David's Diary: Friday, June 29, 2001

Vancouver, BC to London, England

After months of planning our year long family adventure, the day had come for us to leave Canada. The last few days were as hectic as expected. In addition to packing for a year away, we had to organize the house so that it could be rented. All of our personal effects had to be organized, boxed, and put into storage. Talk about a spring-cleaning. We had bags of garbage, bags of clothes to give away, and numerous trips to the recycling depot.

By the time Friday, the 29th started, we had things reasonably under control. Our flight didn't leave until 6:25 PM, so we had the day to get organized. Shortly after lunch we were packed, but it was still a few hours of non-stop work to do the last minute clean up, final trip to the store for sunglasses for Kevin and Allen, and what seemed like a never ending set of chores to do the final house packing and cleanup.

We got away from the house by 3:30, but we still had more to do. One car had to be dropped off at Canwest Sales and Leasing so that it could be sold. Then it was down to Granville Island to drop off the last boxes for the boat with Ian Fraser at Fraser Yacht Sales while Karalee bought hats for Jocelyn, Kevin, and Allen. With a final push we were off to the airport.

We made it on to the flight (after waiting through a 500-meter line up at check-in) and the flight was on its way an hour late, but we were on it. Months of planning, preparation, and work all led to the moment when we could sit back and relax.

Due to how we booked the flights, we ended up in two different sets of seats. Karalee sat with Jocelyn and Allen. I sat with Kevin. Kevin tends to be a bit of a worrisome traveler, so it was just as well that he sat with me. After eight and a half-hours in the air, I must have answered over a hundred questions from Kevin.

Dinner was late, the movies were so-so, but we did manage to get a couple of hours of sleep. Everyone was interested to learn about the Boeing 747 that we were traveling on, but they were even happier when we landed in London. It was a big push to get away, but we really are on the way for our year long adventure.