Ho Ho Ho

We've really got a jump on the holiday season this year! The house is lit up, the tree is trimmed, and Lisa's made great headway on the Gift List. I was a little down on Thursday as this is the first Thanksgiving in a long while that we didn't have guests. But it's been a great weekend. I'm getting in the mood and I'm looking forward to spreading goodwill and Christmas cheer all month long!

Bobby

Lisa and I went to see "Bobby" on Thursday. It is an incredible movie about the people at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles, June 5 1968. They are getting ready for RFK to come and deliver his acceptance speech after winning the California primary and the Democratic nomination for president. There are several overlapping story lines and an incredible cast of stars. The stories are compelling on their own, but the real star of the movie is the growing shadow of history, the tragedy that is coming, the person they are all waiting for and inspired by.

We were both moved to tears. I found myself thinking "Don't go in there!! Watch out!! We need you!!" when Bobby ended his speech and goes to meet some supporters in the kitchen.

Bobby Kennedy was an incredible force and would have dramatically changed the world for the better had he survived. His words were filled with hope, peace, compassion, kindness, strength, and inspiration. He was sincere, genuine, confident, and real. We are all, the whole world, worse off without him.

I think I need to go get a biography about this great American.

McAllistour - The next chapters

Just because the McAllistour began as a trip around the country, doesn't mean it has to end because we've landed back home. The McAllistour has grown and evolved from a trip of a lifetime to a trip of life time. We'll post here from time to time, talking about what we are doing, what we are thinking, what we are experiencing. Plus, we may even post a picture from time to time.

Stay tuned... and leave your own thoughts, comments, feelings, ideas, and editorial comments.

After the Tour

Hello faithful readers...

Just a brief update to let you know how we've been faring since the end of the McAllistour. We both returned to work rested, motivated and ready to get back into the swing of things. We had thought that "reentry" would be challenging--after living a life of flip-flops, intermittant showering, beef jerky, kayaking, hiking, and eating out for 3 months--but we adjusted more quickly than we expected. There's always something comforting about being back in your own house, even if you're away doing something fun.

Pepper has readjusted nicely--she didn't seem to be traumatized after a relaxing summer with Sharon in Boston. One of the benefits of having a brain the size of a marble is that she seemed to quickly forget our abondoning her and was able to resume her life of sitting on Tim's lap, meowing by the back door to go outside, eating her morning treat and sitting at her window seat basking in the sun.

The hardest aspect our return home was getting used to the absence of our friend Darlene. Darl had been staying with us on and off since February and house-sat for us over the summer. She has since found herself a new job and is living in Connecticut with her sister. Fortunately she only had to deal with a flooded basement once, during the huge storm that soaked the east coast and caused flooding all the way up to New England. The flooding inspired a classic Darlene line: "The shop-vac--I am supposed to use that squeegey part to push the water to the drain, or is it supposed to suck the water into the bucket?!?!" (Love you Darl!)

The fall has been fairly uneventful, but in a relaxing way. We've been able to have dinner with a bunch of friends we hadn't seen all summer; Tim is back to playing hockey and managing to get hit by pucks in the couple of spots that are not covered by padding; we're catching up on house projects that were put aside for the summer; and getting ready for the holidays.

So, what lessons were learned during the McAllistour...

1. Sometimes it's the journey not the destination that's important, but sometimes the destination is pretty cool too.

2. Left to our own devices, Tim and I were able to spend 11 uninterrupted weeks together and, with few exceptions (most involving me being hot, tired, or hungry) enjoyed every moment of our time together. It was an exceptional opportunity and we tried not to forget that (except in times of hotness, tiredness and hunger as mentioned above).

3. This is a big country, with unlimited fun, varying geography, unique people and opportunities. I feel like we just scratched the surface and can't wait until we're able to take another trip!!

Thanks for sharing our journey with us! We really enjoyed updating the blog and it gave us the motivation to write down our thoughts and experiences while they were happening and they were fresh in our minds. We'll meet you further on up the road...

Lisa and Tim