Make Up Your Minds

While in Bali, we couldn’t wait to get home. We idolized the idea of settling in at home for a while and really grinding it out with our jobs. Dusty was going to concentrate on his geekitude and I was going to do some home renovations and staging. Two months into it we decided to bail for sunny skies in Arizona. No surprise, I guess.

Although, some things I wonder are…

• Why did we even pretend that we wouldn’t want to travel again very soon?
• After two years of this type of travel, why do I continue to commit to location dependent gigs?
• Why are we pretending we can afford a posh downtown condo and travel at the same time?

We actually cleaned and set up our condo before we left on our road trip in case we decided to grow a wild hair and move on from it. During a long few hours of driving, and earlier on our trip than I expected, it clicked. I called up our property manager and asked him to take it on, again. We were having too much fun to let this mortgage get in our way.

Our condo in downtown Cincinnati is now for rent if anyone¹ is interested²!

Road Trip to Arizona

The first day of travel got us to Mississippi to hang with Dusty’s sister for an evening. She was kind enough to feed and accommodate us for one night. Thanks Brit and Ryan!. The next day, we headed toward a place I’ve been dreaming about for years, Murfreesboro, Arkansas. Um, what?!? Yes, Arkansas, because Arkansas has diamonds! It’s home to Crater of Diamonds State Park. Obviously, I was going to strike it rich by finding the biggest diamond you’ve ever seen.

Upon arrival, we set up our tent at the park for the night and headed out for dinner. There are about 5 restaurants in all of Murfreesboro, none of them serving frosty cold beers. For that, we had to head to a members only club. We strolled in as guests and saddled up to the bar. It didn’t take long for the locals to notice that we “weren’t from around here.” Was it that obvious? I’m not sure what stood out. Perhaps our lack of long beards, cowboy hats and country twang.

Not too long into our first drink, Dusty received a message that some server was down (or something equally geeky, but does it really matter?). He whipped out his laptop and huddled near an outlet to fix the problem. I stayed at the bar to watch a not so entertaining Razorbacks game on the tube. It didn’t take long for the locals to wander over to get our story.

Local: “Who’s that guy you’re with?”
Wendy: “My husband.”
L: “What’s he up to over there?”
W: “Working on something.”
L: “Working?!? In the bar?”
W: “Yes. He’s a computer geek. Something’s broken, he has to fix it.”
L: “Uh, okay. What are you doing here in Murfreesboro?”
W: “We’re going to find diamonds, of course!”
L: “Ha ha! Well, good luck with that!” [sarcasm noted]
W: “Have you ever found any?”
L: “Nah, I’ve never been. That’s for tourists!”
W: “Perfect! I’m a tourist!”

Later, in a conversation with a local pro bass fisherman, I revealed that I was from Cincinnati. I was then referred to as Bearcat for the remainder of the evening. Every few minutes from the other end of the bar I’d hear, “Bearcat! What’s the score?” and “Bearcat, wanna see my fishing boat?” It was an interesting night with Dusty geeking it up, at a members only club, in a dry county, in the middle of Arkansas.

Later that evening, after returning to the campsite, Dusty had to fix another problem. I caught him in action and am now adding to a photo gallery I call Billable Hours. If only I had started this two years ago!

¹ Interested in our loft in Downtown Cincinnati? Contact us for more info.

² Family and friends: this doesn’t mean we won’t ever come home. Obviously, we have no problem going through housing like Dusty goes through Kleenex.