Day 19 – We Made It!

[Took a couple days to post this. As you can imagine, we had to decompress.]

When we left Winnemucca to head to Zephyr Cove, the air was potent with anticipation. I sat forward in the passenger seat like a movie-goer watching in suspense.

On Interstate 80W, the wide median was sprinkled with rocks people had formed into shapes, letters and words. “Whisky”, “D+T” in a heart, and “Hi Phil”. As random as this was, I was more curious as to who on earth had the time to stop alongside a highway and leave these messages for us passerby’s.

We passed Reno. We passed Carson City. A flat metal statue of an eagle, and bronze-like artwork of mountains and cowboys, decorated overpasses and highway noise barriers.

Our ears popped as we gained elevation, driving up and down the windy mountain roads with Duane Bliss Peak and Genoa Peak to our left, the south.

And then it finally, FINALLY happened. The lake emerged seemingly out of nowhere into our line of sight as we descended down a gradual hill, filling our hearts with so many mixed emotions. Excitement. Wonder. Curiosity, Relief. Exhaustion. Maybe even a little bit of sadness, knowing that our journey was coming to an end.

I didn’t take any photos of that final half hour. It was one of those experiences for which you just have to be fully present.

We all yelled out a collective “WOO-HOO!” as we passed through a short tunnel, the lake disappearing and reappearing on our right. Honestly, most of the final stretch was a blur. I just wanted to get into the new house and be in my own bed.

The final uphill in our neighborhood felt somewhat familiar, since I had seem some videos from our landlord and Adam during his last couple visits. But…the house itself was more beautiful in person that the photos.

We parked, jumped out the RV, and stepped into our furnished home (our furniture from Maryland will be going into storage).

As relieved Maia & I felt to be home, I couldn’t fully feel the joy because Adam and I both knew what was coming tomorrow — I would be up early to clean the inside of the RV, and he had a whopping 8-hour drive down to Las Vegas to return the RV (closest Cruise America location). He would fly back to Reno next day. Part of me wanted to go with him; the other part of me wanted to get Maia to bed so I could pass out on my face.

Adam grabbed us some Mexican lunch from down the street and we refueled before taking turns to empty out the RV. When it was Adam’s turn, I took the opportunity to lay down with Maia for a brief, early evening nap. She was POOOOPED… barely had much sleep the night before because she was coming down with a minor cold.

Once the RV was completely empty, I gave Maia a bath, fell asleep with her for a bit, and came upstairs to an unconscious Adam. I didn’t blame him for being done by 9pm (midnight east coast time).

I laid in bed staring at the Tudor-style, sloped pine wooden ceiling following the roofline. I smiled as I drifted off to sweet, deep sleep. A new chapter has begun!

Eventually all the pieces fall into place. Until then, laugh at the confusion, live for the moment, and know that everything happens for a reason.

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Thank you to everyone who has followed along to our journey from Maryland to Nevada! I will be posting some highlights of the journey coming soon.

If you have read this far, I have a question for you:

Do you want me to continue blogging our experience in Nevada? As two lifelong east-coasters, I am sure there will be much to compare, contrast, and document as we go along. Comment below if interested — if there’s enough of you, I’ll keep it going 🙂