We’ve been in Bay City for about a week and a half now, and I’m still trying to remember everything that happened during our final months in metro-Detroit. It was a whirlwind 2 months leading up to our last days, full of travel, goodbyes to friends, two going-away parties, last meals at our favorite restaurants, and a few fun activities that we managed to squeeze in during our our last day in Detroit. It all happened so quickly that I’m having trouble recalling what we did, meals we ate, and friends we saw.

Matt and Rizza’s wedding in the Outer Banks, NC

Jon’s brother, Matt, got married in May (yay! Congrats!!). We spent 3 different weekends in Bay City during the month of May for wedding-related activities before taking a week of vacation for the wedding. (Yes, a week of vacation only 4 weeks before quitting our jobs altogether!). We drove to the Outer Banks in North Carolina and spent a week at a beach house with family. Aside from the wedding (which was a perfect beach day, complete with a few dolphins swimming off in the distance!), we got to do a little sightseeing and relaxing. Kitty Hawk, just a few miles from the house where we were staying, is known for being the location of the Wright Brother’s first flight. As we wanted to visit while we were in NC, it was a good opportunity to purchase our annual pass to the national parks! We plan on visiting a handful of national parks as we make our way across the USA on our road trip,so the $80 admission was well worth it, as we’ll make up the money over the next ~6 weeks.

Flight #4 landing at the Wright Brother’s Memorial in Kitty Hawk, NC

We spent about 2 hours at the Wright Brother’s Memorial, walking every inch of the grounds. There was a large stone memorial at the top of the hill, which gave a 360 degree view of the island where we were staying. There were replicas of the 2 cabins that the brothers built, one to house the plane and one to house their small group of friends who spent winters with them. Finally, there were markers at the starting location and the 4 landing locations from the 4 flights that took place on December 13, 1903. For many years, I had wanted to visit Kitty Hawk and the location where that historic flight took place. The Wright brothers were from Dayton, OH, which is also where both of my parents are from. In addition, my dad grew up on an airport and has flown his entire life, including when I was small and would be his copilot, telling him when we officially took off (the wheels left the runway) and landed. Our afternoon spent walking the grounds and touring the museum held special meaning to me and I was happy to have spent the time there.

Filling up the U-Haul with some furniture and a lot of boxes for storage in my parent’s basement

After our trip to North Carolina, time started speeding forward. Jon cut his schedule back to only 2 days per week, and then quit working 2 weeks before I did. He was busy at home, doing all of the sorting, packing, donating, and cleaning. I kept working up until the very end, so wasn’t able to help as much with things around our apartment. It was quite an effort for Jon to sort through all of our belongings, separating into separate boxes: things to donate, things to throw away, things to give to our friends and family, things that we want to keep, and things that we’ll be taking with us on our trip. In the end, we ended up with a handful of boxes that were labeled “Sort in July” because we ran out of time and energy to do it all.

Two farewell parties were thrown for us by friends, which were emotional times for us (well, at least for me!). The first was primarily a party with restaurant friends from the old Fox & Hounds, where we both worked when we first moved to metro-Detroit. It was a wonderful afternoon – the perfect day with blue skies, hosts who set up a mouth-watering spread, a band who gave an impromptu poolside performance, and friends who came from near and far to celebrate with us (2 even flew in from out of state!). It was hard for me to say goodbye to everyone at the end of the evening, knowing it would be the last time I saw them for at least a year or two. Our second farewell party was from Techworld, where I’ve been working for over 8 years. Knowing how much we love the Tigers, it was a Tigers and Michigan themed party. Everyone wore Tigers shirts and sunglasses and all the food reminded us of Michigan – coney dogs, Better Made chips, paczkis, Vernor’s, and more. We spent the afternoon eating, reminiscing memories from the 8 years, and playing on the virtual reality setup in the back of the building. Both parties were amazing – filled with so much love, support, and encouragement for what we are doing. We are so lucky and thankful to have such caring friends who wished us well!

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There’s more that we did in our last month – another weekend trip with a U-Haul to Bay City to take some furniture, last meals at Polish Village, Roadside, Nippon, and Kennedy’s, trips to REI to pick up gadgets for the trip, and more. It’s like a blur – a period of time that I vaguely remember participating in, but where it’s difficult to recall all the details. It was a bittersweet time for us – saying goodbye to our friends and lives for the past 12 years, but looking forward to and being excited for the adventures we have in our future. I’m grateful for the time that we have had in metro-Detroit. We have made some lifelong friends and had memorable experiences in the region, and we appreciate everything that everyone has done for us over the years. We will always remember our time in metro-Detroit and be glad that we are moving forward in live with such support behind us.