Monday March 29, 2010 - St. Louis, Missouri

After almost a week and a half in St. Louis with our friends Gary & Christine, we're preparing to pack up and head out for our next stop - Indianapolis, IN.

The stay here has been good. It's wonderful to see the kids love for Gary & Christine - who in turn are wonderful at interacting with the kids in all the right ways. Stories read, games explained, video games participated in, and simply paying them attention, listening to what they have to say, always ready with a hug and an affirming word. It's beautiful, and I can't wait until G & C have rugrats of their own so that we can return the beautiful favor of loving their children as they have and do love ours.

Alec and I went to a do-it-yourself car wash today to vacuum out the van. The trip thus far through mud, some snow, and more recently a lot of rain and mud has taken it's toll on the interior. Amazing how the sight of leaves and the detritus of multiple entries and exits by small unconcerned feet can make being in the van feel sorta yucky. Conversely, it's nice how a simple thing such as vacuuming all the aforementioned yuck out can make the van feel clean and new again.

In beginning the process of organizing the rear cargo space for packing again, I was happy to find a way to eliminate both of the bulky boxes that I had packed out from California. One had a few extra theological books that I wanted to donate to G & C's impressive new library. The other had the remains of the oft-inspired, seldom duplicated Nelson Port-O-Bar. I had shrunk our liquor collection down to a single box as we left Camarillo, entrusting the remainder of the less-used cordials and bottles to our good friends who were moving in as the new renters of the house. In Tempe, over half of that one packed box of liquor was eliminated, either by directly drinking it while there, or by leaving it with Gena's folks since I knew we weren't likely to want it.

Less than six bottles came across the country to St. Louis with us. We polished off the huckleberry liquor (mixed with carbonated water and a little cream - yum!), the vodka (whiteRussians, of course), put a dent in the Kahlua and didn't bother the Irish Cream much or the whiskey. So I'll leave those few remaining bottles with G & C. Contrary to what I just described, we really don't drink *that* much, and we can always pick up a bottle of whatever we have a hankering for.

All of which to say, two boxes are now gone from the cargo area of the van, which should make packing even easier than it has been thus far. Which makes me a happy camper.