Is This Really Happening?!

The calendar tells me its June 7th.  There are two stuffed backpacks, a suitcase and a carry on by the front door.  It would appear that we begin The Long Awaited Adventure today but it just doesn't seem possible.  All these years of dreaming and almost an entire year of planning and . . . here we are?  Really???  I'm afraid I'm going to wake up and it'll only be March.

I've been awake since 3am trying to get my feeble brain to comprehend the fact that we are about to attempt to walk across the country of Great Britain.  It just won't register.  I sure hope it engages before I have to start navigating or we'll be lost before we even begin!

It's the last day of school and Lauren wants to go to say goodbye to one of her favorite teachers who is leaving the Keys next month to spend a year teaching in the Dominican Republic.  So off she'll go, leaving me with another two hours to triple check our packing list and then Doug and I will pick her up on our way to Miami Intl (Hell On Earth).  It'll probably be a tearful goodbye knowing I won't see Dougie for a month and that we'll be gone for Father's Day and our Anniversary too.  But absence makes the heart grow fonder. . . it's hard to imagine feeling more fond but time will tell.

Thanks to everyone for your well wishes and farewell gifts!  We'll take you with us in spirit. Nicole, we'll dip your stone into the Irish Sea, carry it across England and then toss it into the North Sea.  For those of you here in Islamorada, please check in on Dougie now and then to make sure he's surviving as Head Dog Handler, Chief Fish Feeder and Senior Turtle Keeper.  I'd like to know that he's eating decent meals too - not just PB&J sandwiches.

May the Coast to Coast weather gods deliver the perfect weather, may our feet land firmly on safe ground every step of the way, and may those we love be waiting for us upon on return!