So we're really going to do this.

Bish and I have occasionally said that we'd love to take the Slackettes on a cross country trip sometime before they get old enough to go to college.  Well, for a variety of reasons, the summer of 2017 seems like the right time to do so!  This opportunity will likely not present itself again, so we are going to load up the Family Truckster, and make our trek across the US and back!  We are going to be gone from the heat for approximately 5 weeks as we make our way across the Southern portion of the US on our way back East, and then across the Northern portion on our way back West to Arizona.

The girls get out of school on June 1, and we hope to be on the road by 12:30-1 pm that afternoon.  We have told them the route, and asked them to do some research as to what they'd like to do along the way/in each city we hit. Thus far, Darby has some ideas on what she wants to see in Austin, TX, but otherwise, they haven't made the effort.  I'm sure they'll have plenty of time to do research in the car on the drive though!

Maori will be missed by all of us, yes, even Bish i think, during our trip.

A difficult decision (for me at least!) was whether or  not to bring Maori along with us on the trip.  I love to have her with me for most everything I do, and feel she would get along fairly well with the travel.  However, the added difficulty of having her with us, mainly during the driving portions of the trip, outweigh my desire to have her by my side.  If we want to go visit a museum, or some other indoor facility, or on the nights we stay in a hotel, it would just be too much of a hassle to have her with us.  Fortunately we have some friends and neighbors (Thanks to T-Mac, the Banachs, and the Wards) that are willing to care for her while we are gone.  So I know she will be in good hands and happy during our time away.

We plan to take 9 days to drive to the East, and approximately 11-12 days to drive back West.  We will spend some time on the East Coast and some time in Indiana along the way.  The nights on the road will be spent between hotels, camping, and crashing at friend's houses.  It will be fun to reconnect with some old friends that we do not get to see very often, and it will be an opportunity for the girls to meet some people from our lives before kids that they may hear us speak of occasionally.

In addition to seeing our families while in RB and IN, we also hope to catch up with the following during our travels - Becky-Boo, Gick, Mickster, the Indy gang, T-roy, Fahnings, Dr. Thirsty, and "cousin Mary Lane."

One of my favorite pics of Bish and the Slackettes at Funland at RB!

We plan to spend some time in Rehoboth Beach, DE for what will likely be our final visit to Bish's family's beach house in Henlopen Acres.  Bish has decided to get out of the family partnership that owns/manages their grandma's beach house as it no longer makes sense for her.  As a result of this fact, it will be a bittersweet trip for our family.  Bish has been "going to the beach" during the summers since she was maybe 5 days old, and we figure the Slackettes have each probably been out to RB 7-8 times thus far in their lives.  So between the three of them, there are many fond memories of visiting Rehoboth Beach as a child.  The day we drive away from Rolling Road will be a tough one for Bish and the girls, as well as myself.  :-(

After visiting the beach, we plan to spend some time in Indiana seeing my family/friends also.  We will probably spend most of our time while in Indiana at my mom's place near Ft. Wayne, but hope to run down to Indy to see everyone there too.  Hopefully the corn is "knee high by the 4th of July!"  :-)

I have never done a blog before, so I hope to get on here regularly during our trip to give updates as to what we are doing and where we are doing it along the way!  If you have too much time on your hands, and want to read along during our trip, feel free to pay attention.  If you find this concept boring, we won't be offended!

Thanks for following along!

A

PS - Thank you to the Friend family for the inspiration to embark on a trip like this, as well as some pointers too!