The morning of our last day on the road was bitter sweet. We had explored so much together and managed to end this amazing journey loving each other and wanting to do more exploring like this in the near future. However, nothing can compare to coming home to a home.

Our 5 year old spend the morning reading to herself in her bed while our 3 year old tucked herself into Justin and my bed and was looking through a stack of books. I am so happy they love books! Books open so many creative doors and can give so much exciting new information.

Packing up was a messy job as it was not only soggy outside but it was also raining. We had seen so much rain and mud over the weeks prior we were ready for new scenery or at least a warm dry place to be while it rained outside. I guess I can’t speak for everyone but I knew the girls and I were craving some additional space to be in while the rain did it’s thing outside. Due to the rain on our way home it made us anticipate even more our return. Ironically, it wasn’t raining in Portland at the time but instead was sunny!

We had to travel from Florence OR up and over the Cougar Pass on Route 126 to then hop onto Interstate 5. We were concerned that it may be bad road conditions but we lucked out! Only a week earlier that route was shut down with snow and ice. It was certainly still very snowy but the roads were clear and the temperature stayed just above freezing so we luckily didn’t experience any ice either.

Before we knew it we were home! Our sweet neighbor spotted us pulling in and came to welcome us with a hug full of joy. So nice to be back with all our sweet neighbors. 🙂 We feel so lucky to have such a nice community! Upon entering our house we realized something…WE OWN A (1400 sq ft) MANSION!!!!!! We only needed to gain some perspective. There are a whole host of things I became acutely aware of and thankful for after arriving home. To list a handful:

  • Being able to walk by each other with extra room
  • Washing my hands in a decent enough stream of water to wash all my soap off
  • Taking a shower without shaving all my goosebumps off AND without 45 minutes of prep time (waiting for water heater to get hot, moving everything out of the shower plus drying everything and moving everything back after)
  • Having room for the kids to play in their own space
  • That the girls have access to craft supplies and can let their creative minds run wild
  • Being able to walk to the store
  • Being warm
  • Being able to do laundry whenever I need to
  • Baking and cooking more
  • Having friends nearby for the girls and for Justin and I

We were so lucky that the tenants that we had staying at our main house were so respectful of our space. They left our home immaculate! I am very much a detail oriented person so for me to say that means they left our place CLEAN! Thank goodness!! It was such an emotional journey to leave our beloved home in the hands of strangers but in the end, it turned out to be a good call to make.

The girls squealed with joy as they ran around the house looking at everything. Our oldest first ran straight to her room screaming, “My bed!! I love my bed!!” To our surprise our 3 year old had forgotten parts of our home. I guess 5 months in little kiddo eyes is a lot! As we arrived our little one needed to use the bathroom so we said, “Okay, go on in.” She asked, “where IS the bathroom?” Little sweetie forgot where the bathroom was! 🙁 She has been disoriented about a couple things but she certainly recalls most of the house.

All of us were glad to be home and looked forward to moving our belongings up from the basement to make it feel more like our house again.