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Vacation kickoff with Pokémon at Beef's
Vacation kickoff with Pokémon at Beef'sPlanning, packing, animals and we are on our way!!!
A couple of you guys might have followed my last blog (www.mytb.org/starlingsacrossthepond) and I was pleased with it but maaaan it was a commitment!
The main reason I start, continued and completed the blog was because it was just an amazing once in a lifetime trip and I really wanted to share it with folks.
I have to say that as much of a task as it was it was very well received, grammar errors, incorrect spelling and maybe in incorrect fact or two (whatevs - I gave it a good effort).
So, here I am, attempting to document another two week Starling adventure.
This trip has taken us almost six months to plan so here's the rundown.
We will begin in New York, New York then we will travel to Ithaca, New York and we will end up in Niagara Falls, Canada. We have family that will journey with us at the beginning and end of the trip so that will always add some kind of fun to the adventure.
Planning
I think there are a couple of ways I could spin this story but here's the
Waiting on the shuttle
Waiting on the shuttle one I'm going with.
For some unknown reason our oldest son got involved in orchestra in 6th grade. Three years later he is knee deep involved in his Double Bass.
There have been many of nights where I have been on my back porch after everyone is asleep watching my Bravo TV and 'googling' camps for Double Basses. One night I found the International Society of Double Bassists. Who ever knew such a thing existed!
They have a conference every two years and this year is in Ithaca, New York.
Well, that's where my version of the story begins.
Since December I have been researching New York City, Ithaca and Canada.
Packing
Holy Moly!!! How does one pack for a 14 day trip? One friend said, 'Just pack everything.' Well, ok.
The funny thing about packing for this trip is that I just got back for a Memorial Day beach weekend so in my mind I needed to quick wash our bathing suits and beach towels.
Well, that was until I checked Weather Bug and figured out it was going to be a high of 70 and a low in the 50's. Sooo, quick rethink
of everyone's wardrobe.
Since I've been working from home for almost 10 years find 14 actual outfits is always a fun task. Pretty sure it took me two hours of trying on this with that and mentally burning half of my wardrobe.
Instructing a 13 year old to pack is another task in and of itself. He was instructed to lay out 10 outfits. I approved about 5 and then proceeded to pack the rest of his suitcase myself. Trust me, I know I am doing his future spouse no services.
Packing the 10 year old was a little easier. Mainly because all of his outfits are 'matchy'. You know this one shirt goes with this one pair of shorts.
Then there is the hubs. When we went out honeymoon I found out how much of a stellar packer he was. I think he brought 3 pairs of shorts and a couple of shorts. Ever since then I have double checked his packing. This time I didn't. I figured after 15 years he might have gotten a hang of the packing thing.
Anyway, it took two evenings but we got it done and believe it
or not all bags were under weight! Glory, glory.
Animals
Our poor Charlie girl. We stress ourselves out when we leave her. She has just had a rough year and we worry about how she is going to deal with us being gone for long.
We think Bailey will be fine but he is aging so there is a little worry about him also.
Fortunately we have a whole bunch of folks checking on our babies in the afternoon and one friend is even spending the night with the babies.
We are very lucky to be surrounded by folks that care for our animals.
----
So, now is the time....we decided to drive over instead of staying in a hotel the night before. We drive out of Tallahassee at 1am and we arrived in Jacksonville shortly before 4am. Our flight left at 6am so that gave us plenty of time to stand in lines.
I was very surprised to see so much activity in the airport. It took us about an hour to get our luggage checked and through security.
Kirby and I were so excited to see Starbucks opened. Well, it was opened on
Pokémon Goooo at JIA
Pokémon Goooo at JIA one side of the security check point. Once we got through security the other Starbucks was not. #firstworld problems
As we waited to board the plane the boys battled all the Pokémon gyms and we dreamed of something to eat.
Look at NYC here we come!!
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