Tonight is the first night I’ve had a room to myself in a while. Aster is home, and Izzy is at a sleepover. The joy of the peace and quiet of my own space. At least for a while.

We departed Colorado for Columbia, Missouri last Sunday. Instead of making the long drive in one day, we took our time. We left late morning and drove to Topeka, Kansas where we got a hotel room for the night. The next morning we got up and drove the remainder of the drive to my dad’s house in Columbia.

We spent three nights in Columbia. It was a great place for our final real stop on the journey. Dad and Barbara were still a bit jet-lagged from their vacation to Europe, but we still managed to stay busy. The first full day we decided to head to the Museum of Art and Archaeology – University of Missouri. The museum was larger than I had expected, and I spent too much time in the first two exhibit rooms and had to rush through the rest of the museum. I highly recommend visiting if you wind up in Columbia for a day. The next day Aster, Dad, and I went out for a bike ride. Aster and I borrowed e-bikes from Dad, and half-way through the ride I wasn’t paying enough attention to where I was riding and wound up taking a spill onto the sidewalk. Nothing broken, just scraped up a bit and embarrassed.

On Thursday morning we went to Warm Springs Ranch in Boonville to see the where the Budweiser Clydesdales are bred. After the tour we stopped by White Castle (it was on Izzy’s must visit list for this trip) for lunch and then started the trek east. We made a quick stop in Webster Groves to drop off stuff at my brother’s house (and pick up stuff we left there). From there we drove to Indianapolis for the night.

Friday was just driving. I let Aster and Izzy sleep in, so we didn’t get on the road until about 9. We made it to Scranton, PA for Friday night. This morning we made the remainder of the drive to Connecticut. I dropped Aster off at their house and Izzy off at a friends for a sleepover then checked into the hotel.

Aster decided to not continue the journey onto Sweden, and is starting on the next journey in their path. Izzy and I are in Connecticut until Tuesday. We have a busy schedule over the next few days. I have to organize our storage unit, pack, and run a few more errands. We also have plans to see Ben and Nu at least once more. But it feels like we are starting the journey home!

Today is our last full day in Colorado. We will head east tomorrow morning with the hope of making it most of the way through Kansas before we stop for the night. The next stop will be a few days in Columbia, Missouri before continuing on to Connecticut.

Yesterday we had a tour of Phoenix Gold Mine in Idaho Falls, Colorado. It was worth the price! We were able to get tours of two mines, a ride on a mine train (a little Minecraft like) and lessons on panning for gold. I don’t think any of us were patient enough to get any gold from the stream, though it was probably there.

This morning Izzy and I walked the 2 miles (each way) to the next town so she could get a drink at Starbucks. We made it 100 feet from our room before the rain started. It was a nice flat walk and it felt good to get out for a stretch. This afternoon we are all just taking it easy. A few rain showers are expected this afternoon with a steady rain starting overnight. Hopefully the drive tomorrow won’t be too crazy.

On Tuesday we made the long, boring drive from Webster Groves to Winger Park Colorado. It was a 13+ hour drive, and I’m thankful that I had Aster here to share the driving. There was a lot of not much to see in Kansas and eastern-Colorado. But we made it. It is beautiful here! The altitude is really impacting Izzy and Aster today, so will be a quiet day.

I woke up early today and walked a bit around the condo to catch the sunrise. It is much colder than St. Louis and much more pleasant.

This will be the farthest west we go on this trip. We have our condo until Sunday and then will begin the long journey back east, stopping for a few days to visit my dad in Columbia, Missouri before heading to Connecticut for the journey home to Sweden.

Tomorrow, Izzy and I fly back to the states. We haven’t figured out the full next steps when we get there, but will be in the Norwich area for a few days before heading down to Florida. We don’t have a firm date to return here, but are looking for mid-October so Izzy can start school.

While Izzy and I are gone, Susanna will be moving into our new apartment in early October. It isn’t furnished, so she will be doing the hard work of setting up a home for Izzy and I to return to while she is working full time. On the plus side, she gets full creative control of decorating the place.

It has been a (sort of) busy few weeks for me. It took a while, but Hoagie is mostly settled in our rental house as well as at Susanna’s parents’ house. Our second shipment arrived from FedEx; I think I’m done shipping stuff for now. I still have a storage unit that has some tools and other personal belongings, as well as furniture for the kids. I’ll deal with that next summer.

I have a lead on a workshop for myself when I return. It is in an older building in Rottne, a 20 minute car or bus ride from our eventual apartment. It is a little smaller than the shop I had in Preston, but it is a good start, and the rent isn’t too much. Not sure what I’ll eventually build, but will have to start by building out a new workshop! In the meanwhile, I did get a saw bench built and finished at the space I’m using in Sävsjöström at Dan’s workshop.

Things are finally settling down. Izzy and I are on the right time-zone. My first shipment of boxes arrived via FedEx and the second one is hopefully moving slowly through Swedish customs. Izzy and I are in a little lull between big events. We did the first big one – getting the house sold and Hoagie over here. We will fly back to the US in a little over a week and do a road trip to visit family. We aren’t sure how long of a trip we will wind up doing; Izzy is getting eager to get into school here and get settled. The very least we will make the trip to Florida and Missouri to visit family. The rest is up for discussion.

We couldn’t have done all this without a lot of help from family, friends and a good Realtor.

Susanna is working all week, so I’m trying to keep Izzy active enough she doesn’t feel the need to have a screen in front of her all the time. We didn’t bring a lot of stuff with us, so have been out shopping for art supplies and games to keep us entertained. When the weather supports, we have been going on walks together (despite Izzy’s protests). Izzy has been trying to get more into cooking and did most of the work for dinner the past two nights. She did, however, drop two eggs in the refrigerator last night which kept me busy for a while cleaning up that mess while she cooked.

Today, we did some more exploring. We drove to Granhults Kyrka, the oldest fully preserved wooden church in Sweden with parts dating back to the 13th century. The church was closed today, but we walked around the property.

We then drove to the Braås Parks nature trail to take a walk and have fika (snack). We found a 2-mile loop through the woods and a bench by lake Örken to stop for our snack. In the middle of the woods we came across the “hermit’s hut” in the middle of the woods. According to the sign the hut was built in the early 19th century.

The past few months have been a whirlwind. However, things are starting to settle in place, though it seems like there is always one more step needing to be done.

Susanna left for Sweden in late July to start her work and get things in place for Izzy and I to arrive in August. Izzy and I stayed back to finish selling the house and get everything ready to fly Hoagie over.

On August 24th, Izzy and I said goodbye to our house in Preston for the final time. It was a rush getting things cleaned out for the cleaning, but we got it done. In the end we were just taking things out of drawers and tossing it in the dumpster. We had to get out and catch a flight to Sweden with the Dog. The previous week had been stressful, to say the least. But things came together. On the Thursday before we flew the paperwork for Hoagie arrived from the USDA (it actually arrived twice). The closing was delayed until the day after we left, so I had to sign the paperwork early, but it meant we didn’t need to find a place to sleep for the weekend.

I had never flown overseas with a dog in cargo before. I don’t plan on doing it again. Izzy and I arrived at Boston Logan airport a little under 3 hours early. Having a third set of hands was a huge help! But we checked in (with Hoagie on a leash) and about an hour before the flight they called us back to the check-in counter to take Hoagie to clear TSA and get put in his crate. Then we cleared security and had a few minutes to wait before boarding. We flew a direct flight into Copenhagen, so there was no flight transfer. However, Hoagie did not like being stuck in the crate for that long, and was anxious to get out when we arrived. We had to pick him up at the oversize luggage claim. His crate was just sitting there, no one around, when we showed up. Unfortunately he had to stay in the crate until we cleared customs. Susanna’s dad, Dan, picked us up and drove us to Sweden (stopping at McDonald’s for a starving Izzy).

We arrived in Sweden with a few suitcases (and a dog), so have needed to start from scratch. Luckily the place we are renting is furnished and is a perfect landing spot for our move. We purchased two used cars, but hopefully in the long run we will only need one (once we move into the city). It is strange. Without a credit history in Sweden we can’t borrow money for things. Susanna even needed to get on her dad’s phone plan to get a phone here.

We have been planning on living in the city of Växjö for Izzy’s school. Last week we looked at a potential apartment to rent in the city . It was a small, 2 bedroom apartment in the Väster district. It is a short walk from where we hope Izzy will go to school. We agreed that it was a good place to start with, and Susanna signed the contract by the end of the week. Next week we are meeting with Izzy’s school here. We won’t be starting right away. Izzy and I are returning to the states in two weeks and are planning on doing a road trip to visit family and see the country.

I’ve been trying to get out for walks each day with Hoagie (and Izzy when possible). There are lots of farm fields here to explore and a good number of trails within a short drive. I am sort of stuck in limbo. I can only be here 90 out of every 180 days until I get a residence permit to live here, and I don’t know how long that will take. It is hard to start anything here without knowing when I can fully move over. However I did meet up for a drink with a group from the “Expats of Småland” Facebook group.

Ben graduated from the Navy Corpsman A-School yesterday; Izzy and I flew down to see his graduation. I made reservations downtown by the River Walk, so we have spent our free time exploring the area. This morning Izzy and I drove to the Japanese Tea Gardens a few miles north of where we are staying. We were there early, with the only other guests being another group taking pictures.

It is sunny and hot in Texas in July. Ben said he can’t wait to take some leave and fly back to New England with us tomorrow. I can totally understand his feelings. Luckily the paths along the River Walk have lots of shade and usually have a good breeze. But still, the heat take a lot out of you.

It has been nice to get a break from the anxiety of trying to sell the house. It has been stressful with all the house viewings that didn’t turn into an offer, but hopefully that part of things will be over when I get home tomorrow.

Last night, Izzy and I drove up to Norwich to watch the fireworks. We had to wait until a line of thunderstorms passed. The ground was wet, but the rain made for a beautiful sunset as we walked through the downtown. It was a needed break from the stress of selling the house and getting ready to move overseas.

The house is as updates as we will get it. The next updates will be for the new owners. The Realtor officially put the house on the market and scheduled two open houses this weekend. Yesterday, Susanna went to a much deserved afternoon at the spa. Izzy, Hoagie and I had to find a place to eat lunch and hang out for a few hours while people walked through the house. We decided to head to Olde Mistick Village. What I didn’t realize was that this weekend was the second annual Strawberry Festival at Olde Mistick Village. The parking lot was packed, but food trucks were there, so finding a place to eat while towing a dog around wasn’t hard. Hoagie didn’t like the heat and spent a while just sleeping under a bush while Izzy spent longer in her favorite store, Holistic of Mystic, than I thought was possible in such a small shop.

The first half of this week is forecast to be very hot (upper 90s), so we will need to find a cool place to hang out for any house showings that get scheduled.