Square.

Laura's first response to the Tyler Davidson fountain: "Is that the Statue of Liberty?"

The ultimate reward for a long day of driving....Graeter's black raspberry chip!!!! Mmmmmm!

Nathan had his first Graeter's experience right on Fountain Square.

The next morning, we had a great visit with Cliff's brother before heading south. Getting our poor old van up those mountains was not very fun, but it made it safely, and we got to NC for dinner with Cliff's parents on Sunday night. Monday morning, we left the kids in Grandma & Grandpa's eager hands and did something we haven't done in years....took a road trip sans children! While the kids were living it up in NC with bounce houses, ice cream, Happy Meals and visits to Great Grandma, Cliff and I headed to Milledgeville in search of the American dream: a nice, affordable place to live and a great school for our daughter.

After 3 busy, busy days of searching, we are happy to say that not only did we find a place to live and a school for Laura, but we also got to start carving out our new existence in Georgia. We stayed with one of Cliff's new colleagues and found in her a kindred spirit. We met with other new colleagues so Cliff could start diving into his new job. We explored possibilities for me to make a life for myself there too. We met great people, enjoyed some good meals, took in the beauty of the campus, began to adjust to Southern politeness (we are Miss Gina and Mr. Cliff, apparently) and learned our way around. As of today, the lease and deposit for the house are in the mail and we are 4 weeks away from being on the road to Georgia for good. It felt good to come home to Lincoln on Sunday night, but I think now we can safely say it will feel good to arrive in Milledgeville in a few weeks too.

Gina