Our House Is Just Our Docking Station

What a CrAzY few weeks it has been, from flying across the country, to across the ocean (for my third time since moving here). I left Virginia bright & early on February 26th, & made myself comfortable in the sky for the next few hours before reaching Colorado, & then (the actual first destination of) California. The orange sunrise leaving VA was absolutely beautiful, almost made me want to miss the east coast for a hot minute. Almost. But then I remembered the sun still rises everywhere ;)

I have never seen Colorado's terrain before, & the snowcapped mountains were breathtaking. Ya'll have some dense cloud coverage, though. I couldn't see anything in existence from the airport windows.

I came to California to see two vastly differing environments: the desert & the city. First was the desert, where I (kinda) learned how to read an actual paper map. I say "kinda" because I still am unsure if I was that accurate, or if we just ended up on the right road by desert default.

We ended here (below), so regardless if my effective map skills reigned true, the view was nonetheless remarkable. Not a cloud in the sky; welcome to the wasteland. My girlfriend, Anika, has the (LOL) pleasure of living this wilderness life for her husband's Marine Corps station.

I spent days in the dry parts of Cali, followed by days in the hustle & bustle city of the ever so lengthy-stretching state. Los Angeles, specifically Hollywood, was shockingly underwhelming. Maybe because I am no avid "fan" of any celeb, maybe because the city life is not my cup of peppermint tea, or maybe because Hollywood's Walk of Fame breathing cloud of weed/cigarette scent isn't what my lungs vibe with. Life is meant to be one continuing experience, & ya don't know what you personally love about it until you've seen parts that you don't. Sorry, LA.

Ah, the coastal southern Cali. You are elegant. You are what my heart skips beats for. You were my first sushi-eating experience (technically fake sushi since I got the "California roll" which is cooked crab). SoCal, you will be on our list to live when we have to leave our current ocean-locked home.

I wanted to venture to California to 1) visit my previous stationed (Stafford, VA) Marine Corps girlfriends who now live in Cali, & 2) to add to my "went & did" recollections. I enjoy traveling (always more satisfying with the hubby, but 94% of the time that isn't conducive, so I just "go & do" on my own), as nothing seems to scare or phase me while being solo in unfamiliar places. Oh, & I have a laundry list full of more unacquainted territories to sightsee.

Speaking of home, although it was only two months away from it (for me), absolutely nothing felt longer. When I solo hiked to this view (below) for the first time again in 66 days, I literally gasped out loud to myself because my eyes forgot how blue the colors of blue are, & my heart had to remind me how much I genuinely love the freedom of seeking.

Clay & my literal homes are truly just our "docking stations." We naturally keep all our belongings here, but that is about the extend of our time spending inside of it, other than eating & sleeping, of course. We love the Bible verse, 1 Timothy 6:7-8, for we brought nothing into this world when we came, & know we can take nothing when we go. For us, experiences of "go & do" make the best reminiscences of "remember that home."

2019, you're comin' in hot; how it's already mid-March is flabbergasting. I said to my mom on the phone this week, "How am I already 24 years old, & Clay is almost 25?" She said while laughing, "do you think that you two are old??" ...

Even in those 52 days living in Virginia Beach where I didn't feel the sparks of life's thrills, where I didn't feel the "home is just our docking station" ringing true, because I had no other choice but to be inside the docking station for far too many hours of each & every day, & where I felt time actually stood still, I was still all the while getting older. I know I will look back on those days & merely say, "oh, remember when we were young?" So, yes mother, I am getting old. I mean, we all are, aren't we?

And, that is why I only have time to dock in our homes.