A beginning and an end...

This is it. The end of the blog. The end of the road trip!

We hope you enjoyed reading about our journey -- we enjoyed almost every minute of it! It's one more road trip to add to our growing list of life-long stories about being on the road. (We thought of two more road trips we've taken. One involved Liz traveling to Philadelphia while I was there with a March of Dimes conference and she brought along fabulous cannolis from Vaccaro's Italian Bakery back in 2000. In 2003 or so, Liz and I went with our dear friend Jen and her then infant son Diachi to Monticello. It was a blast and we spent most of our time fighting over who got to hold Diachi!)

So while this is an end -- it's also an exciting beginning as well. Liz is ready to start her new job in DC and Andy will be joining her in September. Lots of changes between now and then, but it's all starting to shape up. The SUNY office space is wonderful and in the same building she used to work in when she was with Cornell. She is staying with good friends in Maryland who have two adorable children and a beautiful home. And she will be working for both of her alma maters - SUNY Binghamton and Cornell.

In multiple conversations across the 6 days on the road we both agreed that it sure feels good to be back in DC and on the East Coast as well. There's just a feeling about being back in the Nation's Capitol. It's certainly different than anywhere else in our Country - it's amazing and wonderful in it's very own way. As we moved across the country we were also reminded that every single pocket of our country has something fabulous to offer. It's ALL good! While Liz loves Oregon and is glad to be moving back to DC, I am so happy to have visited DC once again and yet be headed home to Oregon.

I would be kidding everyone if I didn't admit to being a bit sad... It's been a once-in-a-liftime road trip with one of my best friends!!! But I am also sad to have Liz moving away from Oregon. I have loved being able to work at OSU with Liz. It's a privilege and opportunity neither of us ever expected to have. We had been friends for over 10 years before we ever wound up working on the same coast. Our friendship started in DC with both of us showing up at the National 4-H Council to be interns (Which turned out to be glorified tour guides -- by the way!) and so it's only fitting that this is where the road trip ends.

So I'm a bit sad to have this road trip come to an end. But I also know that we now have yet one more great story we can tell in the years ahead...

"Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all." -- Helen Keller