Happy Birthday to Me!

A little late, but Friday was my birthday. Jim and I took our van out on its first trip, about 200 miles up to Windsor, Ontario to see my mom and sister. We stayed for two nights, sleeping in the van of course, and had a nice birthday dinner and some awesome presents.


As you can see, I got a 5 string banjo. I've been asking for one since before Christmas, so I was pleased to say the least. Now all I have to do is actually play it, unlike all of my other previous instrument attempts. Violin, Guitar, Drums...Although I often yearn to play all three, I can't seem to get the motivation to learn them. I think I have the motivation now, and I'll have lots of free time while on the road!) Now all I need is some overalls and a piece of straw. My mom also gave us a djembe, which has a rip in the head but still has a great sound, and it can double as a table since we don't have to worry about ruining it. Jim also has a Harmonica. Now we can be troubadours!

I also got some hand-knit warm socks for those chilly nights, some earrings my aunt made, a really sweet picture album chronicling my life with nice notes from my family and Jim, and some various odds and ends. And bubbles. Of course we got the van less than a week before my birthday so that counts too! All in all, one of the best birthdays yet.

Now we are back in Ohio, running errands to get the van up to (our inflated idea of) snuff before we hit the road, hopefully by the end of July! I can't believe it's June 22nd already. Things are going great. It's comfortable here but I can't wait to get on the road. Even if our summer travels are shorter than we thought they would be, I'm satisfied with how things are going. Ohio is a lot different from New York, and it is nice having a change of pace and a new place to rest for a while.

Also, I'd like to put up some pictures from the day we left New York for future comparison: