After I hit “publish” on last year’s summary post, with COVID front and center, I had decided to look forward to year seven on the road with the hopefulness that things would improve. For a while, they did, until they didn’t. Delta hit. Thinking about this makes me so upset, it may not be the best day for me to write this post, but for now, I’ll keep typing and see where the keys lead me.

I began last year’s post by saying “To be honest, I’ve struggled with this post.” I could have used that exact wording this year. Don’t get me wrong, we had a difficult year our year 6 on the road (August 29, 2019 – August 29, 2020.) In most ways year 7 has been greatly improved – our second granddaughter was born in all her perfectness. She is currently 10 months old and we just love her! We were able to get to OBX in the fall of 2020 and again in the spring of 2021! Awesomeness! We purposely made (relatively) minor travel adjustments to see friends, which was appreciated by all. We’ve been here in PA, spending time with our daughter, Freya, and getting to know our Arwen – all great things. Our son, who wasn’t doing too well at the beginning of the year, is now doing better – more good news!

Why then am I still feeling blah? Sounds like maybe I’m depressed? I’ve considered it – maybe I am a little – I don’t know, but what I do know is that at least some of it is I’m once again (still) tired of having to always be hyper careful about being anywhere away from the safety of my home, wearing a mask all the time, having to consider the need for a booster vaccine. Maybe it’s just learning that a solar install friend was just admitted to the hospital with pneumonia and COVID. Maybe it was hearing of the death of a friend’s ex-husband (father of her 2 children) from COVID. His children couldn’t be with him in person so said their goodbyes over a zoom call. He was an anti-vaxxer and anti-mask wearer. I find myself wanting to say “well, he asked for it” but did he? Does anyone? Does that thinking/feeling help his children or my friend? Of course not. Could it have been prevented? Most likely. Does that make me angry? You betcha.

(Update on my friend in the hospital with COVID and pneumonia: he was vaccinated and thankfully only spent a few days in the hospital and is now home and recovered. Also noteworthy – his wife and family didn’t catch it as they were all also vaccinated). I don’t think it needs to be said, but I’ll say it anyway – the contrast of these two situations is playing out all over the world. Which side of it do you want to be on?)

What makes it even more difficult is people near and dear to me have decided not to get the vaccine. Not so far anyway. As of today, they are all fine. My friend’s ex was fine – until he wasn’t. It happened very quickly. It makes me angry, makes me sad, and biggest of all – it scares me – real bad. This virus is BAD. I’ve experienced a lot of death of loved ones in my life – several of them way too young; I guess anyone who reaches the age of 56 has to expect their share of loss. When an accident or illness happens to someone and they do all they can to save themselves, but lose the fight, at least they’ve tried. Now with the availability of the vaccine, something can be done ahead of time. Each of the people I’m referring to (and I’m not naming names on purpose) has their personal reasons for not getting it. I’ve talked to each at great length and ultimately I’ve decided to ask myself a wise question someone asked me years ago: Would you rather be right or have a relationship? I’ve chosen the relationship(s).

Ok – I’m done. I’ll get off the soapbox now. Let us find out if I can salvage this post.

Getting back to summarizing our year – in spite of the virus still swirling around us, and my drooping mood today, I can say we’ve had a pretty good year. We’ve welcomed our granddaughter Arwen. Visits with family. Solar installing has been as busy as we want it to be. Two separate stops in OBX. A couple of weeks down the Jersey shore, including a week with, our daughter and her family while there. Visits and extended stays with friends. All excellent reminders of why we live as we do. Would we do it all over again? (the most asked question we get) and the answer we reply over and over again – YES!

While it is difficult to say goodbye at each stop (especially those little girls!), we always focus on what’s before us – the next stop. The next stop brings its own specialness. While the last few years have become a bit “routine” in terms of the travel loop we’ve been doing, that’s ok. We try to keep it at least somewhat varied so there are new things to see and do.

One of the best parts of this year was bringing the girls down the shore with us. I don’t want to speak for my daughter or son-in-law, but Bill and I both enjoyed that time so much. What we’d love to happen is that when the girls get old enough, we can bring them with us on our adventures, showing them some of the more special places we’ve been – or maybe better yet – going to a totally new and exciting place for the first time for all of us. Either way, that is something we definitely want to do.

Speaking of the future, last year’s summary mentioned that we were thinking about what our exit strategy or next step plan B might look like. We’ve spent some time investigating a few possibilities, but no consensus yet. So, we keep looking, keep investigating. I’m sure if we continue to keep an open mind to possibilities, when the time is right we will know it.

More speaking about the future, next year we (hopefully) will be spicing it up with some different types of travel. A lot of it depends on the virus, but if all is good we will be doing a Caribbean cruise and a European trip. Stay tuned!

Without further ado – our fav pics from year 7

So, there you have it – year 7 of our full-time life! I love doing these posts because I love looking back on the pics and remembering all the wonderful things we did and the people we spent time with.

Previous Post: Summertime in Somerset – Part 1

Next Up: Summertime in Somerset – Part 2/Year 7 By the Books

How can I follow along?

If you haven’t already, I’d like to personally invite you to receive our newest blog posts in an email – can sign up by entering your email below where it says “Follow Blog Via E-Mail” on the sidebar or bottom of this post. Thanks in advance!

Supporting our blog:

We also would love to have you check out our list RV must-haves by clicking the “Stuff You Need” tab at the top. You can also just click the “SHOP HERE” link on the sidebar. Using the links to purchase from Amazon helps pay for this blog and we appreciate you using them to purchase one of our pre-chosen items or anything else you may need from Amazon. Please be aware you can still use our Amazon Prime!

Keeping In Touch

There are a few ways you can keep in touch and we’d love for you to reach out anytime! First, you can comment on any/all posts – we love to hear your thoughts on our posts! Second, you can follow us on Facebook or Instagram for the most up-to-date goings-on! Third, you can always reach out via email: bkamericanodyssey@gmail.com.

Thank you to all our readers! We appreciate you taking time out of your day to follow along with us! See you in the next post!