Getting Ready to Go!!!!
Well, it is Thursday evening and it’s been a long week so far. Three days in No. CA for a peer group meeting while Ilise and Karley worked to pack the house and get the kids ready for the big trip. Packing, packing and then more packing. I don’t believe that Ilise is enjoying this much at all, but she is working hard to get everything in place.
We have a POD coming tomorrow and a crew coming to help us pack the POD on Saturday. We should have everything out of the house by Saturday afternoon and then we are off to a going away party at a friend’s house Saturday evening. We are leaving a bunch of furniture in the house for a non-profit to come pick up on Monday. The non-profit, called Solutions for Change, helps homeless families get off the street and move their lives forward. The founder, Chris Megison, is a force of nature and I look forward to working with Chris and his team when we return to San Diego this summer.
Sunday morning we have brunch at one of Noah’s friend’s house and then we head down to SD to spend the afternoon with Tuez Wongolo and his family. Tuez is a Ugandan who has befriended Armstrong, the young pilot from Uganda that we brought to the states last February. Tuez is a mechanic and will be holding our minivan while we travel and do some work on it while we are away. He lives only 10 minutes from the airport so he will take us to the airport for a 6:53 flight! Our first leg is from SD to LAX and then a 10:20 flight from LAX to Auckland and then a short flight from Auckland to Melbourne the following morning. We cross the International Date Line so we arrive on Tuesday morning.
We were recently introduced to Kay Ledson, who used to be a member of my Rotary Club in Carlsbad. Kay is from Melbourne and lives there currently. She has arranged for a car service to pick us up upon arrival and take us to our apartment. In addition, Kay has taken that day off from work and will show us around her city the day we arrive. She has scheduled a number of events for us, including dinner with her family and she coordinated an opportunity for me to speak at a local Rotary club on Tuesday night before we leave for the Great Ocean Road the following day. We will spend three days on the Great Ocean Road and then fly to Sydney on Feb 7th.
As the trip approaches, both Drew and Noah are really excited. We have so many amazing experiences in front of us, I look forward to enjoying it all. I will do my best to keep everyone updated on this blog and hope to post a lot of pictures and document memories that will last a lifetime.
To a life well lived!
Larry Kesslin 