Four Seasons: A Year Off and On the Road

Winter
The new year began with a wintry drive to Elkhart, Indiana to drop off “Harvey RV” for an extreme makeover at the factory. After a visit with family in Illinois, we continued south and spent winter at our cabin in southwestern Missouri. The sudden death of brother-in-law, Ed, in early March was a shock to the entire family. With Annette’s many work trips, a flight to Tucson to be with Allison for the funeral, and a trip to Dallas to help Arrion recuperate from a badly sprained ankle and join in nephew Alex’s early first birthday celebration, the winter went quickly.

Spring
The mild winter led to a beautiful spring. After three months cabin-bound, we were ready to pick up our sparkling, renovated motorhome and get back on the road! We began with a drive through northwestern Arkansas and across Oklahoma. We journeyed to one of our favorite “homes on the road”… Estes Park, Colorado. Speaking and consulting trips, teaching summer classes, and welcomed visits from Annette’s parents and son Benjamin (senior at Illinois State), kept us busy through June.

Summer
We spent the summer on a loop drive through Wyoming. Activities included climbing Independence Rock, tent camping at over 10,000 feet, visiting the Medicine Wheel, viewing moose and mountain goat, photographing rock art, and enjoying many scenic drives and hikes. Combining work with play, we flew to Chicago to visit family including Brooke, Blake (visiting from his home in Barcelona, Spain), and Ben. In late summer, we returned to Estes Park where Annette endured some dental work. We took time to marvel at the elk rut in Rocky Mountain National Park.

Fall
After a hectic summer, we spent a couple weeks leisurely driving from Colorado to the southwestern corner of Utah. Along the way, we made stops at Capitol Reef and Escalante/Grand Staircase National Parks spending several days exploring each area and enjoying the changing colors, particularly the bright yellow aspens of Boulder Mountain. In early October, we arrived in our favorite wintering location at Zion River Resort in Virgin, Utah. Busy October and November schedules and an extensive revision of our most popular textbook kept us working online rather than playing outside. In November, we again combined work and family with our trip to Illinois for Thanksgiving. We managed to see Brooke and Ben a number of times. Brooke was prepping for her Master’s paper defense at Southern Illinois University.

We look forward to having more time to play in the future, but it already looks like 2006 is going to be another busy year. With each season, our lives seem to move more quickly.

Annette & Larry, December 2005, http://eduscapes.com/lamb