Let’s face it. 2020 has been HARD. So very hard. It’s no secret to anyone and we have also not been totally spared experiencing a couple of months of unemployment, myself being very sick for several weeks, and worst of all the loss of Aspen.
“Lean into curiosity” ~ Pena Choldren
In spite of it all, we consider ourselves beyond blessed in a year that has adversely affected so many people around the world.
I’ve written nothing since my tribute to our sweet girl and more stories will come of our final camping trip in Central Oregon, of new adventures on the Oregon Coast, and of plans for the future. My heart had been broken and the inspiration to put thoughts down non-existent.
And yet, new adventures have begun. While most of our friends & followers are aware of our new gig, our Next Big Adventure, landing in Lincoln City was surely not something planned! But then, very little of life as we know it has been according to a plan.
Although securely in place in Coos Bay, we had continued to search for something in closer proximity to Salem and Jim’s parents. We loved life on the beach, but our on-going goal to help Jim’s parents transition from their large multi-level home and into a house or condo in an assisted living community has been at the forefront of our minds for some time.
We also simply wanted to spend more time with friends and family and the 9-hour roundtrip drive from Coos Bay made our weekends more exhausting than exhilarating.
Enter a workamper ad for a Manager’s job at an unnamed 5* resort in Oregon. We were intrigued, to say the least.
We had our first interview on our 30th Anniversary from our trailer at Turtle Cove RV Park, the choice for our anniversary get-away after COVID canceled our planned 2-week road trip throughout the PNW. We ended the call feeling cautiously optimistic. Learning the Resort was in Salem was much closer than we’d imagined possible.
Our second interview was in-person in West Salem on a covert trip combined with a visit to see the parents. Our excitement increased.
We didn’t get the job.
Disappointed, we made our peace with the decision and focused on continuing our work on the Southern Adventure coast and focus on trip-planning for a winter break to Thailand with friends in lieu of our recent winters spend journeying to Baja.
And then it happened. We got an email from the CEO asking if we’d be interested in taking on the manager job at their resort in Lincoln City instead? Well hell yes we would!!
Imagine it now; our “plan” turned into something completely different, and yet so much better! At the end of the day, we are beyond thrilled to have landed in Lincoln City. The resort is beautiful, we’re still at the beach, and we’re less than two hours from friends and family. We continue to learn on this rambling journey and have come to appreciate that life plays out as it is meant to happen.
“Any arbitrary turning along the way and I would be elsewhere; I would be different.”
― Under the Tuscan Sun
Not that it’s been the easiest of transitions. In the two weeks after losing Aspen, I was spiraling from the massive emotional loss. And yet, I found myself bringing up dog rescue sites. As much as I felt the hole in my life, the idea of not having a fur baby in our lives simply wasn’t an option. In my grief, I saw a post on Facebook of a dog’s message to the owner he left behind that said “Do me a favor until we meet again. Find another fur baby and love them as much as you loved me.”
On the very day that we headed to Lincoln City to start the new job we first pointed north to Vancouver to adopt Ryder. Another time will bring more details on our sweet boy, but let’s just say that a new job, a new city, and a new pup in one day was a lot.
These past three months have been filled with a lot of emotion, a lot of learning, and a lot of laughter. As we settle into yet another new location we extraordinarily grateful.
“Travel isn’t always pretty. It isn’t always comfortable. Sometimes it hurts, it even breaks your heart. But that’s okay. The journey changes you; it should change you. It leaves marks on your memory, on your consciousness, on your heart, and on your body. You take something with you. Hopefully, you leave something good behind.” – Anthony Bourdain
Grateful for this crazy, chaotic life we lead. Grateful to be able to spend this next chapter closer to friends and families. Grateful to be working in an industry that is one of the few that is thriving during this year of pandemic. Grateful for our health. Grateful for the opportunity to spend Aspen’s last days and months 100% with her. And grateful that we have a new fur baby to love.
The first line of my birthday card from Jim read; I love the adventure of us. That pretty much says it all.
“We travel, some of us forever, to seek other places, other lives, other souls.” – Anais Nin
Happy Thanksgiving to our family and all of our friends all around the world. Our life is truly enriched, even from afar, by each and every one of you. Cheers until we meet again. And happy 7th birthday to Ryder, who’s enthusiasm for life gets us moving each day.