Well now, I jumped out the bed at 4:20 this morning, ready to make a go of it. Rather wish I hadn’t done that, but I guess I can doze on the 6-hour drive to Hershey, yummy (I never have to drive on our road trips — how great is that?). If I won the Super Bowl and they asked me what I was going to do now, I’d shout, I’m goin’ to CHOCOLATE WORLD! The Thriller, in his inimitable way, asked me last night: “If it’s supposed to be 99 degrees in Hershey tomorrow, how the heck are we gonna haul around treat bags full of chocolate?” Hmm. Good question. But trust me — I’ll figure it out.

I think we’re both going to skip lunch. Wait, scratch that. We’ll have lunch; it’ll just be here. I’m gettin’ all hypoglycemic just thinking about it.  ::swoon::

So yesterday was crazy, but fabulous. I got to spend some awesome quality time with the Js and with our new 3-week-old grandson, who is a doll and a half. BFF Kay, bless her heart, offered to come get Rousseau since she was driving into town anyway, so I got to have her all to myself for an hour or so, which was nice. Great penultimate day all around.

Although we’re a good week shorter in duration for this year’s Odyssey as compared to the last two, it’s still going to be a great adventure. Speekina — I’m going to make the coffee, hit the shower, and drag the Thriller out of bed. I’ll be updating this space and Facebook, hopefully on a regular basis. Are you ready to go with me? Hugs to all my fiends. Yikes and away!

TravelFink

Welp, the next time I talk to you here, fiends, it will be to say Bon voy-AH-gee!

Today is a day when we sew things up, to wit:

• One final sweep through the house to make sure every power cable, charger, sock, shirt, GPS update and hotel reservation is accounted for
• Lunch with Hannah and the Js, and hopefully a visit with another special little person
• Kaffee klatsch with a pal later in the afternoon
• Last-minute “car food” run
• Take Rousseau out to BFF Kay and Bob’s farm for *his* vacation
• Pack the Finkmobile and lock it in the garage till 6 a.m. tomorrow

Is that it? Am I forgetting anything? The Thriller arranged to stop mail and newspaper weeks ago, so we’re good there. Oh, I know what I’m forgetting — to take you all with me. But I will be with you in spirit, as you always are with me, right? I love it when you “ride along” in my silly little journeys.

Yikes, the Thriller is vacuuming. I need to look busy er somethin. Until tomorrow…

Finkly

Happy Rat, hee!

Well…a week and a day, but I wanted to yammer about it this morning.  I am a happy rat.

It’s almost time for the New England Odyssey. Pre-flight preparations are already underway in the dining room. That might explain, incidentally, why Rousseau is glued to our legs all danged day long. Pup hates suitcases, and there are two of them sitting beside the dining room table. He has learned to equate luggage with leaving, and it totally shakes up his juju to see us messing with bags.

He doesn’t know it yet, but he will be happy when we leave, because he gets to go to BFF Kay and Bob’s farm for his vacation while we’re on ours. He loves it out there, so he’ll be content. Doesn’t help him much during the packing stage, however, so he gets extra hugs and biscuits lately.

Speaking of packing…after two major road trips in as many years, and a dozen small jaunts in between, we’ve arrived at a pretty solid take-along list. There are two things we don’t leave home without:

1. Small fan. Like this one. Nothing can rob you of sleep faster than weird or annoying sounds in hotels, or worse — no noise at all. Silence can kill. So we always pack the little black noisemaker, and it is a life saver. (We have to have the white noise on every night at home, too.)
2. Power strip. Hotels are slowly “getting it,” in that they’re beginning to wire more outlets in their rooms. Still, most leave us wanting, so we bring our own volts. By the time you schlep in a laptop, Nook, iPad, two cell phones and a GPS, you’ve got most hotel rooms loaded past the maximum.

Of course, we try to pack light. In my mind, I go through all the outfits I want to take, then take away half of them. Seriously. We’re going to be either walking or sitting; I don’t need six pairs of shoes and four sweaters.

We also take a cooler of snacks, lunch stuff and drinks, to avoid extortion from convenience stores and travel plazas. I have made many a ham-and-cheese sandwich at 70 MPH. Saves time and bones.

So, fellow road warriors: do you have any cool packing ideas, or rituals you go through before and during your trips? I’m up for hearing them and using them!

It’s a bit different than the original itinerary. But with plumbing, dog, car and other surprise expenses over the last six months, we had to dip into vacation savings, which forced us to scale down a bit. It’s fine, though; we are going to have a ball with what we’ve got, and we both feel incredibly blessed to be able to do it at all.

Behold, Odyssey 2012:

• Gettysburg, PA
• Hershey, PA
• Foxwoods, CT (5th largest casino in the world, wahooey– total Vegas sensory overload)
• Cape Cod National Seashore, MA
• Hyannis, MA
• Salem, MA
• Lexington and Concord battlefields, MA
• Bangor, ME
• Bar Harbor, ME
• Café Lafayette Dinner Train and Mt. Washington, NH
• Fort Ticonderoga, NY
• Somewhere for the last day — we’re doing it on the fly

It looks like we’d be gone for weeks instead of just ten days, but we had to keep reminding ourselves of how *unlike* last year this is. I mean, it takes less than an hour to drive the entire width of Rhode Island. That’s a trip to Cleveland for us. With the exception of the distance across Pennsylvania, these places are deceptively close together.

Of course, the stops along the way will make it more fun. While we have no planned stops in Rhode Island and Vermont, we’ll surely enjoy the unplanned ones.

Can’t think about all that at the moment, though. I’ve got the Js upstairs. They will be stirring any minute now, and then it’s breakfast and hit the door runnin’. Busy (but fun) day ahead.

FO

PS — hugs to BoomR today. His sweet dog, Duke, has a malignant tumor.

No, not the Patriots — are you kidding? (I’m officially pulling for the G-Men.) Actually, I mean our upcoming New England Odyssey.

Last night, we nailed down the final lodging arrangements, thereby sealing our itinerary in wet cement. I mean, everything’s changeable, but we’re basically sticking with this plan, which is slightly different than our previous skeleton outline. We’ve decided against Canada and Detroit on the way home, and we’ll bypass some points in New York. But bring on all the rest, baby. I am ready today.

We’re especially looking forward to Bangor, Bar Harbor, Cape Cod, and the fabulous scenery on the Cafe Lafayette Dinner Train. Then there’s staying in the historic Hawthorne in old Salem. BoooOoOOooooOo (I understand the Hawthorne is haunted — terrific). Driving through — and stopping along — the countryside towns will be unforgettable, I’m sure. Lots of photography.

Fort Ticonderoga will be fantastic, but I still doesn’t wants to go on the ferry. Hershey, Philadelphia, Atlantic City, Foxwoods:  all fun diversions. Man, snap your fingers and it’s June. Don’t I wish…

But nope, it’s still January, and I’m still going to work. Working all weekend, too. Innat nice? How about you? Any fun plans?

5:30 a.m. edit — Just got the call for a 2-hour delay. Now that definitely makes the list of Things That Do Not Bite.