Ready to roll!

Yesterday, hubby left early in the morning to start his year away from us. I suppose it should be stated, that technically it is not a year, but rather 355 days, which in the larger scope of things is less than a year and should likely be treated as such, but to be honest, a year is a year at this point. I know when we are down to the last ten days we will be grateful that it isn't twenty, but at 354, it is still just a year.

After our early morning trip to LAX, we came back and the kiddos let me take a nap and relax before we started running errands and preparing our "stuff" for the trip. I am so grateful that I can jut tell them, "Look, Mom has had a rough morning and woke up way too early. Please entertain yourselves quietly for a little while so I can nap. Watch a movie, read a book, play a game, whatever you want, but please let me sleep a little so we can get moving on things that need to be done." And they did.

The rest of the day was laundry and clean up and acquiring last minute things, followed by the company of good friends that we have made along the way, and a whole lot more farewells than I was prepared to handle. I have a greater appreciation for the heartache of saying farewell to a whole large group of friends at once today, as this is my first experience with it in a very long time. Yesterday was painful, leaving friends we've known for 16 years and friends we've known for just a short time, and the kids' friends... just emotional all around.

So last night, the five of us snuggled into my bed and watched "Anastasia" on Netflix and fell asleep and spent the night fighting for space, but making it work.  This morning, I'll pack up the rest of the stuff that needs to be stored, stop in at the grocery store for some snacks and then we'll hit the road, destination unknown. (Life is so strange!)

Some good news before we leave, hubby got the bike rack that we got from my brother fixed and I have figured out how to get all of the bikes attached safely. The bikes are a little smaller than those for which the rack was intended (cough, B, cough), but we have made it work. I'll try to get a photo of the rig in all of it's glory before we hit the road.

I suppose at some point we should draft more than a vague plan of where we are going and what we want to see and do, but right now, the possibilities are a little overwhelming and we can't really decide what to do first. I think we are going to simply head east and through L.A. and decide where we are going once I've crossed that hurdle.

On some level, I'd like to just get out of California and into Arizona, but at the same time, there are still so many beautiful parts of California that we have yet to explore. There is something kind of final and cleansing about getting across a state line and being able to close a chapter or start anew.

So, friends, buckle up if you are along for the ride, because I have a feeling this is going to be one crazy adventure!