And Then There Were 5

Days Walking - 128

Jake and Anneli fly to Texas in the morning. I was going to say "flying home", but it's not home for her yet. Having a baby is going to be a huge, life-changing thing for both of them.

Especially since they've never really lived together before. From this wacky, atypical environment, they'll be thrust into the world of 9-5 bullshit, traffic, laundry, and work. I hope it all works out for them.

I think if I were Anneli, I would insist on going home - her home that is, in Maine. I'd want my own family around me as a support group, because I doubt that pregnancy is a state in which you're likely to endear yourself to a new group of people. If reading Dooce has taught me anything, it's that pregnancy is gonna be a bitch, and so will I.

Their flight leaves at like 5AM, but the Yellow Line bus, she no run that early. So they spent the night in the terminal. We caught the last bus, which dropped them at the airport at like 11:45PM, and rode back to the depot with the nice driver who wasn't supposed to let us.

We said our final goodbyes on the bus, which is a weird place to offer someone a fond farewell. I mean, you tell people goodbye at the airport, the bus station, the train station - but not on a bus.

The departure hubs have high ceilings and marble and brushed brass and they echo. There's the hustle and bustle and people cheering and crying. There's a sense of occasion.

A bus is so casual, so plebeian. It kinda saps the depth of feeling when you're spilling your heartfelt wishes and misses, and the driver's calling out the streets as you pass them.

Maybe it would have been better to not say goodbye on the bus then? Would the bus stop been any better? I don't know. I like to go as far as I can to see my loved ones off safely. I've been known to walk my Dad down to the car in the mornings, just to make sure he's got his lunch and bag and keys and suchlike. Yeah I've got dependency issues.

It was hard to see them go, but easier than it was with Gabe. He left due to an injury, and they left for love and family. So the whole angry, bitter vibe that Gabe's departure had wasn't there for Jake and Anneli's departure.

And we've decided to make sure our hiking path takes us through El Paso, so we can meet up with these two lovebirds and meet the baby. They leave now two kick ass nomad hikers, and when we see them again they'll be kick ass parents. How weird that's gonna be.

Litany Webb, signing off

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