Big anniversary today.
Nine years ago, Amanda and I celebrated our marriage with family and friends on The Farm (not an actual farm). Nine years is nice, but because most humans are born with ten fingers, it's not what we typically think of as a "big" anniversary.
Just the same, we are currently celebrating a big anniversary. Ten years ago today, we were in San Diego, about halfway through our epic, six-week road trip across the country and back. It was a crazy idea that we'd hatched in our last year at JMU, and was to be our first big adventure.
We'd also agreed beforehand that, if it didn't go well, it would be our last.
We were engaged, but we really intended to find out before we actually got married whether we were ultimately right for each other. What better way to find out than six weeks on the road in a 2003 Saturn Ion with a tent and a couple of sleeping bags?
Did I mention that I'd never been camping before?
The second night we camped was just outside Toronto, and I’m pretty sure the temperature dropped below 40ºF overnight. We were ill-prepared for that, but we survived and soldiered on.
Later, we would camp in the badlands, in Glacier National Park, under redwoods, on the California beach, and in the desert. I didn’t love every minute of it, especially the night we slept in the car during violent thunderstorms in New Mexico, but it was, overall, fantastic. It changed my life.
I’m not spoiling anything to say that it was not our last adventure. Since then, we’ve been to Europe, enjoyed (and failed to enjoy) cruises, and been eaten alive by mosquitos in the Everglades. We’ve been on multiple whale watches when no whales ever showed up. I would not recommend all of these adventures, but I’m glad we had every one of them.
Here’s to ten years of adventures, Amanda. Here’s to nine years of marriage. Here’s to many more years of both.
