We found out last week that our travel trailer will not be delivered from the factory in time for our October 3 departure.

We thought this might happen. COVID-related supply chain disruption, they said. When we signed the papers, the sales person was confident the timing would work. In a follow up phone call, the business manager sounded cautiously optimistic. But starting a couple weeks ago, that optimism started fading daily for all of us. Now we are certain it’s not going to happen. Even so, everyone was kind and reasonable to deal with. Stuff happens.

We had only put down a small, refundable deposit when we ordered, so we started working on  plan B. I did a five-state search for a dealer with the model we wanted on the lot. Surely someone within a few hundred miles would have one in stock and I could take a road trip to pick it up.

I didn’t find the exact match, but a close cousin just two hours away. It all looked good on paper but we wanted to see it in person. I had a full day of Zoom calls and remote portraits so Karen and Jordan drove down to see it. It was a fine trailer, but a little more expensive and not quite as perfect as the one we had on order.

So we quickly moved on to plan C. Which is evolving by the moment.

We’ll still leave on Oct. 3 as planned. We’ll spend a few nights with family, a few nights in one Airbnb, then a few nights in another. And then…my amazing cousin Kathy from Chicago is going to haul her travel trailer to West Virginia for a getaway with her equally amazing husband Bob and then they will drive home without it so we can move in for the rest of our trip.

It’s not how we expected the first leg of our journey to go. But it’s going to be okay. You get to choose whether to laugh or cry at some of the absurdities in life, and in this case, we’ll pick the laughter.

The important thing is, we’ll be moving. We’ll make it to engagements at Thiel College in Pennsylvania  and WVUP in West Virginia. We’ll gather stories about creating a better world and finding resilience in the face of challenge. And we will be together. Karen and me…and our dog Bailey.

At the end of this trip, we’ll drop Kathy and Bob’s trailer in Chicago and head back to the Twin Cities for our Christmas tree harvest and Thanksgiving with family. That perfect travel trailer should come in sometime while we are on the road. The dealer will hold it for us and we’ll pick it up for the next leg of the journey. Wherever that might be.

Never give up. There is always a path forward. Let the adventure begin.