YEEHAW!!

Well, this is it - FINALLY time to get going! The van is mostly packed and ready to go, all fueled up. We just have to toss in our suitcases, the cooler and a few last minute items and we will be off.

I am so excited that I cannot sleep - not a good thing when the plan is to drive for about 15 hours tomorrow (oops, today, I mean). Our goal is to make it to Sault Ste Marie, which is apparently about 800 miles (1286 km for those of you not born under the old imperial system), and is about a 15-hour drive (not counting time spent at the border or in Thief River Falls stocking up on goodies for the trip). Needless to say, it will be a long day, and that long day starts pretty soon. We are planning on staying at a hotel tomorrow night, but not too sure where. Sometimes, I drive my poor parents a bit crazy. They are always well-organized travellers, with hotels booked and waiting for them. I am much more of a wanderer, I mean we do have a destination in mind and will do our best to get there, but I won't beat myself up if we don't quite make it all the way (I'll leave that for the kids to do)! So because of that, I don't want to book a hotel room, I would rather take my chances (worst case scenario, we pitch the tent in pitch darkness...could be worse, right)?

Now that the trip will begin in earnest, I will be able to post pictures of interesting things we see along the road (no roadkill, though). Jessica wants to take pictures of every signpost for every state and city we go through - thank heavens for digital cameras!

But enough from me for tonight, time to catch what sleep I can! First stop - Tim's (gonna NEED coffee in the morning)!

One more day to go!

Only one more day of work and packing, and we are on the road! I am definitely excited now, I don't know how I am going to get any work done tomorrow......I have no doubt that the day will drag by, only because I so don't want to be there! Oh well, suck it up, buttercup!

Vincent the van is all serviced and ready to go, & has a new girlfriend, Navi the GPS. What a neat little toy - it even comes with some type of traffic information system, it will make it so much easier navigating the strange places we are headed. It also has bluetooth capabilities, which means that it will work for handsfree operation of my cell phone - very handy, since I don't know which areas (if any) have the same type of traffic law prohibiting cell phone use while driving! So, between Navi (a name which may bring back memories to those of you who are familiar with the Legend of Zelda-Ocarina of Time), the 185-page TripTiks from CAA and the 15+ maps, we will certainly know where we are going! The only question is, how long will it take us to get lost??

I'll just finish off the quick trip summary that I had started last night, I think I left us in Philadelphia. From there, it is off to Washington, where we will be spending a few days visiting the Smithsonian Museum. I suspect that it won't be enough time, but we will do as much as we can. From Washington, we are heading down to New Orleans, via Mobile, Alabama. While in New Orleans, I am planning on checking out the French Quarter and Bourbon Street, and apparently we will be going to St Louis Cemetery..... From there we are headed to Baton Rouge and St Francisville, the home of the Myrtles Plantation, one of the most haunted homes in America (http://www.myrtlesplantation.com/). Once we have managed to scare ourselves silly, we will be ready for a change of pace - Memphis and Graceland! From there, we will be going to Nathan Bedford Forrest State Park...for those of you that aren't familiar with Mr. Forrest, he was a brilliant general during the Civil War (Jordan wrote a paper on him, so we might as well check out the park since we will be on his home turf). We thought about going to Nashville, but I just can't imagine why we would even want to go near that city - none of us can tolerate the majority of country music! So we will be making our way to Lawrence, Kansas, the home of Sam & Dean Winchester. Of course, if you have never seen the tv show Supernatural, that will have absolutely no meaning for you! From there, it is the final leg of the trip, with a stop in Minneapolis to check out the Mall of the Americas, and one final drive home...whew, I am tired just thinking about it! So, lots of miles, lots of sights to see, and lots of fun. I know a few people who are trying to sneak into the back of the van tomorrow night, those wannabe stowaways!

Two days - now I'm starting to panic/get excited....

Well, another day finished, only 2 more days of work to go! In that time, though, I have to pick up our passports, get some US$, pick up my van, do some laundry and so on and so on and so on.....oh well, c'est la vie, a woman's work is never done!

We did manage to get alot of things sorted through today, though, and we did get the basement better organized. Hmmm, I'm wondering if leaving for 3 weeks holidays only 4 weeks after moving is such a good idea - well, of course it was! All that unpacking will still be here when we get back, and there will be lots of time to get unpacked when we are back.

So, now, a little bit about our trip and why I think it might be worth blogging about. The kids decided that they wanted to go on a bit of a road trip this summer, & picked New Orleans as our ultimate destination. From there, it has evolved quite substantially! The rather ambitious trip starts out with us heading to Ottawa to see Parliament Hill - only because the kids want to go to Washington & I feel that as Canadians they really should see our parliament buildings before checking out the White House. Then, we'll go through Montreal and Quebec City, and down to Bangor, Maine. Why Bangor, you ask? Well, it is the home of Stephen King, who would have to be the most popular author in this house! Not that he'll be inviting us in for tea anytime soon, but we will be on the lookout for the wrought iron bat gates! From there, it is on to Salem, to check out the museums on the witch trials, then through Boston, New York & Philadelphia, with a stop in Centralia, PA - apparently a modern day ghost town. We plan on visiting the Mutter Museum in Philadelphia - check out the website at http://www.collphyphil.org/MUTTER.ASP for more info! Yes, we will be going to New Orleans, we are just taking a bit of a detour on the way there!

While I would love to provide further details about our trip, it is way past my bedtime! My plan is to keep this blog going when I have internet access - definitely not when we are camping, lol - oh, that reminds me, I have to get more detail on the available campgrounds along our route - so much to do, so little time. Well, now that I have gone full circle, I think it must be time to pack it in for tonight!

Three more days.....

Until we leave on our grand tour - still lots to do, but whatever doesn't get done won't get done, lol! A lot of planning has gone into the route we will be taking - thank heavens for CAA online "TripTiks", they look like they will really help to get us where we are going. Right now, I am busy printing out the 185 pages of our planned trip - yup, lots of driving, 9,653.7 km (5.998.7 mi)!

The next couple of days will be spent getting our camping gear packed up for the trip. I have 2 tents, and 2 sets of tent poles - I need to figure out which ones go with which tent, which just might make things somewhat easier when it comes time to pitch the tent. Apparently, Jessica has built some pretty good playlists, and she is working on a reading list. Whenever we travel, we listen to music (yes, loudly) or read aloud - she loves to read! Jordan loves to listen in, unless, of course, I happen to be singing along to the music. Then, he tends to cover his ears and try to shrink so that no one will see him (hard to do when you are 6'2")!

That's it for tonight, I do still have to work this week, and tomorrow Vincent goes for his new eyes - which translates into my taking my van (aka Vincent) to get the windshield replaced (new eyes). This unusual travelling family tends to name our possessions.....don't ask!

The countdown begins.....

We (myself and my two teenage children) are going on a road trip for our summer vacation - and quite a road trip it is! It is a bit random, really, with our path being determined by a conglomeration of places/things that we want to see. We have all contributed ideas for places we want to go or things we want to do, so it promises to be totally fascinating! We have 3 weeks to do the trip, and a lifetime worth of things to do in those 3 weeks! And what am I doing instead of getting ready for the trip? Why, I am staying up late to get this blog created, of course - I mean, let's get our priorities straight, here! There is quite the thunderstorm happening right now which is keeping me awake, so I might as well do something constructive, lol!

The countdown begins tonight - 4 more sleeps and we will be on the road! There is a lot to do between now and then, so - who needs sleep?? Ready or not, we will be on the road on Saturday morning, bright and early. Okay, the sun will be bright, and the hour will be early, enough said! What's left to do? Everything - again, enough said! On that note, time for one of those sleeps (elusive though they may be)!