Off to the land of permanent sunshine?

Lorraine arrived on Monday.  And with her, she brought the good news of Ruthie’s unemployment being granted.  So this meant a few things.  One a sigh of relief since Uncle Sam has been seriously dragging his feet to repay me for travel expenses and get my foreign pay allowances sorted out.  Two, Ruthie felt like she could go shopping.  So what did she buy?  A ukulele.  Yes, the instrument that is key in one or three songs that make her cry within four notes.  So, after mocking her for a few minutes, asking her how she was going to be able to play while she’s crying, I picked it up and began to try to figure it out.  It’s been quite a few years since I’ve played a musical instrument – and never since I’ve attempted to play a guitar.  Sure, in my youth, I turned my violin on its side and picked at it a bit, but that doesn’t count for much.  So we’ll see which one of us actually learn to play this silly thing.

In the mean time, what Ruthie’s unemployment also means [as well as finally receiving word that Uncle Sam is working towards getting things sorted] that we can actually put together plans of a road trip.  Ruthie has the destination of Whitsunday picked, and I’ve started putting together a route.  Because I don’t have the luxury of two weeks off, it’s going to be kind of a piece-meal trip.  Ruthie and Lorraine will drive up via mid-country and more direct routes from Melbourne to Whitsunday.  That will probably take three days, at which point, I will fly into some Cairns, Townsville, or Whitsunday, depending on the price of flights.  Then we will begin our long journey down the [majority of the] east coast of Australia, including travelling the Pacific Highway between Brisbane and Sydney.  Or at least that’s the plan at this point.  I’m always hesitant to write down plans like this because it seems that I have a knack for spelling out how I foresee them, only have them be the complete opposite when the time comes.  

-EP