Merry Christmas

Once again I am posting from the road. We are on our sixth long day of travel, having come some 2,800 miles in that time.  With over eight hours of wheel time per day, plus stops, it's all we could do each evening to find dinner and then fall into bed, so my off-shift in the right-hand seat is my best chance to post.  We are just an hour and a half from our destination in Oakley, California, and right now we are around milepost 400 on Interstate 5.

Having the boat inspections run right up to the end of the day on the 19th got us started west first thing the morning of the 20th, giving us only five and a half days to get Simon-the-dog home for Christmas.  We opted to take the southerly route to avoid winter weather, a decision that now seems prescient in light of the two massive winter storms that hit further north during our trek.  As long as we were hanging south, we made a very slight detour through Houston where we caught up with Louise's bother and his family, and a brief appearance by her dad and stepmom who disembarked a cruise in Galveston that very morning, a completely fortuitous occurrence as we had no leeway in the schedule.  We spent just two hours there over lunch, dragging ourselves away at 1pm sharp to make it to Ozona, Texas for the night's stop.

Ironically, Ozona was the most expensive hotel of the entire trip, as well as the dumpiest.  Traveling with a large dog really limits where you can stay.  That said, Simon has been a great traveler -- he is eager to get in the car at each stop, and he doesn't seem to mind spending a full eight-plus hours in the car each day.  I am sure he will be happy to be back with his family this evening.

We've booked another hotel for tonight, in Brentwood, just ten minutes or so from my cousins' apartment.  This will let us all enjoy Christmas dinner without worrying about having to get us back to the peninsula, nearly two hours away, at the end of the evening, or getting the bus back to move-in readiness at the end of a long day.  Someone will give us a lift back in the morning, and we are scheduled to celebrate the holiday with Louise's mom tomorrow before heading up to Redwood Shores to pick up the cats, who have made themselves right at home with our friends Martin and Stephanie.

I will post again here once we get re-settled and have some idea of our plans for the next week or two.  We've pushed the decision and thus possible closing date out a week which means we will likely stay in the bay area through New Years before heading back the way we just came at a much more tolerable pace.