Background on The Trip

I would describe our family as rather hobbit-like in our habits. Steady, stay-at-home, boring-is-nice folks.  So how did we come to be crammed together into a bedroom on wheels, with an appointment three weeks and 2000 miles away?

My dad's siblings live in Michigan, on the west side near the top of the 'mitten.'  Last year my dad invited us out for a bit of a family reunion.  The kids and Rob, of course, have the whole summer off, and I had three weeks or more of vacation time.  We made the arrangements to rent a small RV and planned to travel across the upper Midwest and see some of America together before the kids grew too old to have fun traveling together. It turned out that my employer was downsizing and I was laid off at the beginning of July.  There's a lot of backstory to explain why I felt happy with the layoff and calm about a big unknown future, but I won't go into that here.  Instead of using my vacation time, I was laid off and given a severance package that included a payout for unused vacation time.

So, there you have it: Mom, Dad, 14 year old and two 11 year old girls, in an overpacked RV, heading east.

One year ago: July 21, 2010

A year ago today I and my family embarked from the San Francisco Bay Area in a rented RV headed East.  We drove up Highway 880 to Interstate 80, and by dinner we were at our first stop: the Reno KOA.  Here are some pictures:

We loved KOA - most had wireless internet and cable hookups, as well as showers and laundry facilities.

Nothing exciting happening today, which is always a good thing.  Weather is clear and warm at last, after weeks of chilly fog and wind.  This weekend's workshop, the first since I was given responsibility for managing our in-house events, went even better than expected, with extra guests arriving Saturday to sign up at the door, and everyone raving about the activities in their evaluations.  Whew!

I finally caught up on the sleep I missed Thursday night when I took the girls to the 12:10am opening of Deathly Hallows Pt. 2.  Yes it is worth seeing, if you've read the books, or at least the first 3.  If you haven't there are a lot of references you won't get.  Also, if at all possible see it in 3-D, there were several effects that I could tell would be spectacular.

Oldest daughter, now known as Pepper, dressed as Beletrix, and middle daughter Gabby was a younger version of Hermione: school uniform with a Griffendor tie.  There were fewer costumed moviegoers than I expected, but still at least 25% of the audience.

It looks like that may be the most interesting event of the summer, at least I hope so.  I don't know where the time is going, but we are already half-way through.  Now, THAT'S exciting!