Countdown...

...to something, I think.

All sorts of obstacles are popping up in the way of my planned departure for the west. Best Case Scenario? Leave Thursday. Worst Case? Leave Saturday, and then my leisurely 5-night drive becomes a mad sprint.

I picked up some super-sized doggy downers for Large Dog, just in case we do the latter.

To all you dog lovers out there...have any of you ever driven 2200 miles with an 80 lbs. bundle of energetic affection? I inherited a crate from my sister-in-law's GSP when we adopted Large Dog, and I'd planned to secure it in the rear of the mom-mobile I'll be driving, but this afternoon I took a good look at the dog beside the kennel and there appears to be too much of the former and not enough of the latter. I don't know where to find one of those barrier gates (much less how I'd get it installed in time), and I'm not sure where it would go with the van's back seat stowed.

Any ideas would be welcomed.

The frenetic pace of preparation is taking up time and energy I'd rather spend writing, but whattcha gonna do?

I'm hoping to get a USB wireless antenna for Miss Mac so I can be in touch from the road. Anyone used one with a Mac?

I shall now hit post, and wait for the excellent advice to flood in.

Or maybe I'll just pour a drink and fold clothes.

Postscript: I was able to leave on June 1, but I only made it to Wichita Falls on day one - I ran into a giant thunderstorm around dark-thirty. Who knew it was going to be the start of the deluge? From then it was on to Raton, Laramie, Salt Lake City, and Lakeview.