I'm Gonna Be (500 miles)

Scenic Point, East Glacier, Montana - my favorite!

What a fantastic road trip across a gorgeous country!

I am so grateful to have had this time on the road with my kids and the New Englander, as we prepare to close the chapter where our lives are closely intertwined.

There were so, so many things I loved about it, among them:

1) Seeing my kids reunited after my son had been away for three months;

Reunited and it feels so good!

2) The absolutely stunning topography of Montana;
3) Revisiting places I went as a child - The Black Hills, Mount Rushmore, the Badlands - this time with my kids;
4) Time together on the road, and the tunes that accompanied us.

Wall Drug just ain't what I thought it was when I was a kid

Number four on that list was often supplied by my daughter, and I especially loved when a song would play that she had independently chosen to put on her phone that just happens to have an important place in my pre-kid history.

This song is a great example of that - it was one of my faves to dance to on my many all-night out occasions in '93-'94 when I lived in Australia:

When I wake up, well, I know I'm gonna be
I'm gonna be the man who wakes up next to you
When I go out, yeah, I know I'm gonna be
I'm gonna be the man who goes along with you
If I get drunk, well, I know I'm gonna be
I'm gonna be the man who gets drunk next to you
And if I haver, yeah, I know I'm gonna be
I'm gonna be the man who's haverin' to you

But I would walk five hundred miles

Mount Rushmore, from a distance

And I would walk five hundred more
Just to be the man who walked a thousand miles
To fall down at your door

When I'm workin', yes, I know I'm gonna be
I'm gonna be the man who's workin' hard for you
And when the money comes in for the work I do
I'll pass almost every penny on to you
When I come home (when I come home), oh, I know I'm gonna be
I'm gonna be the man who comes back home to you
And if I grow old, well, I know I'm gonna be
I'm gonna be the man who's growin' old with you

But I would walk five hundred miles
And I would walk five hundred more
Just to be the man who walked a thousand miles
To fall down at your door

Ta-da-da-ta, ta-da-da-ta, ta-da-da-ta, ta-da-da-ta
Ta-da-da-dan-te-la-dan-te-la-dan-te-le-la-da-da
Ta-da-da-ta, ta-da-da-ta, ta-da-da-ta, ta-da-da-ta
Ta-da-da-dan-te-la-dan-te-la-dan-te-le-la-da-da

When I'm lonely, well, I know I'm gonna be

Mmmmmmmmmontana

I'm gonna be the man who's lonely without you
And when I'm dreamin', well, I know I'm gonna dream
I'm gonna dream about the time when I'm with you
When I go out (when I go out), well, I know I'm gonna be

The fab four do the Badlands, kinda briefly

I'm gonna be the man who goes along with you
And when I come home (when I come home), yes, I know I'm gonna be
I'm gonna be the man who comes back home with you
I'm gonna be the man who's comin' home with you

But I would walk five hundred miles
And I would walk five hundred more
Just to be the man who walked a thousand miles
To fall down at your door

What a classic! This song, like this road trip, will always be a treasured memory...

(I'd Go The) Whole Wide World

The bride and groom exchange vows

We took the ferry from Manitowoc, WI to Ludington, MI, en route to our family vacation last week. On the way home -- and it literally was on our way home -- we stopped off at the wedding of our dear friend and former nanny.

The wedding was held at the groom's family farm -- which was beautiful and complete with cows, kittens, roosters and hens.

The wedding was beautiful too, and I especially liked the song they chose for their first dance. The original was by an artist I've never heard of -- Wreckless Eric -- but The Proclaimers also do a great rendition:

My family with our honorary family member

When I was a young boy
My mama said to me
There's only one girl in the world for you
And she probably lives in Tahiti

I'd go the whole wide world
I'd go the whole wide world
Just to find her

Or maybe she's in the Bahamas
Where the Carribean sea is blue
Weeping in a tropical moonlit night
Because nobody's told her 'bout you

I'd go the whole wide world
I'd go the whole wide world
Just to find her
I'd go the whole wide world
I'd go the whole wide world
Find out where they hide her

Why am I hanging around in the rain out here
Trying to pick up a girl
Why are my eyes filling up with these lonely tears
When there're girls all over the world

Is she lying on a tropical beach somewhere
Underneath the tropical sun
Pining away in a heatwave there
Hoping that I won't be long

I should be lying on that sun-soaked beach with her
Caressing her warm brown skin
And then in a year or maybe not quite
We'll be sharing the same next of kin

I'd go the whole wide world
I'd go the whole wide world
Just to find her
I'd go the whole wide world
I'd go the whole wide world
Find out where they hide her

Super sweet, romantic song, and I'm really, really happy for them. He found her, and they've got the whole wide world ahead of them. They're off to Indonesia for a honeymoon and then I have a feeling, before too long, our super awesome babysitter will start having babies of her own.

But I'd be remiss if I marked this day without also mentioning that when we arrived at the wedding, I was exhausted from the family vacation, and the kids responded to that by full-on fighting: swearing at each other and chasing each other with sticks. It was ugly, and it made me wish for someone else on my team. A partner. You know, someone who'd go the whole wide world just to find me...