I could have bored you with four days of prep but, I didn’t–so be thankful!. We left last night about 9:00 PM. Our original plan was to leave in the morning but we couldn’t wait. The plan was to drive a couple hours and at least get out of GA. We stopped just north of Nashville so, we had a great start. Spent the night at a Love’s just off 65 and got another early start in the morning.

After arriving at our daughter Christy’s house in Indy we went to see their studio here. The last time we saw it it was almost done. That was bout 2 years ago. It’s done.

After leaving the studio we went to Restoration Hardware and then to lunch at Public Greens. It was a great little restaurant and we highly recommend it to anyone staying in the area. Next stop was Cake Bake for some birthday cake to celebrate my birthday and Tony’s birthday.

Next we went to an Escape Room in Fisher. Where we camethisclose to solving the mystery and escaping the room. But, we had sooooo much fun. A little FYI if you order a drink make sure there is time to drink it. I had a delightfully delicious chocolate martini but, they no sooner gave it to me–and seriously, I had one sip when our host came to collect us and take us to our room. No drinks were allowed but she said we could drink it as we walked. Off we went–2 flights of stairs. Have you ever tried to drink while walking up the stairs. When I hit a landing I sucked some down. I think they do that so you have to suck it down and then you can’t focus. If you have never been to an Escape room you definitely have to try it. Below tells you a little about it.

We headed back to the house where he had some Indian food (Leeman ordered and I have no idea where it came from but it was really good.) Just hung out with the family before some of them leave. Tomorrow we will hang with Tony and see a little bit of what Indiana has to offer.

You know it is getting close when John moves the camper next to the house.

John and I have totally different views on packing. He can pack for 2 weeks in just a backpack and he does it a week in advance. John is always prepared (to my benefit), always on time. In fact–if you invite John to a home party he will be there exactly on time. So give John a later time, unless you want him to be there while you are still trying to get ready–because we all know when planning a party we don’t want anyone to arrive the minute the party is supposed to start.

I am a last minute packer. I can’t even think about what to pack until the day of–but somehow this is different. I have to pack winter and summer clothes. I am still unpacking from my trip to FL so I had lots of laundry to do today. My focus for today was to pack winter clothes–after all I still have 4 days.

Long sleeved shirts and hoodies.

There is more than it appears. Winter coat and gloves are in the camper. Looking for my hiking boots–I know I will need those. OH crap I need to go buy some socks. I always wear sandals so I really don’t have a lot of socks. I need a hat, I might have to knit that on the way too. This is really hard.

I have spent the the last couple of hours of the day thinking about what to pack. My camera and all equipment is ready to go but not until last minute. I might want to use it before we leave. Laptop, chargers and all the games for travel are stacked on the dining room table. More things I will use before we go. Towels and washcloths are stacked in the bedroom waiting for last minute–I don’t know why.

And the final hours of the day and maybe into the next morning, I focused on resetting an iPad I haven’t used in years. An iPad would be a good thing to have–don’t you think? Anyway, it is finally reset but I can’t connect to the internet–I may have to go to the Apple store. Don’t worry, there is time.

Only 5 days!! Trying to get everything ready and packed so we can leave for our wild adventure. It’s so exciting and so nerve racking at the same time. All the planning and by that I mean watching videos about Alaska, especially by RVer’s who have done this and making lists of places to stop, hot springs, hiking trails, quilt stores. The list goes on and on. Then coordinating with the couple who is traveling with us, and coordinating to meet people along the way. It’s been a lot and now it is almost here.

This National Parks Trivia Game was given to us last night by Carissa–OMG! Is she not too sweet? Such a perfect gift that we will enjoy thoroughly. Thank you Carissa–love you!

We bought a blow up kayak so we could take it with us camping. Our maiden voyage was somewhat unsuccessful–well for me. It all turned out ok and we had a good time but, it seems Mary has trouble getting into the kayak from a dock. I totally flipped it and went right in and had to swim around the dock to some land because I couldn’t lift myself out of the water. Shocker! Way too much junk in my trunk. So we thought we would test it out today to determine wether or not it would be worth taking with us.

Happy to say, today was a success and we are taking the kayak.

I have also been busy making some garden flags to hang at our campsites.

Tomorrow I start the real packing–clothes and all the fun things I plan to bring with me. Can’t bring a sewing machine so I plan to knit. Maybe I can get a scarf done before we get to Alaska when I might need it.