traveling | 3,500 miles

I still have my other blog, abandoned though it may be.  However, seeing as I currently have no kitchen to cook in, no coupons to use, or tools with which to craft (save a crochet hook - you don't want to see what projects I've managed to butcher so far), instead I'll be writing here for a while.  I will probably pick back up with the other blog once we're arrived and settled in Germany, but until then you can find me here.

Isaac finished classes at the seminary this spring, and I worked on tying up loose ends with InfinityMOM so I could manage the business from the road while we travel.  Thanks to help from a few good friends and my parents, we packed all of our earthly possessions save what we need for the summer and Germany in to a storage unit.   On June 11th we packed up the car and left Fort Wayne.  Fort Wayne was our first real home as a married couple, it's where we brought our child home from the hospital, and where we made a number of very dear friends.  We likely won't return after Germany so saying goodbye was tough.  Actually, we don't know where we will be going after Germany.  The seminary will assign vicarage (internship) churches next April, and at that point we will find out where our home will be when we return from Germany at the end of July 2014.

Life has been busy since we left which has definitely made the transition easier.  Who knew living out of our car could be so fun?  From the day we left our home in Fort Wayne until we expect to be in our apartment in Germany we will have been homeless traveling (it sounds better, right?) for 110 days, give or take.

Our car/home for the summer.  My dad graciously handed down one of his Thule cargo boxes which we've been adorning with stickers from our travels.  Thanks to the cargo box, living out of our tiny 2-door car has been downright comfortable! 

Here's a map of where we've been so far.

We've been on the road for one month, and so far we've driven 3,500 miles in 8 states.  All in all we've spent approximately 56 hours on the road -- the grand majority at night.  We've become huge fans of overnight drives for trips longer than 6 or 7 hours because Elise will sleep pretty much the entire way which makes things easier all around.  Isaac and I take turns driving and sleeping, and we are working through our 6th audio book of the trip (Unbroken by Laura Hildebrand - FANTASTIC!).  It's amazing how well a good book will keep you awake at 4am!

Amazon

We have a few more days in Pentwater before we take off for some more traveling.  I plan to post more travel updates along the way along with posts about packing and preparing for Germany.

Speaking of Germany, Isaac flies out on August 26th!  Originally we were all going to fly together, but Isaac will be attending the Goethe Institute 4 week super-intensive for German language study before he starts classes at Lutherische Theologische Hochschule. The language intensive is full immersion - no speaking, writing, or reading English during the program.  It would be incredibly difficult for Isaac to be truly immersed with all three of us there together in our apartment for the duration of the language intensive so Elise and I will follow when the intensive is done.  Additionally, it is saving us several hundred dollars to have Elise and me fly a few weeks later because we will be flying during the tourist low season.  It will be difficult to be separated for so long, but Elise and I will be visiting family and saying final goodbyes before we're gone for a year which will be good.  That also means I will be doing the 12+ hour overseas flight by myself with a baby.  I'll let you know how it goes....

Enjoying the ferry ride from Manitowoc, WI to Ludington, MI.