#Write31Days – Oct 23 – The Road

Two years ago at this time I was in Ohio, freezing, working in the Annex building of the Quarter Horse Congress, going into the final weekend of the show and getting ready to head on another road trip to Oklahoma City for Quarter Horse World Show.  It had only been a couple of months since I started life on the road, after losing my job, packing up my apartment, completing Alternative Certification courses for teaching and deciding instead to work for a friend and travel full time. 

The season started working one of my favorite events, Texas Antiques Week, then I made a trip across the country by myself (well, with my dog) from Texas to Ohio pulling a trailer, navigating interstates, gas stations and hotel parking lots that sometimes got tricky.  I didn’t really know what to expect in Ohio, we were super busy most days, I made lifetime friends in that month of working together, and had only one really bad day – food poisoning from bad sweet tea. 

Barney’s trip looked a lot like this…

And, I wasn’t getting away from any hotel room without him…

I did miss home and my friends.  My life had been completely uprooted 5 months prior and I was just trying to go forward one day at a time.  After 15 years in the City, corporate America kicking me in the shins twice, and an unsettled spirit within me, the time on the road – living and working – turned out to be such a great season for me.  I knew I wouldn’t do it forever, but I really began to embrace the traveling gypsy life for the season I was in. 

It was always interesting to me the people who “were keeping up with me” while I was on the road via my Facebook.  It was an adventure indeed, and I was always amazed at how many people “wished they could take off and do something like that”.  Sometimes I wanted to respond back with the reality, but I usually just smiled, took it in stride and remembered there’s been times I wished I wasn’t doing what I was or something else “looked” more appealing. 

Don’t be fooled, the road can be a lonely place.  Living far away from family and friends and everything familiar.  Though it does offer a bit of an escape, eventually reality sets in.  I knew this season wouldn’t last forever, but while it did I would embrace it! Here’s where all we set up….