Hitch up the wagons. We're headed south.

In just 6 short days we'll be heading south. I can't believe how fast the time has gone. It seems like just the other day we had so much time to get ready and pack and everything and now our countdown has entered the single digits. It's bizarre.

I mapped out our route and booked our hotels last night. We're going to make the 18 hour drive over the course of 3 days. Partly for Jonah's sanity and partly to help me stay awake behind the wheel... always a bonus. Dave and his dad will drive the 24' truck with Dave's car in tow; Jonah, Deb and I will follow in the Envoy. The first day we'll travel to a Hampton Inn just outside of St. Louis, which is about a 5 hour drive from Sugar Grove. The second day we'll travel 7 hours (plus stops) to Oklahoma City where we'll be staying at a Comfort Inn. Which leaves us with about 6 hours on the third day.

Both hotels have pools, so we're planning on bringing our swim suits. I figure that will be a great way to let Jonah get out some energy after sitting in the car all day. He just adores the water!

Well, I think that's about it for our travel plans. Dave and I are making progress on the packing. We've got the front hall closet done (well except for a couple weird-sized items). Saturday my friend Tanya came over (love her!) and helped pack up 9 big boxes of kitchen stuff. It's a bit of a challenge when we want to cook something, so we just pretend we're camping... I hope the next tenant doesn't mind the fire pit in the middle of the dining room.

I finished packing up the china cabinet on Sunday. Dave has packed all of his clothes other than we he'll need to wear until we get down there. We've weeded out of a bunch of books and papers, but still have a ways to go with all that. Sunday night I organized all of Dave's tools and what-not in the garage (a huge task, but wow! does it feel good). I've been doing A LOT of organizing and weeding out. Last night we pulled everything out of our attic and have added a significant amount to the YUGE and steadily growing Goodwill pile. It feels really great to not be moving a bunch of junk we don't need one more time. Yeah!

In related news we found out that our neighbors are selling their houses for what they paid for them 3 years ago or in some cases selling for less than what they paid. Well isn't that just a kick in the teeth!? So in lieu of bringing a five-figure check to closing we're going to rent out our townhouse. So if you know of anyone looking for a lovely "two-suite luxury villa" in Sugar Grove please send them our way. You can see details about the listing here. More photos and details coming soon... as soon as we get all of these boxes out of here!

Well I'm off to the garage for some more packin' fun!