It’s day one of mine and Noel’s 27th summer trip. Gulp. Man, time is flying faster than the Iowa wind howling by outside. Waterloo Iowa wind to be exact which is where I am penning this entry from. As curious folks asked where our trip this summer was taking us this year, my simple reply was, “Oh, out west”. If they asked me to expound I would add, “Day 1 is Waterloo, Iowa”. To this detail the conversation would halt as said questioner wondered why start in such a seemingly inconspicuous place.

Well see, I’d begin, we’ve been west via route 20 before-and route 20 takes you through Rockford, west to Waterloo Iowa and…..to which I would lose the listener’s interest. Which was fine by me.

Over the last 26 summer trips we’ve crossed old paths over and over again-mostly on account of Noel’s memory for a place. I’d say it is his special food memory for a place. So this year when planning Noel asked of Waterloo, “Do you remember the cool hotel we stayed?” My reply, “Um, maybe?” Noel recounted something about a repurposed factory. Then Noel asked “recall the brewery we ate at in town that was housed in a repurposed hostess bread factory, with the cool doors?” Me. Again. “Um maybe. Oh yea”. You may think I’m not too keen an observer. But I am. In my own way. The three of us carry our own memories of all our trips. Possibly if we could overlay them on top of each other a colorful, rich tapestry would emerge. That would be cool. Last night, over scotch on ice, we shared memories of past trips, funny stories, different perspectives to which a new memory would be added.

This trip, is our second summer trip sans Henna. Last year she was in St. Paul when we left. It was a weird trip last year without her, and we recounted memory upon memory of past trips together over the course of that trip, making her feel like she was in the back seat, as usual. All of our overlaying of routes held memories of being there with her. It was a heavy summer missing my girl.

This summer, Henna again will be up in St. Paul and then off on her own summer adventure, leaving us to travel without her. But she was home today to send us off. So alas we left her behind to visit friends before she heads back north. My sweet girl from the North Country. Driving away without her was so hard, and the sadness hit me all at once. Tears flowed similarly to when we dropped her off at college. This year as we travel, she will again be in every campsite we visit, each hike we take and each town we visit. We’ve done it all together before and I will revisit all those memories again this summer to keep her close to me. I know it’s her time now- creating her own story, and have her own adventures. She’s my amazing kid. We brought her up to love travel and the rush a new place can bring, even if it’s a place you’ve been to before.

So here’s to repurposing, as something new can spring from something old. And it can even be something better.

Corey~