Well, it looks like I’m well overdue for an update! The last couple of months have seemed like an absolute blur! Things finally slowed down the last couple of days, leaving me time to actually sit down and write.
Our last few days in Oklahoma were crazy! I’m so sorry I wasn’t able to visit with those of you who wanted one last lunch together. I had also really hoped to make a trip to Missouri to see my high school friends and long-time mentors again before we left, but just ran out of time. Maybe on some return trip!
We headed out to Colorado with two purposes – one was to spend time with family members we might not see again for a long time, especially as a family. The other was to sort through our belongings, many of which were just thrown into boxes from previous trips to get them out of our Oklahoma house. We were working practically nonstop going through boxes to pick out items we needed to take, designate things for another garage sale, and consolidate what was going to stay in the basement of Dale’s parents’ house for our eventual return. It was exhausting!
On top of that, we were scrambling to finish preparations such as medical insurance overseas, banking transactions, and the huge pile of things that had to be updated before me left the USA permanently. It was a lot of work to move overseas with the military…this has been at least 3 times harder so far! We did thankfully fit in the trip I was looking forward to all year – a short two-night camping trip to the Rocky Mountain National Park.
Before we knew it, it was time to board a plane for Nevada. We needed to visit Dale’s grandmother in Boulder City who will soon be 90 years old…this may be the last time we see her. We had originally planned to fly out from Colorado, then back again to depart for Africa from Denver, but actually found incredible rates from Las Vegas to Frankfurt, so postponed the visit to our last leg in the USA.
We’ve still been busy with last-minute coordination, but for the first time in several months have been able to slow down and catch our breath. We hiked the Old Railroad trail overlooking Lake Mead, and also visited Hoover Dam just down the road. Grandma Troup was able to watch Riley for us one night, so Dale and I got a much-needed date night in Las Vegas. (Our 14th anniversary was on August 1st, but we didn’t get to celebrate, we were so deep in preparations to move.) It was a great time, but I still prefer the quiet small-town feel of Boulder City to the big city.
Yesterday we were busy trying to find some clothing items we desperately needed to replace before we left the USA, such as a 3-season raincoat, backpack, boots, and hats to hat to shield us from the high-altitude equator sun! The next couple of days will be busy repacking everything, making sure everything will be within weight and size requirements for this airline. And of course, we’ll be spending time with Grandma Troup.
That’s about it for now. We’ll be leaving for Frankfurt Monday, and will spend some time with our dear German friends in our old village. I’m glad Riley will finally be old enough to remember most of this trip – he was practically raised in Germany. We leave Frankfurt again on the 22nd, to arrive in Kenya very early on the 23rd. It’s going fast!
