We're on our way!

Whew. We'll, no turning back now. We're on the plane to Hawaii for a few days before we continue to Sydney on Christmas Eve. After several nights of little sleep, I think we did it. Please do me a favor - if you ever sense we start accumulating so much stuff, please smack us. :)

It's truly amazing how friends and family really come through when you need them. Polly's folks came up to visit the week before, and were troopers sleeping on a mattress that was on the floor. Joan was a huge help packing glasses and such. Also, Dalnesses were kind enough to let us borrow one of their many vehicles for a few days after we sold ours, Bevans were kind enough to lend us an area in their attic for things we didn't take (remember, if the house starts leaning, you may want to move that toolbox), Lee King was kind enough to winterize my boat (ok, ex-boat) as well as help move stuff, the Russells were kind enough to let us do laundry at their house, and the Branns were kind enough to lend us the Rodeo for a day so we could take 5+ loads to recycle/garbage plus loads to Goodwill, not to mentioned giving us a ride to the airport at 5:15am. Thanks everyone...I can only hope to repay your kindness when you come visit!

We've also been fortunate enough to have some great send off parties (work friends, sailing friends, dinners, and family "Christmas at Thanksgiving" party). Only regret I have is that we don't do things like that often enough. Maybe we should move more often? :)

A few updates since my last post. We SOLD our boat! :) That, plus getting a 2 year rental contract on our house are a huge relief and puts us in a good position to enjoy our adventure worry free.
Speaking of busy, we have a stressful itinerary planned for the next couple of days. We arrive in Maui on Sunday 17th and staying at Kanappali Beach, then on Monday night/Tuesday morning at 3:30am (yes Lee, I'm aware there are 2 of those in a day), we'll be doing the bike ride down the mountain. Wednesday morning, we'll be doing a 2 tank SCUBA trip to Molokini Crater. Friday morning we fly back to Honolulu for the day, and plan to see Pearl Harbor. Saturday morning we fly to Sydney, and arrive Christmas Eve (we cross the date line on that flight so lose a day). Christmas Day will consist of going to the beach with Rob, Nikky, and our hopefully soon-to-be-adopted nephews Ben and baby Jake. Rob told me after the beach, we come back and BBQ for Christmas Dinner. On the 26th, which is Boxing Day in Australia, Polly and I hope to see the start of the "Sydney to Hobart" sailboat race. I've read that some 200,000 people find spots along the Sydney Harbor to watch the start of the race, which takes racers to Hobart, Tasmania across some pretty rough ocean! Historically, there have been some intense conditions and a few casualties. Should be a fun week and a great start to our adventure.

Please add comments and send emails. We miss you all!

Aloha!
Jason & Polly