Over the River & Through the Woods ....

Two years ago I started to think about driving across the country. Jane was but a wee babe, so thinking about it was as far as I got.

Last year, I briefly considered it. Briefly - but long enough to think of some of the places I'd like to see & take the kids.

Then several months ago I started to really think and plan. Rebekah will be old enough next year to get a summer job, so this will probably be the last opportunity for some time for us to spend an extended time away from home in the summer. Jane is bigger, and my kids are pretty good in the car.

In April Rick's boss announced he wanted to retire, and was closing down the fund. Perfect! OK, not really all that perfect, but for purposes of the trip - pretty great. Rick was also now available for a long time away in the summer, and that clinched it for me. I started to plan. We will spend a week or so driving out to Utah, seeing sights to the north. Rick will drive with us, then fly home to NY to keep interviewing, looking for work, etc. A few weeks for the kids & I in Utah with a jaunt over to Colorado, then back to Utah (to meet Rick, who will fly back out to us) and then we all make the drive back home in a southward arc.

I'm hoping it sounds more complicated than it really is.

The kids are excited. Jacob especially cannot wait to go to Grandma's house, and has asked every single day for weeks if that day was the day we could go. A couple of weeks ago we made paper chains for the kids to rip one loop off every day until we left. I hoped that having something more visual would help Jake understand how much longer it would be. I guess it was still taking too long for him, because several days ago he ripped up the last 6 loops and said "They all gone! Now we go to Grandma's house??"

This morning we are on our way. The bags are packed, and the car mostly loaded. A neighbor girl is babysitting pumpkin, collecting our mail & watering the indoor plants (sprinklers will get the outside gardens.) A young man we know will mow our lawn & tend our garden (i.e. weed). I have DVD's, audiobooks (big kid AND little kid stories), CD's, iPods, coloring books, snacks galore & gallons of water. The car has a built in DVD player - and we're bringing a portable one to boot. We bought extra headphones so we'd have one for each kid, and they could have 3 different versions of media going at the same time - not to mention, so Rick & I don't have to listen to "Diego" for the whole trip.

Rick is already mad at me, because we're 2 hours late leaving (seriously, 10 years together and you were still expecting me to be on time?) AND I have to stop at the pharmacy on the way out of town. I forgot to refill my Synthroid. This is a new health issue for me, it's the first time I've ever refilled it and just didn't think about it until this morning!

I'm sure there will be frustrations, and quarrels & some disputes, but I am also hoping to make some great memories for our family, to see a lot of the country we live in and to have lots of time together to bond.

WHAT I"LL MISS -

Our garden - working in it, eating from it, looking at it.

Pumpkin.

Our darling neighbor, Elaine.

Swimming with the kids & friends at Wilson's Waves

BBQ-ing in our backyard & eating outside.

Firefly's.

Bikes - all of ours & family bike rides.

WHAT I'M LOOKING FORWARD TO -

Lots of uninterrupted time with our family.

Seeing the country.

Seeing friends as we travel.

Having a break from the responsibilities of home

(although I'm bringing my 4 biggest one's with me.)

Spending time with extended family in Utah.

Cherry Hill.

A break from our ward.

Seeing the kids playing with their cousins.

Watching the Olympics with other people who will cheer for Australia & cry when they win or loose.

Low / no humidity.

Visiting our friends in Colorado & going to Anne's baptism.

Good or bad, there's no turning back now - Bon Voyage!!