Why did the chicken cross the road?
Because he lived in Key West...and someone paved his home making fields roads
The chickens that call Key West home routinely are found crossing the road...and everywhere else! I found myself distracted from life and Googling their history daily while sharing Key West with the noisy road-crossers!
A Picnic in Key West to Fuel Pondering
Whaaaat?? It's a salad!
One of the parts of visiting Key West that surprised me on this trip was the fact that the church that I had joined in the years since my first visit to the island had a Branch building there! It proved not only to be a place to take in services on Sunday, but an Eagle Scout who attended that are had taken the opportunity to build a picnic table behind the church and create a wonderful place for members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to take a break from the hustle and bustle and tourism of Key West for a simple picnic. I used the opportunity of a picnic table to make a salad for lunch.
Photographing a photographer capturing the sunrise
My friend Jacob Larsen joined me for the Sunrises
My dear friend, Jacob Larsen, joined me for the Florida part of the trip. I enjoyed photographing the photographer while he was intensely trying for that perfect photo. In my opinion, he was the photo.
Time to Head North
My life was beginning to feel as broken as the old bridge we were passing...
My time spent pondering my situation, while also interviewing the locals for a magazine article I was working on, left me with the impression that my time in the Keys was coming to an end, I needed to head north towards mainland Florida. As we traveled the seven-mile bridge, I could tell a storm was moving in.
A Visit to a Big Blue Hole Proved not All Monsters were in my Head
I wasn't getting too close...
Is it really a trip to Florida if you don't see a gator? We visited The Blue Hole in Big Pine Key afforded us the opportunity to check out some gators. Fortunately, they were happy where they were and so were we.
We Finally Found a Designated Dog Beach in Florida!
Walden Rocks Beach, one of very few designated beaches that allow dogs in Florida
Although we arrived before sunrise for most of our beach trips so that the dogs could run, as soon as anyone showed up to enjoy the beach, we were quick to hurry the dogs back into the car. Finally, after almost a month in Florida, we found a designated dog park beach at Walden Rocks Beach. The dogs were able to run and play with other dogs for the entire day. If you have dogs in Florida, don't miss Walden Rocks Beach.
Making the Call in Boca Raton
Shells and coral I gathered while talking to Arizona courts on the phone
I walked the beaches in Boca Raton picking up shells and coral and talking on the phone to the Clerk of the Court at Apache County District Court. I relayed what the judge had stated about the divorce not being final until we each recieved our copies of the decree and asked to what address mine had been sent. I was appalled when the Clerk stated it was mailed to my ex's address in Arizona. I asked if the divorce was officially final. She said yes.
I was officially divorced one day shy of my third anniversary. It was February 13, 2017.
An Inland Time-Out
After the divorce was final, it was time to take a time-out for a week in inland central Florida
With the knowledge that the divorce was finally finished, it was time to take a break from the world. Jacob had left for home by plane and it was just the dogs and me...so we got a spot at a campground and took a week off of traveling.
An Irresistible Water Hole for the Dogs
One of the dog parks we visited had a watering hole with a sprinkler in the middle, Athena wouldn't come out
In each area we visited, I mapped out the local dog parks and libraries. In Georgia, we found a dog park with a pond and a sprinkler. The architects of the park also chained a ball in the pond near the sprinkler. My oldest dog wouldn't come out; she was determined to get the ball... in spite of it being chained! We must have spent hours before finally being chased away by the gnats coming out in the spring evening.
Late-Night Genealogy and Early Morning Libraries
The Family History Center in Columbia, South Carolina at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints held some records of my family
I spent a lot of time in South Carolina hunting up a bit of genealogical history. During the middle of the night perusal of my family tree on FamilySearch.org, I discovered that one of my "brick walls" was born in South Carolina. Married in Rowan County, North Carolina, Rebecca Wassin reported that she had been born in South Carolina. I searched the history rooms at libraries, and I scoured microfiche in the state archives, but it was to no avail. I could not find any record of her family. What I did find was a personal awakening about our nation's history in the early 1800s before the Civil War.
Historical Records Show an Absence of Education
Solomon Richardson's mark when he took a marriage bond to marry my 4th great-grandmother in 1822
In North Carolina, I was met with the proof of the fact that I had no way of knowing when I began my journey towards graduating from Southern New Hampshire University. Having come from very intelligent parents and grandparents, yet knowing that none of them had attained what my daughter and I were obtained in our educations; I had never doubted that my family "had always" been literate. When I read the words, "his mark" surrounding the "x" that made Solomon Richardson's mark, I was taken aback with the proof in front of me that my fourth great-grandfather, born in North Carolina in 1800, had been unable to read and write: He was illiterate.
I know that our ancestors worked hard and traveled to distances trying to make a better life for their children. The pioneers of our families did all they could while imagining more significant opportunities for future generations. As I traveled across the country to receive the honor of my degree and watch my daughter receive hers, I realized that we are the product of those hopes and dreams.
Heading North
Winding back roads carried us north through the Carolinas into New England
Every mechanic that looked at the little Volvo which was my only return from my second marriage of three years deemed it impossible. Every time I prayed and every answer I received said it could be done. I persevered in the face of impending doom and followed every impression on the journey. Just days before Easter, I arrived in New Hampshire and toured the "brick and mortar" campus of SNHU: It was real. I made it.
Backstage at the SNHU Area for the first of two days of graduation
Standing backstage at graduation, I remembered how it all began: Although I had no practical way of living to most people, the lack of basics such as electricity, water or even a place to use the toilet did not deter me from what it seemed that God was calling me to do. Where there is a will, there is a way? Perhaps, but it seemed that God was guiding me to start school where many would only find impossibility. My first term back was highlighted by a blown head gasket in our truck which would strand me 5 miles away from a paved road with a partially collapsed lung. The installation of the satellite internet that student loans helped to pay for was delayed by the company so long that although I tried to complete my classes on the disposable phone from Walmart that my husband and I shared; I failed my first term back at school.
Now, less than two years later, I was graduating with a 3.67 GPA with my Bachelor of Arts with a focus in English Nonfiction Creative Writing. For the first time in my life, I was finishing something.
Mother's Day - A Second Graduate of the Weekend
Mother's Day weekend was fabulous. Dreams that I never thought I could dream have come true. By pursuing her education, my daughter, Siobhan, became the first in her father's and my family to achieve her Bachelor's degree after also being the first in both our families to earn her Associate's. She has made me so proud and she has now made education more possible and inviting for generations of our family yet to come.
Saying Goodbye to the Atlantic with a New England Sunrise
I got up early to enjoy one last sunrise in New England in Newburyport, MA
I couldn't leave the "Right Coast" without saying goodbye. The Atlantic Ocean holds an enchantment for me. I needed just one more sunrise to say goodbye.
A Rocky Mountain Escape on the way Home
The Rocky Mountains in Baily, Colorado
One of my dear friends was celebrating her birthday just as I was passing through Colorado. It gave me an opportunity to reflect on the trip and my celebration as well as the healing that had been done in the thousands of miles that were driven...on the way to graduation.
Back in Washington State in the shadow of the Olympic Mountains
Dosewallips River in Brinnon,Washington
Once we made it back to Washington State, we just had to take in one more camping trip to see the sights of our state before settling down. It was good to be home.
Amanda Brennan
Amanda Brennan
