This brings us to the end of our fifty-one days in Missoula. I gave away a box of snacks and coffee that wouldn’t fit in the car – and will somehow be surprised by how many little bags of these items I continue to find – as we did plan for twenty-mile days for five months, so this supply should now last twice as long. I return the bear cans in the mail, donate our hiking clothes that I hoped would survive the trail and put our sheets in the wash and said our goodbyes.

August isn’t over yet and there is more family to see on the way to our new home in Florida. We get to Terri’s, Caleb’s mom, in the afternoon and though we had thought about camping there, the guard midgets, Bean and Millie, were unhappy about us being there. The neighbor’s dog seemed pleased to join in the constant barking that would accompany our time moving boxes and taping them shut for their upcoming trip over a thousand miles east and thirty-one miles north.

After catching up with a childhood friend and the best man at Caleb’s brother Kris’s wedding, Caleb Voldberg, we met the family and then went to dinner at The Legion with him and his wife. We see him again, along with Kevin Edwards, another childhood friend at the gas station in the morning. Caleb has to drive to a town an hour away to pick up the U-haul, so we don’t have to wait for one to arrive, and Terri has a friend come out and help Caleb push her large wood-burning oven up the trailer ramp because her daughter-in-law just isn’t strong enough.

We stop in Glendive, MT before dark and take the wrong road leaving Fargo the next day which costs us half an hour. It’s a good thing they gave us five days. I ask Rob if he’s from FL University because I can see his laptop login from where I’m sitting in the hotel lobby and I notice that he has one of Caleb’s family names. He says he’s not and asks if I work there. Caleb and I will part ways — him to his brother’s house in Michigan and me to my aunt’s house in Wisconsin.

I get to Aunt Janet’s house and meet my cousin’s husband Josh, their three dogs, and Janet’s granddaughter Natalie. Christina brings us cold brew coffees after work. Josh takes the dogs home, a half hour drive, while the girls go out to dinner. I’ll stay at Christina’s and stay in her son Carter’s bed while he takes the couch for the night. I only see her other son Douglas in passing. Someone got into my leftovers so I leave them in the fridge. I’ll struggle with the detour around the downed bridge near Laona but lucky me that all roads don’t lead to gas stations and private gates.

We spend the week at Kris’s playing cards for hours, eating fresh-baked biscuits, ziplining over the river, finding frogs and snakes in the woods, grilling meats and veggies, getting the baby ducks water time, doing yardwork and rewarding ourselves with fresh-picked crab apples, and watching the boys collect worms for the chickens and pet turtle. We washed the car, walked the driveway, went out for Thai food, stayed in their travel trailer in the yard and Caleb and Kris spent half a day running errands. I’ll get half a donut for our last breakfast there as one of the dogs ate the other half when I was distracted.

We spend three days driving south stopping in Lafayette, IN (with a large cookie, dill pretzels, and cheese stick for dinner), Acworth, GA, and then enjoy a delicious dinner at Mellow Mushroom after dropping off the trailer. We spend the weekend in Ruskin with Terry and Karley — a day in the pool and a day to recover while sleeping on their boat (with a similar mattress situation as the Navy). We visit with Fallon and stop at the store for anti-itch cream (something I have not missed) to tackle the no-see-ums as they make you want to tear your skin off — mosquito bites just swell.

Finally move-in day is upon us. I will bring boxes upstairs (while waiting on a new fridge to arrive that doesn’t leak brown goo even though the water line was cut) while Caleb takes trips back and forth from our storage unit. The delivery guys take off the doors and Caleb takes off the hand railings and the fridge barely squeezes through. It’s a good thing these appliances have long shelf lives. I’ll take a break between deep cleaning (textured tile) and unpacking to let my heat rash cool. Caleb will fix the sink leaks that were supposedly already done, especially if you turn off the main water valve.

Our first visitor will be our friend Al, who hasn’t seen us since April, so feels the need to take us to dinner. Caleb builds us a couch and a new bed frame, Fallon loans us her tile cleaning machine, as does our new neighbor Sarah, and Karley brings her dog Macaroni with her to help us paint, so we take her out to dinner. It’s been awhile since we’ve been in a place with a touch of color and our art on the walls. It feels good to be moved in and know that we’ll be here for a few years. It will be our decision or unforseen circumstances that choose our next destination and when.

Our neighbors are friendly and I’m quickly invited to join the local book club. I don’t have time to read the September pick. Still, I already think the educational, historical, and empowering themes are an improvement on the murder manias that were chosen from the last group. We find a two-mile walking loop and will soon expand it to four. We make the guest bed and I remember that we got rid of the twin mattress when we got a queen for free, so the sheets I bought for it are useless.

They won’t be the only thing we’re donating, especially since I’ve been warned by my hoarder friend (didn’t realize there was a clinical scale) about amassing too many things. Moving every few years is convenient for clearing clutter, but moving every year keeps items hidden in boxes that you may no longer want or need, but don’t know you have. Our first house guest arrives with part of his family — the older two children stayed in San Diego in high school while the six and nine-year-old (who we’ve met before) came with their mom and new dog Shaggy. The name is fitting.

We hadn’t seen them in over three years so I appreciate McKay taking the detour down half of Florida to come visit us, even if for less than 24 hours. We enjoy the pool (and patiently wait for the hottub to be fixed and reapproved for use), Caleb bakes a variety of bread loaves (a spicy garlic and an herb), Sarah loans me some puzzles, and I hang the windchime I got from Rickee (a Montana family friend). We don’t have everything done (a keyboard stand or new writing desk, and with the way I keep to-do lists, we never will.

I forgot to mention that we have replaced our windshield three times this year. The first time due to a growing crack before we left in May (so that it would be ok and look new after being stored for months, which turned out to be way less). Anyway, we had to replace it again when we got to Washington for a stress fracture (not a road hazard so covered by the company’s replacement plan). Only months later are we met with the same instance — wake up to a crack over six inches long that has sprouted over night –and then driving over 1,500 miles.