Sunday, January 3, 2021

My New Years letter

Hi Friends,


Like many people I didn't send cards this year but still wanted to touch base. This year would have been extremely dramatic for us even if there hadn't been a pandemic. Indulge me while I recap.

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In February Dennis and I flew to St. Louis and bought a 2004 Silverado 250 truck. Then drove to Florida to buy a 2001 31' Airstream Excella.  We pulled the camper home and dropped it off at the Airstream dealer in Grand Rapids for major updates. 

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The shut down in March hit Liam hard.  He had had his best swim season and was poised to break a school record in the 200 Free at the State meet on March 13th. The meet was canceled on the 13th.  To come so close and miss it was tough, but he never complained or got upset.  He just went on with his dreams of writing music and was accepted to the University of Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music (CCM) to study Music Composition.

 

Like everyone else, we stayed home for the next couple months.  Dennis had been working at a bike shop for a while and my online training went crazy, I usually had a couple classes a month, but my schedule filled up every week, thankfully.

 

Liam graduated with little pomp or celebrating.  He didn't seem to mind missing prom, graduation or all the awards ceremonies.  He went to a few graduation parties and we had one for him.

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In July we put our house up for sale and it sold in 3 days for more than we were asking! Two weeks later we closed!  Luckily, we had till the end of August to move.  The rest of July and August was spent getting the Airstream completely ready and selling/donating everything we owned.  That is a huge chore!


We dropped Liam off at UC mid-August and he has been LOVING school.  His classes have been mostly online, but he loves being in the dorms around "his people''. He lives in a dorm with a couple floors completely dedicated to CCM students. The jam sessions, the creativity, the fact that other kids get his jokes has been a gift.

 

August 30, we left our house for the last time.  Our old boy Gus had passed earlier in the month, but we still have Jazzy, our cat. So, the 3 of us set out.  She has taken to Airstream living well but the travel days are still filled with hours of her singing the song of her people.  We must get that figured out!

Labor Day weekend we had a tire on the trailer blow on the highway and it caused a lot of damage to the septic system (tore the valves right off).  We could live in it but couldn't camp in a campground because, well, we leak!  We camped by mom's house in Harrison for most of October and helped sell everything in her house, getting it ready to sell. In November we went to Tennessee to stay at Rich and Sharon's country house. It's a peaceful, beautiful place and we loved being there.  Except for getting Covid.  We both had a mild case and thankfully after a couple months are pretty much back to normal.

Thanksgiving week we dropped off the Airstream at the dealership in Grand Rapids to finally get the repairs it needed.  We spent 10 days in Cincinnati at a lovely Airbnb.  Thanksgiving with Liam was wonderful.  We miss him so much and it was great to laze around and visit.

 

December finally got us to be truly full time RV'ers.  We went to Florida and got our new license plates and driver's licenses updated. Liam chose to stay at the dorms over the holidays and work.  He is a lifeguard at the UC pool and says he's glad he didn't make the team.  Their warmups are tougher than his hardest practices were in high school!

 

We are looking forward to traveling around the country.  I'm still training a couple weeks a month from the camper and Dennis is starting a bike repair business.  My goal is to visit as many of my friends and family as I can.  Hopefully, moochdocking with them occasionally. I would love to get invites to visit!  (hint, hint)

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We miss our friends, and I am so thankful for technology that lets me stay in touch. We are blessed beyond words to have been able to do what we love and live life simply.

 

Hope to see you on our adventures.

 

Love,

Cate and Dennis



 

Here are the links to Liam’s music:

https://soundcloud.com/liam-khaye-269745324  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHV3gB61lUUT_nwj4RHpJgw/videos

 

Follow us on Instagram to see photos of our adventures:

https://www.instagram.com/catesword/

https://www.instagram.com/khayedennis/

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