Heartbreak hotel.....

“Sometimes the hardest things and the right things are the same….”

      

 We had a wonderful time in Missoula. My incredible friends had us over to their home and we had a great dinner, time to chat and I had a little too much fun and had to go home early! But we loved seeing them all and there were tons of kids, the boys had a fabulous time and kept asking to go back all weekend. I fully intended to have a bunch of the Missoula Crew over to the campsight for s’mores but as things sometimes do, life intervened.

     Since the start of planning for this trip we have fretted about the dogs. Molly and Shadow are incredibly well behaved but even at that they are big dogs. And they are family, we got Molly 9 years ago as a puppy and Shadow a year later. The moment I saw Molly at the rescue house I knew she was the one for me. She was the same red color as my childhood dog, Lewie. She was goofy and smooshy and all mine. I had waited three years for her and I loved her onsite. The rescue brought Shadow to our home a year later when we knew that we needed a friend for Molly as we were expecting Aiden. As soon as Shadow met Jacob, we knew it was meant to be. She wouldn’t go down the stairs with her big puppy feet for anyone but him. They have been inseparable ever since.

      We know that being a good pet owner means putting the needs of your pet first, and we can do that on the road for the most part. It’s do-able but it also means we give up a lot of what we wanted to do with the kids to meet the dog’s needs. And packing them into small spaces day after day was clearly wearing on them. So after a day on the lake, in which they splashed and swam and played until they dropped, we had the conversation, AGAIN. And this time the focus became the quality of life for a dog in Mt. My parents are part of a “retriever club” that in essence creates a little piece of heaven on earth for dogs like Molly and Shadow. As we pulled out of Missoula today, we left with heavy hearts, swollen eyes and two less dogs. Two members of the family that we love enough to do the right thing for. Trying to nurse my own broken heart and watching the kids grieve last night while clutching the dogs to their chests was torture. Watching Jacob cry himself to sleep with one arm around Shadow was one of the worst experiances of my parenting life. But he understands why.  Aiden, not so much. For now they are with my parents but there is a wonderful woman who just lost her own Molly that goes to the club each day. And there is a family who is looking for a hunting dog, ready to bring out Shadow’s inner hunter, and she would see my Dad each weekend they hunt. Splitting them up feels like a betrayal and gives me the most angst but I am trusting that things are working out the way they need to, and I’ll see them both at the Rainbow Bridge at the end and tell them how very grateful I am to them for their love and companionship. The boys are being given the impression that the dogs are going to stay with my parents and we will fill them in on the full story once they are placed in loving homes.
Today is not a happy day for the Traveling Hamilton’s. We are nursing our heartbreak but pushing forward in the knowledge we have done what is best for those we love.

I apologize for any errors in this, I can’t bring myself to re-read it for mistakes at this point. More, happier, news from the road soon!

L.

July 10-12

Umm, just so we're clear, I do NOT condone clicking on the overseas brides ads! The rest, knock yourself out!
Also,  it would REALLY help if you could send me an email so I can send you a link to the updates, rather than the subscribe button. That one will be deleted soon so that we can track traffic to the sight.
Send it to me at fulltimenomads@gmail.com.
Those that sent it, thanks! I'll be taking down the subscribe feed soon so you won't get doubled up on.

And in other news.....
July 10-12

We are stopped at a KOA in Dillon, MT. It’s one of our favorite places.  After Montana, spending money on KOA’s will be a luxury so we are loving every minute of this! Alan and I found ourselves high fiving over getting 9 cable channels! We love that the kids have access to a great pool and wonderful playground, they’ve already made two new friends.

     Alan’s inner social butterfly has emerged! Today he filled me in on seemingly the entire life story of the current KOA owner AND had a conversation with the family next to us. The latter conversation yielded the most AMAZING blueberry scones and cookies as they are here training to open their very own Great Harvest Bakery and restaurant! (Great Harvest started right here in Dillon, MT!) So each day they come home and dole out the goodies! Clearly a minor set-back in our attempt to limit gluten…. Very kind!

     We are getting into a nice rhythm. Alan and I get up first and make coffee, walk the dogs while the boys sleep in and that way we get a little alone time. We set up our plans for the day and revel in how amazingly blessed we are to share this life together. We do our day, usually some networking online, some writing on an in progress E-book  and looking for jobs here and there. Some research about what to teach or where to go next, then walk the dogs at lunch again, this time with the boys. Jacob and I lay down and read a bit and then nap, yep, it’s tough to be me! Then we have some time to fish, swim, hike or explore depending on the weather. Cleaning the camper never seems to end but we are learning where things go slowly but surely. Then dinner and then another walk with the dogs. Clearly, some of that will change when “school” starts in September but for now it’s so nice to slow down. Silly things like having time to sew a couple buttons on clothing and mend a seam, things I haven’t had time to do in years! I love having time to do whatever it is that we want to do, pool? Sure! Fishing? Sure! Reading? Sure! Love it!  It feels so freeing and like I finally have time to focus on the boys rather than trying to work around them.

Things are rolling right along!