long distance Archives | Larry and Carla

Just a few months ago, we made the life-changing decision to move out of the San Francisco Bay Area… and we found a house in Holland, Michigan! Rather than fly to Michigan (which we’ve been doing every August since 2010 for the Bay View Week of Handbells), we decided it would be more of an adventure to take a road trip from California, and see some interesting places along the way.

We left our apartment in California on July 1st. This meant saying goodbye to Mountain View, where Larry had lived since 1980. We also had to leave the home we’d shared since Carla moved from England in 2012.

Our first destination was Yosemite National Park, where we spent the Fourth of July weekend. We hadn’t wanted to leave California without seeing that breathtaking scenery just one more time! From there we headed to Redding, to meet up with a friend for dinner before leaving the state.

Some unexpected surprises along the way

One of the unexpected things about our road trip was the joy we’d find in stopping the car to appreciate an area of beauty right by the side of the road. Even though we’d plotted our entire journey in detail before we started, and we’d booked accommodation in carefully-chosen cities along the way, there were still some wonderful surprises to be found. For example, the pretty, tumbling waters of Hat Creek, in the Lassen National Forest. We noticed this when we stopped to take a photo of a mountain, and ended up wandering along a grassy trail at the side of the road.

So many bugs!

Another unexpected delight (haha) we discovered along the way… was the number of huge insects that splattered against our car. As we made our way to Reno, Nevada, massive grasshoppers and other insects rained down onto the car. This is a close-up of the front of the car when we arrived in Reno:

Road trip from California - insects! — Insects on the front of our car!

The beautiful Angel Lake

A far more pleasant surprise came as we drove through northern Nevada and decided to take a break for lunch. A sign at the side of the road said “Angel Lake”, which sounded like a great place to stop and eat some sandwiches. However, we didn’t notice the “12 miles” sign until it was too late to turn back. After a short while, the road became very narrow and winding! After a rather nervous drive, we arrived at our destination, at an elevation of 8,400 feet!

Road trip from California - Angel Lake — The pretty, but slightly scary, road to Angel Lake.

The beautiful Angel Lake – well worth the drive!

The Great Salt Lake

Driving from Nevada to Utah was a fascinating experience, as the landscape changed so dramatically. We had never seen salt flats before! We drove to the Great Salt Lake, parked the car, and walked across the beach to the lake, without actually going into the water. There were three surprises there: one was the swarms of tiny flies, which wafted like dust storms around our feet as we walked. Another was the smell, which grew stronger as we approached the water and made us glad we hadn’t planned to make this a lunchtime picnic spot! Another was the dead and decomposing birds which were scattered across the ground as we walked. They appeared to have been drying out in the salty air and harsh sunlight. It was actually quite fascinating to see the remnants of wings as they dried up and became part of the salty landscape. We had to be a bit careful where we walked, though!

Our stay in Utah was all too short. However, another highlight was our visit to Temple Square. This is the international headquarters of the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints. The grounds and buildings here are impressive and beautifully maintained. We’re not members of the Mormon Church. Still, we thoroughly enjoyed our tour of several of the buildings and the opportunity to hear about the history of the church from knowledgeable and friendly tour guides.

Temple Square - Larry and Carla — Temple Square

Mount Rushmore

Another major highlight of our road trip was our visit to Mount Rushmore. Nearly three million people visit this national monument every year. They come to see the gigantic sculptures of the faces of U.S. Presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt. These are all carved into the granite face of Mount Rushmore in South Dakota.

We went there shortly before sunset, and followed the Presidential Trail (be warned – there are a lot of stairs!) to get a great view of the sculpture and surrounding scenery. We stayed for the evening Lighting Ceremony. It was informative and very moving as military personnel and veterans were called to the front to participate in the flag-lowering ceremony and be honored for their service.

Little House on the Prairie!

Another highlight of our road trip was our stay in Minnesota. We visited the Laura Ingalls Wilder Museum in the little town of Walnut Grove. This museum offered an informative look back at life in the area for pioneering families in the late 1800s. We thought it achieved a good balance between exhibits about the real-life story of the Ingalls family, the series of books, and the TV show. The museum is small, in keeping with the town it’s located in – and we were pleased that it hadn’t been made into a huge tourist attraction. We drove just a short way down the road from the museum, to a place where there were some reconstructions of prairie sod houses – and this was a very interesting and fun place to visit!

Prairie sod house — One of the prairie sod houses

After we left Minnesota, we headed to Wisconsin to meet up with family members there. It was the first opportunity we’d had to get together at their home since our wedding in 2012. We also went for a walk in the Owen Conservation Park in Madison, which turned out to be surprisingly peaceful and uncrowded. It was a lovely place to see flowers and nature, and even this tiny frog, which was about the size of a fingernail!

Finally at our new home in Holland, Michigan

We enjoyed our road trip so much! We were glad we’d chosen to drive east and see some of the sights along the way, instead of making the journey by plane. It was a trip with a purpose, but it felt like a much-needed vacation. We even managed to finalize the purchase of a house while we were en route to our destination.

Of course, the biggest highlight of our road trip was when we arrived in Michigan and drove to Holland. After eighteen days on the road, we were so glad to be home!

Larry and Carla - Holland, Michigan — Our first day in our new home in Holland, Michigan!

We’re counting down to the Bay View Week of Handbells!

So, what is the Bay View Week of Handbells, and why is it something special for us? Why are we counting down the days until we get there? We’ll try to explain some of the magic here.

The Bay View Week of Handbells takes place every year in Bay View, Michigan. Just over a hundred handbell musicians gather together for several days of intense rehearsals, after which we perform a public concert. Donald Allured founded the Week of Handbells in 1978, and Carl Wiltse is the current director of the event. It’s for people who enjoy the challenge of spending time learning the music, and performing to a professional standard. And yes, even though the music is challenging and the rehearsals are intense, we still manage to have fun!

The Week of Handbells is part of our story

For us, the Week of Handbells is particularly special because of the role it played in our long-distance relationship story. Our story started several years ago when we met and became friends online. By the end of 2009 we were spending several hours every day “talking” on Facebook Chat. Our friendship turned into a relationship, and we began to make plans to meet in person for the first time. Our first “real life” meeting took place in August 2010, when Carla travelled from London to Chicago O’Hare. From there, we flew together to Traverse City, where we rented a car and drove to Bay View.

Here is a photo of us before the concert at our very first Bay View Week of Handbells.

Bay View Week of Handbells - Larry and Carla

Our second Week of Handbells

After our first in-person meeting in 2010, we had to wait a whole year before we could see each other again. During our months apart, we decided for certain that we wanted to spend our future together. We travelled back to Michigan in August 2011 for our second Week of Handbells. That was a busy week for us! Before the start of the event, we made a special journey to Miner’s North in Traverse City to pick up some rings. Then we drove to the Old Mission Point Lighthouse, where Larry proposed, and Carla said yes!

We announced our engagement to our friends at the Week of Handbells, at the evening reception after the first day of rehearsals. Here’s one of our favourite photos of us – taken by Kim Finison at Bay View in 2011.

August 2011 was also the time when our set of Malmark handbells made it across the ocean in Carla’s luggage. Larry transferred them to his suitcase for the journey to California.

After our week in Michigan in 2011, we went back to our separate homes, and soon after that we started the US fiancée visa process to bring Carla from England to California. Carla’s K-1 visa was approved at the end of May 2012, and the race was on to get everything organised for the big move. We managed to time it to coincide with the Bay View Week of Handbells in August!

Closing the distance!

August arrived, and Larry flew to England to collect Carla and her son, and the three of us travelled together to Chicago O’Hare. There, our onward flight was cancelled and we were forced to spend an uncomfortable night camping in the airport. Strangely enough, the makeshift camp was at Gate K1. That’s the same number as the visa Carla had applied for! Bay View Week of Handbells 2012 was a very special one for us, because, for the first time, we didn’t have to say goodbye to each other at the end of the event. It was an amazing feeling to be able to pack up our things and travel home to California together, without having to do that horrible airport goodbye stuff that’s so painful for long-distance couples.

Since then, we’ve been to the Week of Handbells twice more. To say we’re looking forward to the next one would be an understatement. Well, we’re counting down the days on our website, right? So yes, we’re excited!

Even without all the memories that make the Week of Handbells so special to us personally, it’s still an incredibly wonderful handbell event. We always tell people that if we could only go to one handbell event in a year, this would be the one we’d choose. After all, where else can you play handbells in an Auditorium that’s named after a Hall?

And where else can you walk around during your lunch break and see houses like this one?

At the Bay View Week of Handbells, we have Tiara Tuesday!

Tiara Tuesday at Bay View Week of Handbells

We have the opportunity to play some exciting and challenging music, which each person works hard to prepare during the weeks and months before the event. That gives us four days to put together the finishing touches as a group, in time to give a superb concert on the Thursday evening.

Apart from the beautiful location, the exciting music and all the happy memories the Week of Handbells holds for us, we know that it’s the people there who make this event so special. Our annual trip to Bay View feels like a journey home; and the friends we’ve made there feel like family to us. For just a few days in August, more than a hundred people are brought together by the music of handbells. We wouldn’t miss it for the world.

For more photos, see our Bay View Week of Handbells Photo Gallery. Watch our website and Facebook page for more information as we continue counting down the days to this year’s event!