Things are happening slowly. The truck will hopefully be delivered to us by the end of next week and then Bun can work out what storage options he wants to go with. Once the truck has everything done to it, we can advertise the ute.
Vintage is starting to speed up, we have more grapes getting picked Fri pm/Sat am. Rain is forecast for next week so it will be good to know that more of the crop is gone.
Ben has started studying again and Callie has just started TAFE again this week. She's keen to get back into her studies again after nearly 4 months off. She also seems to have started the countdown to the big trip, apparently it's only about 28 weeks away :) Josh is busy driving tractors this vintage but looking further down the line, he's applied for the army and is also looking into getting work at the mines.
Jobs to do shortly include talking to a new accountant and organising how the bookwork for the business will be done while we travel.
I found that now you need an official marriage certificate to get a passport in your married name so I'm waiting on that before I can apply for a passport but we'll get Callie's done tomorrow.
I've been trying to walk further distances in preparation for next month's walk up the mountain. Bun and I walked into Berri yesterday morning, I think Ben said it's about 10kms. Lucky we've got a great neighbour in Jenny and she picked us up and gave us a ride home.
Well I've got an unexpected day off tomorrow so I should get a few neglected jobs done at home.
Thursday, February 23, 2012
Sunday, February 5, 2012
Booked the trip!
Well, we finally made some decisions regarding the trip to USA! Having originally thought that the start of July was the go, we are now leaving mid-Sept for 2 weeks. Callie and Steven are staying a week extra after we fly back. Saving heaps on flights plus the weather will be more pleasant and Disneyland in particular will be a lot less crowded.
The plan is LA for a few days then hit Disneyland followed by Vegas and back to LA for a couple more nights before we leave on 29th Sept. We will also be doing a day trip to the Grand Canyon by helicopter.
Callie and I went to get passport photos done today and had a hell of a laugh. The WORST photos ever taken at the Post Office, quickly followed by a trip to the photo store at the shopping centre to have some more taken there. Much better! Callie declared that she looked like a murderer in her first photo and that "You look like a stoner, Mum!"
We are happy to have 10 year passports with the second lot of photos as I'm not sure that Customs in USA would have let me in the country!!
Rescheduling to Sept has also made things easier for us as Bun will be picking oranges up until the end of June and we wouldn't have had much time to try out the caravan. This way we plan to spend a few weeks away during July/Aug as a trial run, packed up ready for the West. It will give us the opportunity to cull things that we don't need and leave them home, rather than carting stuff around that we don't really need. I'll also spend some time at the start of Sept looking for work for us to go to mid-October, hopefully we'll be able to line something up maybe around Esperance.
We've been enjoying spending time this week with 6 Canadian nurses that are based in Berri for a couple of weeks. They mainly come from farms and agricultural backgrounds so have been interesting to talk to. They've even said that Bun should come and work a harvest on their families' farms so who knows what might happen in the future. They would also be a good contact for the kids if they decide to travel to Canada. Ben is keen to go to USA with us if his work commitments allow and then go to backpack in Canada for 3 weeks after we leave. Hopefully that will work out for him.
That's it for now.
The plan is LA for a few days then hit Disneyland followed by Vegas and back to LA for a couple more nights before we leave on 29th Sept. We will also be doing a day trip to the Grand Canyon by helicopter.
Callie and I went to get passport photos done today and had a hell of a laugh. The WORST photos ever taken at the Post Office, quickly followed by a trip to the photo store at the shopping centre to have some more taken there. Much better! Callie declared that she looked like a murderer in her first photo and that "You look like a stoner, Mum!"
We are happy to have 10 year passports with the second lot of photos as I'm not sure that Customs in USA would have let me in the country!!
Rescheduling to Sept has also made things easier for us as Bun will be picking oranges up until the end of June and we wouldn't have had much time to try out the caravan. This way we plan to spend a few weeks away during July/Aug as a trial run, packed up ready for the West. It will give us the opportunity to cull things that we don't need and leave them home, rather than carting stuff around that we don't really need. I'll also spend some time at the start of Sept looking for work for us to go to mid-October, hopefully we'll be able to line something up maybe around Esperance.
We've been enjoying spending time this week with 6 Canadian nurses that are based in Berri for a couple of weeks. They mainly come from farms and agricultural backgrounds so have been interesting to talk to. They've even said that Bun should come and work a harvest on their families' farms so who knows what might happen in the future. They would also be a good contact for the kids if they decide to travel to Canada. Ben is keen to go to USA with us if his work commitments allow and then go to backpack in Canada for 3 weeks after we leave. Hopefully that will work out for him.
That's it for now.
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