First stop

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step

From the Dao De Jing ascribed to Laozi

After emotional good-byes with friends at TPMS, we finished packing and left town for the Virginia-Tennessee border. Our kids have a great group of friends, making it difficult to leave, but also one of the biggest reasons to return. Seeing friends and family before we left gave us a great boost of confidence and rekindled our courage and sense ofbeing pumped up, we still had the following conversation: We are doing this. Are we doing this? Yes we are really doing this. Right?? Really, really, for reals.
The neighborhood corner store (what is the name of it, anyway—it doesn’t matter) played a part in our departure which is so appropriate. It provided sweet solace for our departure sadness: soda and candy.