Homeward Bound...

Not quite two years ago (April 5, 2010) after I had been on this Journey for seven months, Craig Manson asked me “How long will you be traveling?” My response was “Till I’m done!” Well, folks, I'm done! And I'm tired...

I woke up last Saturday morning with the realization that I didn't want to go to California. I didn't want the hassle and stress of driving in the horrendous traffic. I just didn't want to deal with any of it. This may sound absurd, but anywhere I'd want to go in California, I've already been. Besides, I'm tired. Yes, there are a few people I'd like to have visited – cousins and friends – but, quite frankly, the traffic and dealing with the weather have taken it's toll. I'm done! And I'm tired...

So, I spent a few days in northwest Arizona mulling things over, trying to determine if this was just a little funk I was in. But it wasn't. I really don't want to go anywhere else either. It's too early to go north and the arid southwest seems, well, quite honestly, not all that appealing right now. Besides, I'm done! And I'm tired...

It has been a marvelous Journey. I can still feel the cold spray of water falling on my face at Niagara Falls and the brisk morning air of that first fall in Vermont. I can see the stillness of the ocean while kayaking in Belfast Harbor and smell the ocean air after a storm at Kennebunk Beach. I see the fog rising from the valleys of Shenandoah National Park, and the sunsets. Oh! The Glorious Sunsets!

I can smell the decaying leaves in the “rain forest” and feel the “sponginess” of the earth beneath my feet in Olympic National Park. I was awed by Mount Rainier and amazed at the deep blue color of Crater Lake. From east coast to west coast and so many places in between. The things I've seen. The things I've done. I went halfway down into the Grand Canyon – and made it back up to the Rim! I went up to the top of Angels Landing – and safely down again. And Alaska! I drove to Alaska! Can you believe it? So many thoughts are going through my mind, so many memories, so many wondrous sights. In one sense, yes, it is over. But in another sense, it will never be over...

But the fact is, it is done. It is time to go home. Back to Indiana. There is a part of me that is sad because it's over. But there is a bit of relief as well. It's time to move on to the next phase, whatever it might be.

But that doesn't mean my traveling days are forever over... I still have a research trip to take into Ohio, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and maybe New York. If not this summer, then next. Depending upon how long it takes me to sort through all of the documents I scanned at the Family History Library! And I'm trying to talk my cousin Babs into taking that “Joslin Heritage Tour” that had to be canceled. When that will happen depends upon her schedule.

In my post announcing this Journey on August 3, 2009 I wrote

“I believe in serendipity. Not just in family research, but in travel also. As one door closes, another opens… one phase ends, another begins. I'm a little nervous and a lot excited about the prospects of this journey but I feel it is the right thing for me to be doing at this particular time. The stars have aligned. It's time to go.”

Yes, I do believe. It is time to go. Home.

However, it's not quite over, yet. I've still got 1750 miles to go and I did make one last “touristy” stop yesterday...