I’m not sure how we could have achieved liftoff for our year of family adventure without our short stint in Half Moon Bay.  The kids flew “unaccompanied” to San Francisco to stay with the grandparents and do their first camp of the summer.  This gave us four full days alone to get packed up and out of Boulder. There is no way we could have done this with kids around.  Thank you Gima and Poppa!

When we arrived, all three kids were happily enjoying their own day camps and this special slice of the California coast.  Lorna was in a sailing camp, Lucy in a horse camp and Kai in a flag football camp.  After Will and I arrived, we had a moment to walk on the beach, repack, eat good food, repack, catch up with family and friends, and repack again.  Even though there is less stuff, there’s still the task of keeping the stuff organized and the weight of the luggage equally distributed.

My sister Daisy, her husband Tim and daughter Charlie also came down from Tahoe to say farewell.   Daisy Barnett, Sarah Tinsley, Gary and Carol stopped in to say hello/goodbye.  We checked and rechecked our lists while trying to convince everyone to come visit.

Val fed us well and somehow it feels better when you’re doing something big to touch in with your parents.  Their excitement and encouragement makes it all seem less intense.  But after a while, we were all done talking about it.  It’s just time to go!  So off we went for sixteen and half hours in coach…