Vacation!

I’ve got a half-day of work this morning and then the family heads off on vacation. It will be our first road-trip vacation and I’m really looking forward to it. We are heading up to Maine. It was kind of a last-minute decision, if you consider making a decision to take a vacation a couple of weeks ago last-minute. We’ve been scrambling these last few days to get ready, but I think we are about there. We have a house-sitter to keep an eye on the house and the cats while we are gone. Kelly spent much of last night packing for the trip. It’s somewhat easier to pack for a roadtrip than when we are flying because we can pack more. There is plenty of room in the back of the Kia for luggage so she can be more liberal with what she packs.

We are doing the drive to Maine in 2 days. This afternoon we are driving to upstate New York and staying overnight in a hotel not far from where my grandparents lived. Some cousins who live nearby are coming to visit us while we are there. Then, we are getting an early start tomorrow morning for the drive to our destination in Maine, a small coastal town not too far from Bangor. I’ve done that drive 3 or 4 times already and from the New York area it takes about 8 hours. I’ve planned for 10 hours with stops and so we’ll see how we do. The weather in Maine is going to be perfect for the days that we will be there. The days will be sunny and in the low 80s and the nights will get down into the low 60s. I love Maine this time of year.

Leading up to this trip, I wanted to clear the decks as much as possible. I turned in my first interview column to the editor of InterGalactic Medicine Show as well as my next book review column for that magazine. Both weren’t due until July 2, but they are done and off my plate and that feels good. I’m wrapping up some things at the day job this morning and then won’t be thinking about work again until I’m back in the office a week from today.

I believe I will still have Internet access while up in Maine and so you can expect some blog posts during my vacation, when I can find the time to write them. At this point, however, I’m just really excited about having this last-minute trip, which is the only trip we have planned this year until December. (Excepting, of course, my trip to Chicago Labor day weekend for the World Science Fiction convention.)

What about you guys? Anyone else have summer vacation plans this year?