Departure from home, re-connections with loved ones, and bye for now to Jinx

(Written on August 3, 2021 by Yvette -- please forgive as we catch up since we've been ON THE MOVE)

 

 

Welcome to our blog for the Gerrans Family 2021-2022 Travel Adventure! We’re excited to share our travels with friends, family, and loved ones, even though we’ve been told blogs are yesteryear, ha! As we’ve said “bye for now” many of you have expressed interest in what we’re up to, so we’ve liberally added folks to this first introductory email. You can subscribe or not, we won’t be offended. When we post, I’ll put on my FaceBook, but generally won't send an email.

We celebrated Neil’s 50th birthday on July 13 by going to Korean food since we can’t yet be in Korea physically as we’d hoped. Since then we’ve been super busy finishing house projects, completing doctor’s appointments, renting our house,and packing up. Kamilla’s drawing summarized the lead up to our trip nicely: “clean, show off, pack, leave, drive, play.” To our neighbors and Beacon Hill friends – you’ve rocked it, big gratitude for wiping out cupboards, mopping the floor, storing select things in your basement, helping us move heavy pieces, sending us on our way with fruit, cookies and other gifts, etc. You know who you are, thank you! Our cat Jinx also adapted beautifully – as big furniture was moved into storage, she moved her napping place from couch, to chair, to ottoman, and finally to packing boxes. 

We left home by car Saturday morning, July 31, at 11:30am, for a 2-week “see friends and family in the US” portion before we head to Costa Rica on August 14 – key handed off, final spots in the house cleaned, final hugs and good-byes shared, last-minute favors asked of neighbors – and Jinx safely caught and very unwillingly placed in her cat carrier (thank goodness for the “scruffing” reflex). First stop Saturday was to see Kamilla’s bio mom, Mommy Jordan, in Portland. Seeing Kamilla jump for joy as she and Jordan spotted each other was a great moment for all of us. We had a very nice visit, and good playground park fun together.

We then headed to Susie (Yvette’s cousin) and James’ house, along with Jamie and Alyssa, where Spencer decided it was a good visit to conquer the zip line (which he’d last-minute-declined on our prior visit). Other highlights included gathering eggs from the chickens, cutting dahlias, picking/eating HUGE blackberries, playing with dogs Charley and Lillibet, and a blind taste-test for best choc chip cookies. Sunday as we headed South we had lunch with friend and international travel afficionado Carla, who filled our bellies, delighted us with her laugh, and gave us favorite countries and suitcase recommendations. 

Monday to Albany, CA, where Angela and family (Mabel, James) welcomed Jinx into her lovely new home. Jinx’s job this year is to be Angela’s cat, since cat-housemate Wally apparently only prefers James. Word is that Jinx has settled in beautifully so far, see her here looking rather relaxed.

Then on to Vacaville for dinner with Yvette’s high-school/college friend Cynthia, where we took over her pool and enjoyed a too-brief catch-up over Thai food. Tuesday morning we celebrated a birthday with good friend Dan, wife Christina – from grad school days in Pittsburgh – and their kids Nikki and Daniel, in Roseville, CA. So great to catch up with good friends with whom you can pick up right where you left off. Now on to Loma Linda / Southern California to connect with Yvette’s family. This first bit we’ve been “on the move” much more than we hope to be for most of the year. We’re reminded how good it is to reconnect with treasured friendships even from long ago, and that we’ve been lucky at many points of our life to connect deeply and joyously with kindred spirits. And, we like road-trips, it’s been fun to travel with the kiddos, to pull off to enjoy a star-filled night sky, a field of livestock, or a harvesting scene, or to eat snacks you’d otherwise not cherish (here Kamilla enjoys cheerios with honey drizzled on, which she’d bought from a fruit stand with her own money – hence all the tastier).