Brunswick, Elizabethtown, Ithaca and Oneida.

Good Friday to you all!

We headed from Midland to Austin a few days ago and stayed almost a week.  Austin was such a sweet city!  Both Laura and I were so impressed by the community feel, the layout of the city and all the greenbelts and parks, that we began looking at Zillow to see what the costs would be to buy a house.  It's definitely a town I would be very happy living in for part of the year.  

We spent our time exploring the city and the outskirt areas of the city.  It reminded me of Boise quite a bit but at a way larger scale.  The population in Austin is almost 1 million compared to Boise.  The buildings are way taller and there are little places with ample outdoor seating all over the city, similar to Portland.  It has lots of neighborhoods that remind me of the North End of Boise which had houses converted into little restaurants and pub houses.  There is no shortage of entertainment in Austin.  The city still stays consistent with the mask order by the mayor, so that was nice to feel safe going out.  Midland, however, nobody was wearing masks and definitely not social distancing at all.  I think it is a difference in politics similar to the outskirts of Boise versus the city itself.  

Laura and I love watching live music and we got the first dose of all that in a little over a year, at a local cider place a block from our RV camp.  They played some Dead and Neil Young.  It was a great feeling to have that back for our last night in Austin.

We left on Wednesday last week but considered staying until this Sunday because there is a large storm cell in the  southeastern part of Texas and west Louisiana.  This storm is pretty big and from what I read, there was risk of tornadoes and large hail.  We decided to leave for Galveston Texas based on the weather reports calling for 30-40% rain.  On the way, we hit some hard rains for a couple sections west of Houston but once we arrived in the Gulf of Mexico, the clouds somewhat cleared up!  

The last couple of days it has been gloomy, windy and threatening rain.  It hasn't rained much, more of a mist in the air and high humidity.  The ocean is about a football field away from our KOA and we can hear the waves crashing all day long.  It's so relaxing here and the town of Galveston is a delight!  

Yesterday, we drove into Galveston to see the sites and snag lunch.  The town has history of the Marti Gras celebration and old remnants of stages built in the 1800's.  It is the home of the nations most deadly hurricane of 1900.  Supposedly, no warnings were given and the city was hit with massive winds and rain, ending with 8-12,000 fatalities.  Looking around, I could see why the buildings were all brick and concrete, to withstand the annual damage of the hurricane season.  Fortunately, we are not in hurricane season, so I feel safe.  When you're at sea level, I also worry about tsunamis.  From what I've read, tsunamis are quite rare in the Gulf of Mexico, so I feel we are safe from that.  Today, we are going to venture back to Galveston (20 mile trip east from our KOA) to check out a few buildings and attractions.  The place feels like an amusement park with rich history of early settlement.  

The driving portion continues to be the hardest part of the adventure up to this point.  Rough roads, winds, rain and traffic makes it a little stressful pulling the trailer.  I am getting more used to driving with an extra 22 feet of length on the truck but deep down, I still clench a little.  

We are all doing well and continue to follow our routine living in the travel trailer.  Our routine is largely dictated by Henry.  He turned 5 months old yesterday and he is a milk monster!  I am enjoying watching him grow and change.  His personality is coming along really well with funny laughs and lots of smiles.  We are working with him to do tummy time and helping him weight bear on those chunky legs of his.  It's so very cool to be this close and have the time to spend with him as he becomes a person.  I feel very fortunate to have this time with Laura and baby Henry.

On the work side of things, I am devoting time daily to help our staff at Trailhead with chart reviews, billing and planning.  The staff at Trailhead is the best I've ever worked with in a decade.  They are so very skilled and professional.  I am happy to help them with anything they need and we have an open dialogue via texting and weekly check-ins to discuss all things.  Dr. Thornburg has continued to provide excellent care and has been a real joy to work with.  We have a great partnership going that feels symbiotic and all about trust.  He's open with me about everything and that helps me with being so far away from the clinic. I've had several experiences the past 6-8 months that made me feel as if I've already experienced this part of my life before.  It is hard to describe but as I was working on setting up our life and the businesses for our sabbatical, all things felt right for once.  As I ventured down the path, I have had many moments of Déjà vu.  I think that just means that the path is correct and perhaps committing to the path leads to the overwhelming emotion of thinking I've done this before.  

We are a couple weeks away from hiring a new Doctor of Chiropractic, Dr. Seph Azevedo.  Dr. Seph was another experience I had that felt like I'd met him before and had prior experiences with in business.  He is a solid new doctor that went to Jim and I's school in Portland.  He is finishing specializing in sports medicine with a 3rd degree, a Masters of Exercise and Sports Science with an emphasis in Sports Medicine, the same degree line up as Dr. Jim and I. The similarities are crazy between Jim, Seph and I, as well as, Dr. Tweedt.  I am, as I've said in previous posts, so happy to have expanded and found such talented physicians and a solid massage therapy team!

The massage therapists are the best in town and they are the most trustworthy LMT's I've ever worked with.  They are the highest paid LMT's in town and they have the most flexible schedules.  I have always felt that as a person who enjoys their time off and freedom, all others should have that as well to achieve true happiness.  Our business model is exactly that and has been since I created it many moons ago.  If you need any bodywork, go see them!  If you look at our website, Myofly alone has nearly 1,000 5 star reviews from verified customers.  That alone says a lot about their high quality care.  If they are happy, the clients and patients are happy.  Symbiosis at its highest level.

The further we travel, the more I miss Boise and all the people I used to work with and our friends and family. I think that is normal when you leave a special place that you were happy in.  The motivator is Henry for Laura and I and for me personally, my late father.  We both want Henry to spend quality time with Laura's family in Upstate New York.  Traveling there is a little challenging for us and for her folks if they come to Boise.  Our goal is to find a piece of land in the upstate farmlands outside of Syracuse to create an AirBnB property and likely have space for periodic travelers in RV's.  I have a dream of becoming a better brewer of craft beer and to have a little kitchen for our tenants to get excellent food we have worked hard to learn how to make.  It'll take time to do all this and flush the ideas out but the wheels are in motion!  

Our home in Boise has been getting busier.  Our property manager has been nothing but amazing with running the property and getting it into the massive data base of clientele.  The summer should produce lots of rental income from both properties, enough for Laura and I to basically live on hopefully.  The relationships from the past that lead to finding this team came from making big decisions and taking big risks with Trailhead and Myofly.  I wouldn't have found Kate, Katina and Alissa without connections I made during big life moves from years ago.  We all wouldn't have met if I hadn't ventured into scary risky moves.  The hard part about being aware of when to connect and take risks is really forming relationships with those you come into contact with.  Friendship is number one because true friends always support your endeavors and watch your back.  I have always had a policy to support my friends who support and help me.  Like minds think alike.  I think about this mentality I work to create and my father and grandfather were very much the same.  

Next Monday is the day my father passed away a year ago.  Our final conversations revolved around traveling and his retirement.  He unfortunately did not get to do this.  In memory of him, I am doing this trip in his honor.  I remember talking about similar trips like the one we are on a couple weeks before he passed and the night prior as well.  I miss him greatly and I think about him everyday of our trip.  These thoughts were unable to manifest with all the stress I had running the clinic and doing the patient care everyday.  Now that I have moved to a management role, I am working through the loss and finding love with it all to heal and manifest the next chapter of my life into something very special.  I feel he is guiding me and watching over me.  I'm looking forward to Lafayette and New Orleans next week!  I know my father would greatly enjoy that area of the country.  

For now, we are staying in Galveston Texas until Sunday, then heading into Lafayette Louisiana to learn about the Cajun and Creole cultures in that area.  I want to learn how to cook in both ways and offer this cuisine to our tenants of the future.  

Below are a few pictures from what we've seen during the past few weeks!

Thanks for reading!

Nate