The two worst things about any vacation are always the same: The days preceding the vacation, and the first days back to work after the vacation.  Right now we are neck-deep in the former -- when everyone runs around trying to make sure the house is adequately cleaned, co-workers are brought up to speed, pet-watchers are lined up, and hotel reservations have been confirmed.  We have two days before we take off on our cross-country trip and our "to do" list currently includes the following:

1. Clean out the basement
2. Fix the slow leak on one of the car's tires
3. Find out what the "low coolant" light is trying to tell us
4. Laundry
5. Packing
6. Make sure our house-sitters know their way around our house (Thanks again, Liza and Chewy!)
7. Confirm reservations at pet-friendly hotels on the trip out.

I'm sure I'm forgetting something else very important, but that gives you an idea of what we have to take care of in the next few days.  I'm insanely excited to actually get out there, but the process leading up to it is proving to be exhausting, especially when it all comes immediately after the holidays.

Concerning the trip out there, we've cooked up a little something to keep you posted on our travels.  If you go the main Team Soell page at http://www.teamsoell.com, you'll see a map of the United States with January, Gus and I situated happily in Ohio.  As we make our way across the country, we will be updating the site with our progress, including photos, videos and notes from the trip.  Yes, I'm a big geek, but I thought it would be a fun way to keep everyone updated.

Once we get out to California, we will zoom the map in on the Los Angeles area and continue to post updates over the course of the month.  We will still be posting to our respective blogs, but the map will be a good central place to get quick multiple-times-a-day updates on what we're up to.  So check back, starting Sunday afternoon, to see how the trip is going.