< ![CDATA[   I can’t believe we’re down to less than a year until we hit the road. This trip has been in the back of our minds since before our daughter was born. We've been thinking about it, planning for it, looking forward to it in different incarnations for years. Here we are on April 18, 2007, Gabriel's ninth birthday, knowing that when he turns ten, we'll be homeless. As this trip has gone from a dream to an impending reality the enormity of the task has become apparent. It is one thing, it seems, to take a year off after college when you own nothing, make nothing, and have no one but yourself to worry about, and entirely another thing to break loose of a life which includes cars, property, house payments, and all of the trappings that come with four children, their health, comfort, and educational concerns. You should see my calendar lists... each month between here and departure carefully divided out into lists of tasks to cover all the bases. From finding appropriate travelers health insurance, to custom designing a year of schooling that looks nothing like school and everything in between. Today, the list seems daunting... from finishing the house (there is pink insulation hanging from my dining room ceiling) so that we can put it on the market, to finding homes for the bunnies, to considering Mediterranean ferry passages. Although 348 days seems like a lot of time, to me it feels like we're sliding top speed down one of those long, curvy playground tube slides: We're in the dark, we know it will end and the whole world will open up before us, the ride down is making me a little nauseous, there is no going back, but we're screaming with joy the whole way down. This week marks the first week that we'll cycle for 2007. The snow has finally melted off... mostly... thanks to three days of relentless rain. We're planning for a Saturday ride. We're all a little nervous about how much we'll hurt at the end of the day as we begin to work off our winter's fat. But, we're excited to try out our new bags that came in big boxes over the winter and have slowly filled up with all of our super tiny gear. We have about nine weeks to get in shape before we head to Atlantic Canada to test our new lifestyle and measure our expectations and careful planning against the reality of life on the road with four kids. One final note about the impending departure date: April 1. It has been pointed out by amused friends that this is April Fool's Day. Yes. We know. We've made most of the major transitions in our life on April 1. We bought both of our houses on April 1. It seems consistent to become homeless on the same day. To some, this trip is a fool's errand, which makes the first an apt date to leave on another level. We'll spend the month of April making the tour of friends, family and home school conventions. We plan to actually fly out on May 1, 2008]]>