40/82
Too much to recap so I'll be quick. Or long and rambly because I'm tired. Traveling is tiring and fun and Dylan is a maniac and so many buttons get pushed each day, but it's all worth it. Towards the end of our time in California, so much of life had shrunken down that the idea of this trip would be too daunting, too overwhelming to plan, too much work with a toddler. Now that so much pressure has been lifted (thank you Oregon!), I'm grateful to be doing this cockamamie trip. Every date with an old friend, every shriek of delight when the kids connect with a grandparent, new friend (kid of our friends), or old friend, makes me almost forget how much I cannot tolerate desert conditions. Today, when Cody reunited with one of his besties after almost a year, nothing has changed. It was like watching two drunk girls in a filthy dive bar bathroom at 2 am. I forgot what its like to try to drive with a SHRIEKING toddler testing out my eardrum strength, or shoo her away from so many shiny, yet breakable objects, parent in general with an audience, and maintain some sort of routine with so many changing variables. That I am willing to push my comfort zone and stress myself out in the name of adventure, memories, family time, and maintaining friendships, is a really good thing. As much I need to sleep, I also need to pause and document (I am a lightning quick forgetter) that I am oh, so grateful for the chaos of this temporary nomadic life.