There and Back again or the Sunshine Trip: Day 0

The day before we were to drive Cait, Kitten, and Gwedel across our massive country to Sunshine we decided to try and get some stuff done. Test packing the Explorer and the Trailer seemed to be the most logical things to attend. We had two stupid car seats, a cooler for baby and grownup foods, and space for a cute plotthound lab mix to consider; not to mention the 3 awkward adults that had to cram between the car seats as we rotated drivers.

Don't know what a plotthound is? Look at this sweety.

This isn't Nymnym but it's close to what she looks like, she's got a more lab shaped head and I think her brindle is prettier.


Cait and I thought that we could get everything on the trailer. HA! And I say that in the nicest way that you can cough out that sound. Ha! There is a rule that I forgot, how I forgot this with all the times that I've picked up and moved on to the next adventure baffles me. It is simply this: your crap will expand.
Less simply put; all that stuff that fits neatly (or not so neatly) in your home will suddenly gain it's mass three times over when you pack it. That small stack of boxes sitting innocuously in the living room waiting to be sailed over the land and or sea will multiply like tribbles as you move them from the living room to the moving truck. You're shoes will have babies, your books will gain holiday weight, and your furniture will grow awkward edges and generally change shape.

I'm not kidding. It happens every time. Those few things ultimately take up far too much room somehow. Maybe it's our brains tricking us, or some bad divine joke as small penance for all those white lies we tell. It doesn't change the fact that it is and it's fracking annoying.

So while Cait and I are haranguing boxes and baby cribs and tables that are heavier than a Kaeber the Construction Duck decides it's a grand idea to throw a little going away party for Cait and the babies.
Oh right, Cait was living with the Construction Duck for a while till she could get out to her beloved.
Which means we have to split time between what we need to be doing and what we'd rather be doing (i.e. Drinking good Irish rum and chatting with the great people Cait's leaving in Sandland).

We ended up deciding to pack that night after everyone left. "That's a terrible Idea Ashes!" I can hear you all thinking. But I assure you that it was a great idea. Why? Because everyone else has babies that's why. When you have a 3 year old you're not hanging around for 4 hours or more very many places. There's bed time to keep.
We didn't count on the super rad chick Tasha being there, or at least I didn't. Then we underestimated the powers of distraction that gave the Construction Duck his name.  You see, the Construction Duck has Jew Magic of the most powerful kind. He can distract you from anything and everything and somehow does this most all the time. We don't know how he does it, he doesn't even know how he does it, but that's why he's the Construction Duck and we love him anyways.
Once every one took off to make it home for 'bedtime' we started to load things up. Then the Construction Duck pulled out Star Trek the newest motion picture with Chris Pine and the most attractive dude on screen... Karl Urban... dude's hot yo.
Anysmokingactorgoodness, he was deliberately working against us. I know that we got really tired trying to fight the magic. I'm not sure we prevailed. But at some point we got the trailer loaded, we thought, really really well.

Then it was bed time for us. For at Odark30 we would be up and going on the path to the other side of North America.

~The light heart lives long.