It was a “bucket list” item that I thought I’d never get to experience.  Actually, in the back of my mind, I thought there was a better chance that most of my list would go un-accomplished.  I’m like that.  Plus, in the nearly 15 years that the hubby and I have been married, we haven’t traveled together to another state unless it bordered our home state.  We’re homebodies, so when I began broaching the subject that I really, really wanted to do this and that I was going to do it regardless, I think we were both surprised when he agreed to accompany me.

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I began planning for real in October.  I began making plans, scouring sites for hotel and airfare rates and making lists.  And keeping secrets.  Deep in my heart I believed that this trip would be derailed in an epic manner.  Our prepaid flight would be cancelled because of a snowstorm the likes of which no one had ever seen before.  Our volunteer slots would be filled and we wouldn’t be able to visit.  Something would happen here at home to prevent us from leaving.  You name the scary scenario and I lived it in the depths of my psyche.  I loaded the weather for every city we’d be visiting and checked the forecast every day.  Surprisingly, the night before our flight I slept like a rock.  No bad dreams chased me and I calmly boarded a plane that I knew wouldn’t fly.  Not until we landed did I begin to think this trip, #TheBigTrip, would happen.  The nerves really and truly didn’t dissipate until we arrived on morning two of the trip at my ultimate happy place destination.  The night before that was riddled with nightmares of too many adoptable animals and missing shifts, but the morning dawned bright with all the promise of the fulfillment of so many of my dreams and the chance to make an impact and to give back.

This trip was so packed with bucket list items, that the recap will take several days and I’ve decided to break it down into digestible chunks, so I hope you’ll check back for all of the adventures.