June 27
Left The Dalles this morning. Before we did we had a nice visit with our hosts, a friend’s brother and sister-in-law, Larry and Paula, over coffee. They were so nice to us and very welcoming--wonderful people. We enjoyed meeting them and seeing the town, which we had only driven by in the past. And we so appreciated their warmth and hospitality. Both of us are still trying to get used to this new life. It is a weird thing--it seemed like all we did was talk about doing this project for a month and a half. It was as though that was all we were going to get to do--talk. Then came a flurry of activity that picked up as we got closer to a departure date, but somehow it still seemed like actually leaving was some sort of distant thing. Even on Thursday, I woke up and reminded myself that I would not go to sleep in the same bed I woke up in. The day had arrived. It still didn’t seem real. Then we were on the road. In some ways it was like it was never going to happen and in others, it all happened in an instant. And now we’re in the midst of it and it is unfolding with each passing moment. The thing is, even with all of that planning, we are still kind of feeling our way along and figuring it out. That is how it should be. Even if we had planned even more, there’s no way to plan for every possible thing, so it’s best to plan for uncertainty and flexibility.
So now we’re in Vancouver, Washington at the home of an old friend of mine from grad school, Ellen, and her husband, Brigg. We had a chance to visit and ate a delicious meal. Everyone is kind of tired, so we all decided to just veg out after dinner. I am looking forward to being able to talk more with them over the next few days. We are also enjoying getting to bond with their two cats, Ollie and Cocoa. They are quite friendly and we’re told they may decide to keep us company as we sleep. I think all of us are kind of hoping that this will be the case.
Tomorrow we head for Salem and the Freedom Friends church, but not until we‘ve eaten a breakfast of homemade blueberry pancakes.
