Asheville to Ohio

Yesterday morning I said goodbye to my Asheville family and friends. It was good to hug them all before I took off. Grace & Zoe said goodbye from their breakfast chairs along with Marc & Jess. McClain & Kristina gave me a proper Ohio-wave goodbye. Betsy (not of LYLAS) and I met for coffee and Ben (her son, not her husband) and I discussed my trip to see the horses.

The trip went quickly to Ohio. Thanks in part to two cowboy mixxs of music-thank you Scott & Tom. I have almost all the lyrics to Rawhide memorized now.

Welcome to Ohio!

God's rivers, God's land & God's Kmart!

Leslie & Associates

Yesterday was my last day at Leslie & Associates (for now).

I work with a great group of people who are all very hard workers yet also have great senses of humor. Both of which are very important in the property management world.

My employers, Tom & Lyn Leslie, have been very generous in attempting to understand why it is that I'm going on this adventure and have amazingly offered to look at this time away as a leave of absence. Since this means I have a job when I come back in October, I have begun to believe that this trip of mine is "meant to be".

Thank you to Tom, Lyn, Jennifer, David, Lindsey, Alison, Clare and Billy for a great time over the last five and a half years. (And to Rodgey, Jim, Dave, Paul, Kevin, Tony and ME as well). Here's to continued success with Me'Chelle this summer and even more good times in October.

(I'm sure another piece of cake will soothe any small amount of bitterness that might remain).

Packing

The joy of packing is getting rid of stuff. The un-joy is figuring out what to get rid of, what to take and what to pack away for later. Will you ever reach later and really want that stuff?

I think that I need to pretend that I'm moving at least once a year so that things like a play gun that I used once in an acting scene don't take up my closet or mind space.

So I've got the pants and shoes that I think will be appropriate for work. I've got things to sleep in. Things to hike in.

But what if I go to Sun Valley and end up at a party with Hollywood stars? I'll need my little black dress. What if I have a date with a cowboy and need to look casually hot? A sundress with my cowboy boots should work.
Yes, but perhaps taking all the dresses is a bit too much.
I understand that in Idaho it will be hot during the day and cold at night.
Well, not cold like, being trapped in one of those large restuarant freezers, cold, put the snowsuit back.
But what if I end up camping and I get cold?

That's what the cowboy is for.

Decision making has never been my forte. But this is pretty fun decision making!

9 days till departure

The starting point: in 9 days I leave my home and friends in Asheville, stop by my parents' place in Ohio and head west for a 4 month stint in guest services on a resort ranch in Idaho.

http://www.idahorocky.com/

I call it a "resort ranch" because there isn't any wrangling of cows involved, it's purely a beautiful vacation spot where guests stay in cabins, ride horses on trails, learn to fly fish, mountain bike, sit in hot springs, etc.

Why, you ask, am I doing this? Well, even though I evict people from their homes when they don't pay their rent, I mostly enjoy my job. I'm a part of a great sketch comedy group (http://www.lylas.org/). I own a beautiful home that I've been redoing for the past four years (and will probably continue to keep working of for the next twenty years). I have a great group of friends. I have an amazing family that really seems to love me for who I am (most of the time). But for awhile now, I have been feeling a bit stuck. So rather than continuuing to do the same thing over and over and expecting new results (isn't that one definition of crazy?) I'm trying something new.

Yes, it is true, I found my job on: http://www.duderanchjobs.com/

I'm very excited about my adventure and I have no idea what to expect. (Thank goodness I don't have ANY control issues!)

I also have no idea if this blog of my travels....geographically and otherwise ...will be of any interest to anyone besides the 80-year old me who will need a distraction from the graham cracker crumbs that will be in my bed, but here goes.