Chicago: The Dream House and the Dream Neighborhood
Back in 2016, we were living in our dream house in Chicago in a neighborhood filled with friends who felt more like family. Seriously, this wasn’t just a neighborhood — it was family.
We all went camping together right before Halloween that year, and there were more than 20 families. We watched each other’s kids. Almost every week there was some kind of get-together, usually in our pool or down in my basement dive bar — complete with an 18-foot oak bar I built myself. That place was the scene of so many good times.
Life was pretty perfect.
The Invitation
One day, I got a message from my buddy James (mantripping.com). He asked if I’d like to take part in a blogger trip to California with Mazda. The plan: tent camping in Joshua Tree National Park with a fleet of Mazdas at our disposal to explore during the day.
Now, my blog had a little bit of success at that point, but this was the first real big trip I’d ever been invited on. Of course, I jumped at it.
Disney Calls
A week before I was scheduled to leave, Zanne got a call. A recruiter from Disney wanted to know if she’d be open to talking about a new position.
She had been laid off a couple months earlier, and had just accepted a position with Northwestern University, though she hadn’t started yet. She interviewed with Disney, nailed it, and before we knew it, they were flying her out to Burbank for in-person interviews.
It was surreal — both of our lives suddenly shifting at the same time, without either of us knowing exactly where it was all going.
The Journey to Joshua Tree
The time came for me to head to California. At LAX, Mazda met us with cars. I got paired up with my new buddy Tom (travelpast50.com). He offered to start driving us the four hours out to Joshua Tree.
Now, I hadn’t had much sleep for several nights — too much swirling in my head. I still feel bad about this, but I crashed hard and couldn’t wake up. Poor Tom had to drive the whole way after catching an early flight himself from Minneapolis.
That first night, we set up our tents, sat around the campfire, and started to bond. It was a good group — the kind of people you know you’ll stay connected with long after the trip. Some of them I still talk to this day. We were all pretty wiped, so as soon as the sun went down, we headed to bed.
The Salton Sea Adventure
The next day, Tom and I decided to venture out to the Salton Sea.
First stop: Salvation Mountain. Leonard Knight spent nearly three decades building this technicolor hillside covered in biblical verses and Christian symbols.
Next stop: East Jesus — an off-grid art installation near Slab City where artists turn discarded junk into wild, thought-provoking sculptures. Creativity and chaos in the middle of the Sonoran Desert.
Finally, we reached the Salton Sea itself. Back in the 50s and 60s, this place was the “Salton Riviera,” attracting celebrities like Frank Sinatra and The Beach Boys. But after the canals were fixed, no new water flowed in. The lake started drying up, the salts and toxins concentrated, fish died, and what was left was a toxic, smelly wasteland.
We drove through one of the last little communities still clinging to the shoreline, and both of us felt this weird, heavy vibe. We looked at each other and silently agreed — let’s get out of here.
St. Patrick’s Day
The next morning was St. Patrick’s Day — my holiday.
Back home, I’d normally wake up early, hit the golf course for kegs & eggs, and then spend the entire day at Katie O’Connor’s Irish bar (RIP). I loved everything about it — the bagpipes, the Irish dancers, the crowd, the chaos.
But here I was in California. I asked Tom if he’d mind if I went off on my own. He was fine with it, so I grabbed a Mazda and hit the road.
My plan was to head to Roy’s Motel & Café on Route 66, but my map app warned it might be closed. I pulled into a gas station to rethink my plan.
That’s when my phone rang.
The Call That Changed Everything
It was Zanne.
Disney had offered her the job. A tremendous opportunity — but it meant leaving our dream house, leaving our friends, moving our daughters away from theirs.
She asked me what she should say.
I didn’t hesitate. “Tell them yes.”
I knew the sacrifices. I knew what we’d be giving up. But in my gut, I knew it was right.
She said she loved me, hung up, and called Disney back.
Big Bear and U2
Sitting in that gas station parking lot, I remembered passing a sign for Big Bear a few miles back. Mountains, trees, fresh air — I couldn’t resist. I had an awesome Mazda at my disposal and nowhere to be.
So I went.
Big Bear was everything I hoped — a beautiful lake town with ski slopes, a little downtown, and mountain air that cleared my head. I walked around, stopped at a bar for lunch, and thought about everything that had just happened.
Then it was time to head back. It was still St. Patrick’s Day, and I was in Joshua Tree country, so I cued up U2’s Joshua Tree album.
Flying down that mountain road with Bono blasting, belting out Bullet the Blue Sky at the top of my lungs — that was the first time in a long time I felt alive. Raw, visceral, untamed. I’m sure I looked like a madman tearing through those hairpin turns, but in that moment, everything clicked.
Freaking Out a Little Bit
That night, we gathered for a proper final dinner.
Somewhere between the adrenaline, the lack of sleep, and the tidal wave of emotions, it all caught up with me. I started freaking out a little bit.
Thankfully, I was sitting next to Lesley (bucketlistpublications.com). She talked me through it, calmed me down, and helped me find my footing again. To this day, I’m grateful to her for that.
Looking Back
For a first big blogger trip, I couldn’t have asked for a better one. I fell in love with Joshua Tree — and now that we live only three hours away, we go back often. It’s truly a special place.
And that call from Disney? Best decision we ever made.
I still miss our house, our friends, and the food in Chicago. But moving to California opened our world. In Chicago, we rarely left our neighborhood. In California, every weekend became an adventure — beaches, deserts, mountains, road trips.
Zanne put it best: moving here got us unstuck.
And I’ll let her tell that story in her own words soon. Stay tuned for her post about how we got unstuck.
