So, after months of planning (well, mostly months of waiting and days of planning) today the Foxes set off on Vacation 2K1: Europe!

Of odd coincidences, Jim and Diane are visiting the Bay Area at the same time as I'm visiting their European shores, which means that while I won't be able to see them as much as I'd like, they'll see a whole lot of my apartment, as they're housesitting for the duration. [waiving] "Hi!"

Fred's caring for Kisa, the bags are packed, the tickets are, well, ticketles, I have my passport and my toothbrush and, most importantly, my digital camera, an extra battery and a net connection on-board ship, and so I invite you to join me on a tour through the Mediterranian. Web galleries at every stop and prosaic wit thrown in for free.

The first stop is Barcelona. Actually, the first stop is the Oakland Airport, then Los Angeles International, then Munich, then Barcelona, about 20 hours later. So, it's a day's travelling for me and probably another day or so before the first report.

There's something weird and powerful about having 20 people (okay, big family trip, did I mention?) from various places in the country wake up on the same morning, drive to their respective airports with their respective lives packed into rolling suitcases or otherwise put on pause, and hop on planes to meet at junctures along the way to the final destinations, individual nodes coming together like tributaries forming streams and a mighty river, or like an inverted family tree, racing backwards through time.

What it means to me is spending some quality time with family I really only see once or twice a year. Thanks to Alan for such a fabulous trip, and it's my goal this trip to really try to bring the excitement onto the blog.

I've got the Gameboy, Powerbook, Elph, and Archos Jukebox. I'm ready to go for a ride.