We have started the whole packing portion of the event. Media is packed and we are trying to figure out what clothes are going. Packing for 2 1/2 months is not as easy as one might imagine. We have to have everything we might want in our Kia Rio. We have to have the Gluten Free items that we need. The GF cookware to avoid cross-contamination. We need CPAPs, computers, meds, everything. Are we going to forget something? Yes. Are we going to be okay anyway? Absolutely. There is a plan to help us live better and healthier, and if you think about it, it is easy to see how. We cannot eat all the time so we have to eat smart in order to ensure we don't waste a lot of money. We want to get out into nature, see the areas we are traveling to and not just the rooms we are renting. We want to get to know new people and hear new stories. It is going to be great, if our bodies hold out throughout the trip. Our health problems are many and varied but we honestly have no intention of letting them win. Sure we have to be smart and take our limitations into consideration but they don't get control, we do. Any way, back to the salt mines.

The house is a fracking sty. Granted that is because we are packing things up and switching rooms and Katie is redecorating and moving furniture and bringing in more of their stuff and time is running down. So yeah, we are stressed. We leave here in 7 days, counting today, and there is so much to get accomplished. I know we are going to make it but man this is crazy making. The good thing is that we have managed to get rid of a massive amount of stuff that we were just sort of holding onto. Now that we have taken care of that, I for one feel lighter. We have lightened our load considerably. Naturally we still have a mountain of books, but we have managed to reduce that as well. I'm not sure what to do with that. But it does mean that in the end, there is enough room for all the stuff that is here.

Where we are

Working hard to both finish the move in after the room switch as well as work on figuring out what is and is not going to come with us. That is not as simple as you might think. We need to pack for 2 1/2 months on the road with little clue as to what weather events will transpire or how things will play out. True, that is part of the fun but it is a touch annoying in the prep phase. I have little doubt that we will be ready and head off on schedule. The Walkabout is sure to be fun. Our first stop has all the beauty and nature of the Shenandoahs right there, so there will be a great deal of suffering. It should be an experience, what with going out hiking and such a lot more than we have. How our lives are going to change should certainly be a great part of the fun.

We've Moved... to the other end of the house

Today was moving day, when Heather, Katie, Justin, and I swapped bedrooms. It may not seem like a big deal, but if Hogwarts were addressing letters to us, they would have to direct it to a slightly new location. The kids are very excited about having a larger space, a larger bed, a larger bathroom, separate closets... and Heather and I are adjusting to our drastically pared down "stuff" in a much smaller bedroom.

As we travel on this Walkabout, we'll be in a variety of different rooms - probably of different sizes, and with different features (good and bad), so this is a good transition-stage for us, I think. Still, it's new, and smaller, and wow is our HVAC unit loud!!!

We're getting closer and closer, 15 days and we'll be on the road for real. We've been collecting links and posts and notes about all sorts of interesting and fun things to do in Virginia, beautiful trails to hike, waterfalls to picnic near, giant pencils to visit, and more. I'm not sure how, exactly, we'll narrow it down to an actual, reasonable list for the measly little 31 days we'll have there, but at least we know we have options. Once we get there, we'll also be picking our next location and booking our Airbnb spot for September.

I would have included photos of the debris left in the wake of packing/moving/sorting/selling, just in my studio alone, but my phone is in another room, and really, if you've seen one messy room, you've seen them all, right? And if you haven't seen one messy room, who the hell are you and how did you manage that?

So in order to get ready for this Walkabout, Cindy and I have consolidated our stuff and recently held a yard sale. It did well and we got rid of a lot of stuff. We made some money for ourselves and then gave a lot of stuff to the Pagan Yard Sale to help our community. That was nice. Thing is, I hate having Yard Sales. When Cindy's mother died we cleared out her house and during the process we held two three day yard sales where we sold a lot of stuff. This yard sale will count as the seventh day of selling her stuff as there was a good amount of stuff that was hers. That whole process of two huge yard sales, combined with grief and mourning really hit us hard. The biggest reason I am know so anti-yard sale is due to that time. The recent yard sale brought a lot of that back, especially as somehow we scheduled it on the anniversary of her passing. So not fun. Like for real. However, we have still lightened our load and this will make it far easier to go walkabout. This way we will be able to have the stuff we really wanted with us and not be over loaded. Granted there is a small mountain of books in boxes that will be living in the garage but such is the life of a couple of bibliophiles. We are working on trying to narrow our book list down but so it goes. Three weeks until we drive away from here and start the journey.