Sunday, November 18, 2012

Travel time


The USA has been at the top of my travel bucket list since I was a little girl. Even though I do my best to be a patriotic Aussie and I know I live in the Lucky Country, I believe I may have been misplaced in the Cosmos at some stage and should have been born American.

I admit to an entirely romantic notion of the country, founded on all the stories I've read, the songs I've listened to and the movies I've seen.

This trip has been many years in the planning, interrupted by babies and study and financial restarts. Given my penchant for procrastination I would probably never have actually made the trip except that middle child Sophie has gone to the US to study for 6 months and has thus provided the impetus for me to actually put the trip wheels into motion.

My original, literary based itinerary dreams included driving through the Mid West a la Little House on the Prairie,  shopping at Needful Things whilst traipsing through Stephen King's Maine, being Sleepless in Seattle and tracing Scarlett O'Hara's path through the deep South.

However, even with nearly 8 weeks we can't see and do it all so the itinerary has been trimmed to what I hope is a manageable one. Sophie's placement is at the University of Texas in Austin and so that is where our trip will begin. From there we'll head to New Orleans, via Memphis if we have time or Houston if we don't. Then we'll fly to Florida for some warmth and R & R before flying north to the Winter of Washington and New York. We're booked to stay at the Grand Canyon for New Year's Eve and then it's on to Disneyland for a few days before we come home.

WOW! The very thought of doing all that is surreal. But it's about to happen. We've slaved away for the last 3 months to make sure everything at home and school is under control, some lovely people have moved in to mind the house & look after the menagerie. I've packed and repacked into what seems like a ludicrously small bag for 8 weeks. Geoff has packed on the way to the car ( and as a result has NO shirts!)

Now, here we are at the airport with child no1 and her husband and child no 3 and his iPod getting ready to board a big tin can and fly over the sea to catch up with child no 2.

For someone who has lived her entire life in the shadow of Mt Shadwell, it's a big adventure!

If you'd like to follow our adventures you'll find them on our travel blog demansersintheusa .
Until then, thanks to everyone who has helped us to get ready and wished us well. Bon voyage to me!