Bittersweet Goodbye

Jill's Journal: Farewell Lexington. I’ve loved you so.

Louisville-bound and then the whole country…

Marco…Polo!

Jill's Journal: Originally we planned to fully move out of Lexington today, but Rob needed to devote a little extra time to his job (you know, the thing that makes all this possible!) so we decided to stay put for an extra day. (Normally, we’ll do our moves on the weekends, but this first week or two while we hustle to catch up to our original plans and the one place we have set reservations will be a little abnormal due to our earlier delays). The girls and I spent the day just bumming around the campground and getting organized, which was a fantastic way to spend a day.

Rob joined us for a nice walk before dinner and happened to spot a polo team practicing their sport. I’ve always wanted to go to a polo match, so this was an awesome substitute. Those polo “ponies” (they’re actually full-size horses of any breed, as long as they’re quick and agile and competitive) fly around the field. It’s definitely a contact spot and actually reminded me of hockey on horseback. How they don’t crash into each other is a mystery and how those riders manage to hit the ball and not the other horses or riders (while at a full gallop) is an even bigger mystery.

We came back to the trailer to enjoy flat-iron steak, corn on the cob, and fresh watermelon in the open air on a perfect, cool summer evening. We can definitely get used to this.

Happiness and Contentment

Jill's Journal: Life is good. Correction: Life is great. We’ve been officially camping at our first sanctioned campground for not even 36 hours yet and tonight the girls caught their very first fireflies. How cool is that? These are the kind of memories we’re here to make. The excitement in their voices was absolutely infectious. Here they are with friends Leah and Alaina (all five girls were in various stages of holding fireflies in their hands!), whose wonderful parents drove up to the campground and brought us a farewell dinner tonight. We ate together, played together, swam together, and caught fireflies together. The girls absolutely loved watching those firefly rear-ends light up right in their hands!

As an aside, I’ve seen fireflies for the last 13 years here in Kentucky, but I had no idea you could catch the things at all, much less in your bare hands. Leah and Alaina’s Mom, Heather, thought it was hilarious I had no clue. I’m from the California desert, for Pete’s sake! No such thing as fireflies there. :)

We are quickly getting initiated into campground life. It’s friendly and welcoming, it’s a small-town feel, and it’s lovely. It took us a while to completely pack up and leave Nicholasville yesterday, but that will of course get quicker as we get more practice under our belts. My amazing husband handles that huge truck and accompanying 42’ fifth wheel so adeptly that I’m in awe.

We had a situation as we left Rob’s Mom’s property…the best way I can explain it is that the road leaving her driveway has been repaved/raised and the power line, telephone line, and cable line are hanging too low. The raised road and low lines meant we didn’t have enough clearance to get the rig out. Repeated phone calls to the owners of the lines resulted in no action. So Rob fashioned up two 16-foot “lifts” to raise the lines long enough for him to drive out. It completely freaked me out, but it was an amazing fix. We laughed later at the thought that flashed through my mind at the time, “Please don’t get electrocuted. I can’t drive the fifth wheel yet!!”

It felt so wonderful to pull into our designated spot at the Kentucky Horse Park Campground in North Lexington and get completely hooked up. The girls immediately spotted the playground and made themselves at home. We all enjoyed dinner outside in the fresh air and a swim before bedtime. Perfection.

Today was even better. Rob headed back down to Nicholasville to completely wrap up all the projects at his mother’s and is so relieved to now be D-O-N-E with everything he’d taken on down there. The girls and I took advantage of our proximity to the Horse Park and took one of the campground’s golf carts over there for the day. It was all horses, all day, everything from miniature mares with their foals (oh my gosh, what is cuter than a 10-week old baby horse the size of a large puppy?!) to massive English Shires. We paid a special visit to multiple champion Cigar, the top dog at the Hall of Champions, where I admit I got a little teary-eyed saying goodbye to him. He enjoyed my scratches on his nose and looked at me with that sharp, eagle eye like I was a fool for getting a little emotional. But if it wasn’t for his perfect 10-for-10 campaign in 1995 that got me so hooked on horse racing, I don’t know if we would have ever been in Kentucky in the first place. It’s been such an amazing ride and it’s all because of him. When I realized that he’s 20 now and this could be the very last time I ever see him, I felt a license to tear up a little bit.

The girls loved the horse-drawn trolley ride and visiting the great Man o’ War’s grave. But it was a moment in the International Museum of the Horse that took the cake. Madelyn, my least-horse crazy of the bunch, exclaimed, “Mommy, I LOVE this place. Can we come back here again and again? There are horses everywhere!”

After we capped the day with the great visit from great friends, the girls were in bed, and Rob returned for the last time from Nicholasville, he and I both agreed that we’re on the right path with this adventure that officially started yesterday. It’s been a long road getting to this point – selling our belongings and the massive preparation that goes into such a drastic life change. Most of it’s been smooth with just a little rockiness thrown in for good measure, but we never wavered from the goal and now we’re just so thrilled to be this far. We can’t wait to see where the road takes us and what adventures await. And most of all, we can’t wait to share it as a family. In the end, that’s the most important thing of all.

Tomorrow is the Big Day!

Jill's Journal: The girls’ last full week in Lexington has looked something like this:

Beating the heat at two different aquatic centers (I do believe my fair-skinned babies are getting tans even through regular applications of sunscreen!)

Sightseeing with Mom while their poor Daddy slaves away

Dreaming about the day they’d see Toy Story 3 (which these poor, deprived children got to do this afternoon)

“Borrowing” Mommy’s camera and snapping pictures of her laughing with friends (I’ll spare you the ones of the tabletop, my knees, and 15 other random items)

And soaking up the natural beauty everywhere around us.

It’s been a very nice week, but we think tomorrow will be even nicer because we are officially hitting the road!! We aren’t going far on our first jaunt, just 20 miles north to the Kentucky Horse Park Campground, but we couldn’t be more excited. The short distance will test our sea legs, so to speak. We want to make sure the rig is sound, the tires are good, and all internal systems can handle travel. We also want to be sure the drawers, closets, etc. stay in place now that they're full. We figure (hope?) we can’t cause too much damage (knock on wood!) in 20 miles.

We’re planning on two nights at the Horse Park to decompress, relax, and fix any issues that might arise. And then, God willing, we’ll be on our way. No, really. Seriously! Hard to believe, I know. :)

Even the girls can’t believe we’ll really be moving after talking about it for so long. Just a couple of days ago, as we were telling them our plans to finally get rolling after the unexpected three-week layover, Erika suddenly had tears in her eyes.

When I asked her what was wrong, she said very simply, “Don’t worry, Mommy. They’re happy tears. I’m just so excited.”

We are too, sweet girl.

A Good Day…and Tourist Practice!

Jill's Journal: It was a good day. Rob is benefitting from me keeping the girls out of his hair and is making huge progress on his long list of projects. I’m thinking our “launch day” will be soon! Well, maybe – the circuit board for the washing machine finally arrived, two days behind schedule, and it has a whole different set of problems than the first. Perhaps if we married the two circuit boards, we might have one good washing machine? I’ve told Rob he’s been too nice in his calls to this maker-of-washing-machines-for-RVs-and-yachts…I’m ready to pounce of them. I’m a mother with three young children (translation: LOTS of laundry) who bought a way-too-expensive, especially-for-an-RV washing machine because no matter how hard I could try, I’m just not a Laundromat kind of gal. And I’m taking the inconvenience they’re causing very, very personally. Rob thinks it’s better he deal with them because one can catch more bees with honey than anger. I know he’s right, but here's my confession of the day: I am having a hard time restraining myself!

(As my dear Dad pointed out today on the phone, this delay in our plans is minor in the scheme of things. Better to have everything fixed and all the kinks worked out here rather than in some crazy little town where we can’t find a hardware store. I know, I know...)

So, while we’re still in Lexington, I decided to practice being a tourist right here at home today. I’ve always heard about a little side-of-the-road diner in Midway, Kentucky, called Wallace Station, but had never eaten there. Unsuspectingly, the girls and I headed there for lunch. Holy crap. Un-be-live-able. I had some chipotle/avacado/turkey/pepper jack creation and no other sandwich will ever measure up. Why have I never eaten there before? It’s so good that apparently Wallace Station will be featured on Guy Fieri’s “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives” on the Food Network next Monday, the 28th. We have a t.v. but no television service, so I’m hoping to re-live the sandwich by catching the episode somewhere online. And I just may have to drag Rob to Wallace Station on our way out of town. Yum.

While still in a delicious food-induced euphoria, the girls and I then headed to Frankfort to take in some of the sights of the capitol. We went first to the quaint historic district and enjoyed the grounds of the Old Capitol building, in use since 1830 and now a museum. We happened to walk across the spot where Governor-elect William Goebel was shot on the way to his inauguration in 1900. Erika was fascinated because it happened on her birthday (albeit a little more than a century earlier) and I was fascinated because one of the first books I ever helped edit was strangely not about horses, but about Goebel’s assassination.

We then took a short jaunt over to the current Capitol with the intent of taking a tour, but either the heat or Father’s Day got the best of them and they had closed early. Beautiful grounds, however, and the girls especially enjoyed a giant floral clock with a surrounding fountain (shown in the top picture).

They were eager to get home and spend what was left of Father's Day with their Daddy, so we did just that. The happy little girl squeals from an impromptu running-thru-sprinklers session capped a super day. I think we're cut out for this tourist thing!

I did learn something very, very valuable today: when it’s 94 degrees Fahrenheit and so humid you can cut it with a knife, you can never have too much water along. The jug of water I brought wasn’t nearly enough and we stopped on the way back to Lexington to buy a couple more litters, which were quickly inhaled. These little girls play hard and one in particular definitely subscribes to the theory of “Why walk when you can run?”, so overheating could easily be an issue. I’ll be more careful to have a plentiful water supply in the future.

Farewell Tour of Lexington

Jill's Journal: Much to our amazement, we remain near Lexington! We’re “camping” on 25 acres near Nicholasville, Kentucky, so it still feels like an adventure and a million miles from the home that we knew. Apparently we underestimated the amount of projects on Rob’s plate before we officially leave town, so we’re also taking advantage of the time to really get into the swing of things on the fifth wheel. We’re actually on Rob’s Mom’s acreage and now believe we’ll be here through early next week.

While Rob’s been working, the girls and I have been playing. We’re jokingly calling it our farewell tour of Lexington. We’ve had final playdate after final playdate with so many wonderful friends, including everything from a picnic with a jazz band at the lovely Ecton Park to the always-fun Explorium (Children’s Museum) to the insanity that is Chuck E Cheese to even just digging in the dirt and letting the kids be kids.

All these goodbyes have made me feel very nostalgic about Lexington. Today I took the girls to the Lexington History Museum in the ancient old courthouse downtown, where we got to experience some of the amazing heritage of this fantastic city, once called “The Athens of the West.” And really, what other museum can boast of its very own jockey silks right inside the front door?

I’ve always loved the contrasts that make up Kentucky. We’re smack-dab in the middle of the Bible Belt, yet a huge percentage of people here (ourselves included) make their living on the vices of gambling (horse racing) and drinking (bourbon). Both the Union and the Confederate presidents, Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis, were born in Kentucky. And today we stood in the old square that in 1850 housed the largest slave trade of the antebellum South, literally just a few short blocks from the childhood home of Mary Todd Lincoln. One has to wonder if the bustling slavery business just steps outside her door influenced her husband, Abraham, a frequent guest in the home, in preparing the Emancipation Proclamation, one of the country’s best-known symbols of freedom.

But I digress. I love this city, founded in 1775, and all that it represents. Whether our travels eventually lead us back to Lexington permanently or to somewhere else, Lexington will always hold a very, very special place in my heart. Somehow in the Bluegrass, the grass is greener, the sky is bluer, and the world is happier. We came here 13 years ago and it hasn’t been enough.

This is Mecca to the horse racing world; it more than lives up to the billing of “Horse Capital of the World.” Lexington to Thoroughbred racing is what Paris is to fashion, what Hollywood is to movies, what Washington is to politics. It all happens right here. People think of racing as the Sport of Kings, but outsiders don’t know about the hundreds of thousands of regular people who work in the sport simply for the love of the horse. And that is the great equalizer: whether someone in this game is a billionaire or below the poverty level or somewhere in between, we’re all here because we love the horse. It’s as simple as that.

Yesterday I stole a few quiet moments and walked among the historic annals at the Keeneland Library, a cathedral to any student of pedigree. Seeing some of the horseshoes, the trophies, and the paintings of racing’s greats still gives me goosebumps after all this time. I’m not an overly emotional person, but reflecting on the heritage of the Thoroughbred right here in Lexington and what little bit Rob and I got to be a part of brought tears to my eyes. If you listen closely, the manicured rolling green hills surrounding Lexington still echo with the hoofbeats of historic champions the world over and the promise of more to come.

For all these reasons and more, I am head over heels in love with Lexington. But I also know there’s a whole world out there just waiting to be experienced. Life is short. We can always settle down again but we won’t always have such an amazing opportunity to travel.

But Lexington will ever be,
The Loveliest and the Best;
A Paradise thou’rt still to me,
Sweet Athens of the West.
--Pennsylvanian Josiah Espy, upon an 1806 visit to Lexington

Settling In

Jill's Journal: Happily, we are settling into the fifth wheel nicely. The girls are enjoying their new space and love their bunk beds. The place is sparkling clean thanks to an insane amount of bleach and elbow grease. Everything is unpacked and in its place. And life is good!

Of course, we haven’t moved an inch yet since we have several things to wrap up this week in Lexington. But, with two very smooth nights and days of “camping” under our belts, we’re feeling pretty good about the future. And I must confess: we’re not really camping. Sure, space inside is at a premium. But with 1 1/2 bathrooms, a separate master bedroom, a four-bunk bedroom for the girls on the complete other end of the trailer, a decent-sized kitchen, a living room bigger than a New York studio, and even a washer and dryer ready to be installed, we could definitely have it a lot worse. It really is a “house on wheels,” as the girls call it.

The 36 hours before we officially moved in were filled with drama. The closing date on our house got pushed back for the fourth (or was it fifth?) time. We underestimated how much we had yet to do to finish moving out (doesn’t that always happen?). And some improper wiring leading to the RV blew out everything that was plugged in: our new refrigerator, microwave/convection oven, entertainment system, etc. Even little things like an alarm clock and drill were completely decimated.

But that was then and this is now. The good news is that we really did close on our house on Friday morning and managed to finish our move-out with minutes to spare! It was bittersweet to hand those keys over. It’s the only home all three of our little girls have ever known. Victoria was even born there, literally, so it will always hold a special place in our hearts.

More good news: although we do have to replace all those expensive appliances without ever having gotten a chance to use them, at least they can be replaced. It’s just time and money (and a few gray hairs). And if that’s the biggest hiccup we have on our journey, we’re doing just fine.

And one more blessing I have to mention: good friends. One of the hardest decisions we had to make was what to do with our cat, who has been a part of our family for 15 years and has seen other pets come and go. But my dear friend Roberta ended up making it easy for us. She willingly opened up her home and welcomed our old gray kitty on Friday. Roberta’s home is an earthly version of cat heaven…once our cat acclimates, I have a feeling she’ll wonder what kind of purgatory she was in with us for the last 15 years!

Welcome!

Jill's Journal: If only I had a penny for each time someone asked if we had a blog! We finally decided it was time to go public. I’ve been keeping an occasional journal of our preparations to travel with the intention of sharing it with our girls someday. (Because surely someday they’ll wonder what possessed us to pack them into an RV and hit the road). Since my typing skills are stronger than my handwriting skills, it seemed a natural to make it a blog and that way my parents could track our travels as well. And now it’s morphed into something a little bigger…we’ve decided to also share it with our friends and family.

If you’re just joining us, the brief version is this: we’ve sold our house (closing in a matter of hours!), have bought a fifth wheel, and plan to travel North America for the next three years. We have a loose itinerary that includes 49 states and parts of Canada. Rob telecommutes already and can work from anywhere, so we realize this makes us incredibly blessed and very, very lucky. Our three girls are young with our oldest just finishing kindergarten tomorrow, so I’m going to try my hand at homeschooling for a few years. We can’t think of a better education for them (and for us!) than seeing the country firsthand.

As people have learned about the adventure that awaits us, we realized how many either long for this type of opportunity or think we’re completely off our rocker. Either way, it’s clear many people are very curious. We thought this blog would be a way we could take everyone along for the ride.

Both Rob and I will post. His entries (like the one immediately below) are labeled with an “R.” Mine will always begin with “Jill’s Journal.”

It will take another week or so for us to completely wrap up things here in Lexington, Kentucky, and then we’ll be on our way. So, stay turned and join us on our journey if you’d like. And welcome!

New Friends=Mixed Feelings

Jill's Journal: The last few months, we’ve been blessed by getting to know some wonderful families. All have kids around the same ages as ours and all the couples are in similar places in their lives that we are. We think the world of each of them, love spending time with them, and feel so blessed they came into our lives…but equally sad it’s happening just as we’re leaving town.

Today I enjoyed a lovely lunch with one of the fellow Moms along with her three youngest children and my two youngest. It wasn’t fancy and it wasn’t quiet (can anything be fancy or quiet with five kids ages four and under?), but it was special and it was fun. And I felt so melancholy as we drove away. I don’t know why this is the timing that worked out and it does make it harder to leave Lexington. But who knows what the future holds? Maybe we’ll return here when our travels are done. Maybe we’ll all meet again in another town. And maybe we’ll just have to be satisfied with long-distance communication. I do know one thing: I’m grateful to have such special people in our lives, no matter when or where.

RV FAQ

Jill's Journal: At this point, we’ve shared our RV plans with just a very few people. They all seem to have the same questions. So, without further ado, here is a list of common RV FAQ, complete with answers!

What about Rob’s job?

That one is easy – Rob already telecommutes, so as long as he has a computer and an internet connection, he can literally work from anywhere. We’re envisioning doing most of our driving on the weekends and setting up base camp for a week at a time, giving him an uninterrupted work week. I’ll spend lots of time exploring kid-friendly activities with the girls to give him plenty of peace and quiet for work.

What about school?

I’ll home school the girls. Erika will be in first grade, Madelyn will be in second-year preschool, and Victoria will still be too young for anything at all official. My girls love to learn and we already do little educational sessions here at home for fun. I don’t think this will be a difficult transition for them. We do worry a little bit about a lack of social interaction for them, but it’s only for a year. They have each other and we have lots of friends we plan to visit who have kids their ages. And surely we’ll find other kids to play with at campgrounds and various places. I also have no qualms about hunting down parks and all sorts of fun places in new cities where kids come in spades. In addition, we have many kid-friendly activities already on our developing itinerary (i.e. Crayola Factory, Sesame Place, etc.).

Are you crazy, doing this with little kids?

Maybe! It’s something we’ve always wanted to do and for a long time we entertained the notion of doing it sometime in the future. But when? The kids likely won’t enjoy it when they become teenagers and we don’t want to wait until they’re all out of the house because we’ll be too dang old! We’ve decided there’s no time like the present. They’re young, enjoy adventure and travel, and still like our company right now! What a wonderful life experience and incredible education for them. Plus, we want them to always follow their dreams. This is a pretty good example for them.

Do you realize how tiny an RV is? Especially for five people?

Oh yes, we know. But we’re already in a very small home and Rob also works from home, so we’re all used to spending lots of time together in a small space. Lots of larger families in history lived in a smaller space with a lot more people. It’s only a hardship if you believe it is.

Won’t you get sick of being on the road?

That’s always a possiblity. But we don’t think so. Rob and I have always loved road trips. Loved them with a passion. We really can’t think of any better way to travel right now than in an RV. To be able to move our home and necessary belongings pretty effortlessly, to see the country but still sleep in our own bed every night appeals to us tremendously.

When your trip is over, will you still live in Lexington?

Honestly, we don’t know, but that’s part of the reason for our trip. We had been planning on buying a new, bigger house in 2010 and really had no intention of living anywhere but Kentucky for the rest of our lives. However, lots of things have made us rethink that stance lately. We really do love it here, but since we got out of breeding Thoroughbreds (a whole ‘nother story but primarily because our focus is 100% on our children right now), it’s not as crucial that we live in Thoroughbred “Mecca.”

Moving is something we’ve been thinking about for a while – are we 100% certain we want our children to call this area of the country home forever? We’ve been here for 12 years and it’s a lovely place to raise a family, but is it a perfect fit for us? We’re open to other areas too.

This RV trip is partly to let us “live” temporarily in a few of the places on our list that we’ve been considering and let us “scratch the itch,” so to speak. We hope it will tell us if Kentucky is going to be our “forever home” or if that might be somewhere else. High on our list is the Central Coast of California, a place we fell in love with on a recent trip and, as an added bonus, a place where Kristi and Adam will be moving after school. The four of us have had many conversations about the “compound” we want to build together! Another place that really appeals to us is Montana. Or we may find somewhere else…or we may recommit entirely to Kentucky. We shall see, but we don’t see any point in buying a new house until we know exactly where we’re going to live for the rest of our lives. Enter the RV plan. Perfect timing.

Why?

Think of the adventure! This will be something to remember for a lifetime. We only live once and we’ve always believe in making the most of it.

We Have a Dream…

Jill's Journal: We share the same dream. We have lots of dreams together, but some – like Rob earning a berth at the final table in the World Series of Poker or us breeding a starter in the Kentucky Derby – are more clearly defined as his dream or my dream that the other is happy to support and embrace.

But this dream is something different. This is something we’re both equally passionate about. This is something that we’ve been talking about and fantasizing about for a few years. And suddenly, a few weeks ago, we arrived at the same spot simultaneously and separately and we knew: it was time.

And so, it is official. Lord willing and the creek don’t rise, in the summer of 2010, we’ll sell our modest home in Lexington, Ky., and move our three little girls, currently ages 4 1/2, 2 1/2, and 14 months, into an RV to embark on a year-long adventure.