Lengthened

Sat, 14 Mar 2009 22:09:15 -0500

We decided to spend a bit more time at my parent’s house... we were having a good time and still had quite a bit of sorting to finish up. Not that we got it all done, but it’s improved... we got through about half the boxes in the garage. Hopefully if it is a bit nicer tomorrow and Zoë is feeling better (she’s not exactly sick, just sorta clingy/not feeling great) we can get the other half sorted. Then we can put what little we are keeping into bins and label them, freeing up space for our NEXT shipment to be stored in the garage...sigh.

In other news, we’ve decided to have an early birthday party for Zoë before we leave. I know it seems silly, since babies don’t remember, but it’s important to me - we didn’t have a baby shower, a party when we moved back, etc. and I want to celebrate my baby with the family.

Hopefully it will be a nice time, and it’s a good last time to see everyone before we leave on our next trip.

So, those of you who do read this blog, what would you like to see in the new format? podcasts? photos? videos? and specific subject matter regarding our trip?

New Name...

Sun, 8 Mar 2009 22:38:55 -0500

Help me name my new blog -

Some ideas to keep in mind:

We aren’t working during this “economic crisis”
We have a 9 month old (the “rat” in two cats and a rat)
We will be taking our two cats along
We purchased a 5th wheel and extended cab pickup
We might even consider ourselves gypsies...

I am looking for a good name - something catchy, short/memorable, and a bit funky... person who gives us the name gets a prize - closest submission if we pick our own,

so HELP!

Please!

Repatriation

Sat, 7 Mar 2009 04:29:17 -0600

Well, it’s finally time for me to update my blog. We repatriated on Jan 20. In NYC. Sort of a mistake when you consider that half the country was in DC for the inauguration, rental cars were nowhere to be found, but we managed to work out an upgrade from our reservation (a good thing, as we barely fit even WITH the upgrade - we tried upgrading the reservation beforehand but there were NO available SUVs from DC to NYC!) As you may recall, we have two cats. When traveling with cats from hong kong to the US, they can fly as excess baggage with the required paperwork/vaccinations, however, american based airlines have a minimum temperature requirement, and the flight must be a direct flight...Asian based airlines will fly animals in any weather, but offer no direct flights to Chicago. Grr. We ended up flying to NYC and driving to my brother Daniel’s house.

From there we have gone to visit the family - Starting with my brothers, Stirling’s parents, my cousins Dawn and Keri, my parents, my Aunt Connie and cousins Cori and Kati, and of course everyone’s growing families, and soon Zoë’s great grandparents (Stirling’s paternal grandparents) and then we set off on our next adventure.

Stirling and I have spent a lot of time figuring out what to do - should I return to work in May, does Stirling need to find something paying less, just to have a job right now, can we afford to wait a while longer and take some vacation time, etc. After Stirling had a date with a spreadsheet and our bank accounts, we made a decision.

We have made an agreement to purchase a 5th wheel and extended cab pickup - we plan on going to see every state west of the Mississippi. Please let me know things that you recommend doing in any state. We have an average of 8 days per state, but obviously some states will take less time and some will take more. We will be hitting the major sites, the grand canyon, yellowstone, the grand tetons, etc. We will probably go see a show in Vegas, but we might need to stay in a hotel with available childcare there, or find a kid friendly show...

Of course we have much more planned, but I wanted to share my excitement and get your suggestions.

Look forward to a new design coming soon!