Are our bags packed yet? Well, um, sort of...

The bags may not be packed, quite yet, but the beach rocks..."rock"!

Folks have been asking, "Just five sleeps left, have you got your bags packed yet?" Given my time as a military padre, and all that I learned about "P and P" (planning and preparation) at officer candidate school (albeit, many years ago), I'd like to say, "Of course!" But the fact is, we're, um, not packed yet...but we do know the location of our passports - at least I know Joan does.


A lot of the important stuff, however, is done. The eye-turning "HMKTV" (High Mobility Kayak Transport Vehicle) is serviced and polished. We have cleaned out the sea weed, shells, and sand and it is ready and waiting for our Scottish exchange partners. (Oh sure, it might look like a older model Chev Geo Tracker, but believe me, it is an awesome all-terrain "HMKTV" - never visited a launch spot or boat ramp that it couldn't navigate with grace, style, and superb 4X4 traction!)

The landscaping around our place also looks mighty welcoming - heck, it's amazing what a truck load of Vancouver Island beach rocks will do to deter the resident deer from eating our previous attempt to establish a "real" garden.

The Vibram FiveFingers, Garmin 305, and the rest of the running gear have a few more Canadian early morning sorties until they are "unleashed" on the roads and in the back-country glens of Forfar, Scotland. (OK, so "unleashed" was, admittedly, slightly overstating our running ability.)

A good friend and colleague will transport us to the local seaplane terminal for the flight to YVR and, at the same time, pick up our special visitors.

The parish family is "pumped"!

The new "sky blue" bike rack is now operational in our church parking lot - just in time for "Bike to Work Week". (And it looks incredibly cool!)

No the bags aren't packed quite yet, but a lot of the important stuff is definitely good to go.

Duncan.