Houston, we are five days from launch.

I’d like to say things have been super busy here in preparation for the trip but, if I’m being totally honest, I pretty much pencil sketched this whole thing into place a month or so ago. So right now it’s a lot of just waiting around and/or working.

Not necessarily in that order.

While drawing it up, I spent some time attempting to calculate how long we could drive each day and still maintain a happy Daphne, which has been estimated at roughly 7 hours, with an hour break in between for lunch/park playing. I also searched out hotels with indoor pools through the entirety of the trip, with the exception of one night when we’re staying with family. So hopefully this whole thing will end up being a good time for Daph.

Just in case you’d like to play Indiana Jones with us, here you go:

And there you have it.

Okay technically Day 5 does exceed my 7-hour limit, but hopefully we’ll have worked up the stamina for that leg by then. Just in case, though, we’ll be sure to have an extra long lunch in a park somewhere in the vicinity of Mt. Cobb.

After that there’s just a short hop from there up to Canaan where, at the time of this writing, it is a beautiful and clear 30° evening.

That’s not to say the next several days here in town are going to be easy ones, mind you. They’ll be filled with lots of last minute wrap-ups, puzzling out a Tetris block of luggage in the rear cargo area of the Outback, and, of course, some difficult goodbyes.

As truly wonderful as everyone has been with allowing us to camp out during the unexpectedly long waiting period between the sale of our house and our eventual egress, I think we’re all ready to move on and start this new chapter of our lives, whatever that may bring.

I know I am.

See you in a few.