Day 1A

I guess you could call this the first day of our vacation, though it's not the official embarking point of our big journey across the US. We are up in Franconia to celebrate our birthdays at the Franconia Inn. We've been coming here for the past nine years and they know us well, as we do they. The White Mountains are a special place and it's just a beautiful place to be, though we got hit this year with the weird weather. It's been rainy and gloomy, as it has been all summer.

Friday was a hectic day, we had to tie up a bunch of loose ends before going away, and R had to go into work to get a few last minute things together. We stayed at home, met with PV the pet person, and then got ready to leave. I've concluded that though it's a little crazy, it's nice to take a trip before your trip. Not only does it give you a taste of what needs to be done, but it gets your mind in travel mode so that when you take your big trip, you're in the right frame of mind. I love to travel, it's the planning and anticipation that get to me. I just get anxious, it's a by-product of being a fearful home-body who never took chances and was afraid to explore.

The thing is, I can rationally think about how great travel is all the rewards, but I'm still pensive about it. If not for R and the kids, I might never leave the comfort and safety of our front yard, so I can be thankful that I have my family there to make me brave.

The kids were excited to no end to get going, and their enthusiasm is infectious. They were literally counting the days and hours and then minutes until we got here. How can you not love that? We managed to clean out the fridge of things that weren't going to make it during our absence, which meant a lot of eating, freezing, and composting. There are still loads of cucumbers and I think we'll make pickles out of them since giving them away is not as simple as it may seem.

There is still a lot to prepare, but I'll discuss that at a later date. Until then, thanks for reading.