Aventuras De Viaje

A Hawley Marathon

Spectacular achievement is always preceded by unspectacular preparation – Schuller

As Christmas 2022 melted away with the unseasonably cold wintry weather and snow, thoughts turned to preparation for our upcoming January trip. There is both excitement and dread that comes with packing your vehicle for a month-long trip. For one thing, Lily commands more space in the SUV than we do, much to my chagrin. I mean, we shipped Sammi from Australia to the US and then over to the UK in a large dog kennel, so why does Lily get the whole back area?

So you have this rather abstract puzzle as you pack, knowing the approximate space, but not measuring until the night before, packing the clothes you think you’ll need for 75-degree weather while you are suffering from 23-degree days. It seems impossible not to pack long sleeves, sweaters, and a jacket or two…I mean can it really be that warm down there? (Cheat hint: yes) do we take the Nespresso machine? Easy answer, hell yes. The air fryer? Hard, but no. Is food expensive on the Keys and can I find the cashew butter I love so much for daily snacking? In the end, you pack, load, shift, tuck, smash, borrow a bike rack from your besties for Walter and Big Red (everyone names their beach bikes right?), roll a window down, and stuff something else that will cascade and crash to the ground if the door opens, and then realize you still have 3 bags and absolutely nowhere to put them, so you stuff them between your legs, negotiate unsuccessfully to steal some of Lily’s first-class spaciousness, and then finally cram yourselves into the front seats and away.