On our merry way!

Despite troubles with our shuttle (supposed to arrive at 5:45 and only three angry phone calls got us a shuttle by 6:20...) WE ARE NOW INSIDE SECURITY AND AT OUR GATE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!

-RA

After several bouts of the jitters today, we are finally feeling excited. All the stomache monkies (and head monkies and intestine monkies) are gone. All that's left is the excited 'jimmy leg.' We're the only ones here at the gate and we don't board for another 2 hours so we have a bit of a wait. We're drinking our Odwalla smoothies and typing away.....

-Mike

WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!
-RA

Thank god for Tylenol PM! Once on the plane, we plan to look around excitedly until the novelty wears off, then to watch a movie or two until that novelty wears thin and THEN blissfully sleep until we land 14hrs later in sunny Sydney! We have a window seat but unfortunately all we'll be able to see is very dark ocean down below.

~Mike

WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!! The time today lasted both forever and not at all. We ran our last errands this morning and called our grandparents, then Laura came with me and Mike to play on the swings at the nearby park. Mike spent a good deal of time cleaning off our hiking boots from yesterday--we can't take any mud into Australia for fear we're carrying some weird spore or creature that will wipe out the entire vegetation of the continent. I'm not sure how much of that I buy into, but Mike did a beatiful job with my boots. They haven't been this clean since I bought them!
All nerves are gone now, it's just pure excitement.
WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!
~RA

Killing Time

Today we hiked 5 miles in the Big Basin National Forest. It was a good way to wear us out and hopefully we'll sleep well tonight! The shuttle comes to get us at 5:30 tomorrow afternoon. We're doing one last load of dirty laundry and then let the re-packing games begin!!!

The above pictures come from a program Stuart showed us, called Photo Booth. It allows us to play with trick photography, as seen by the two Mikes and two Ruthies! The second picture is of all 4 of us goons here in Cupertino; the other two goons being my sister Laura and her husband Stuart.

~Ruth Ann

Antsy!

Can we just leave already?!?!?!?! Both of us are climbing the walls. So much anticipation is building that it's getting a little hard to sleep/relax/remain calm. Is it Monday night yet?!?!?!?!?!

Festivities

HAPPY AUSTRALIA DAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A little closer....

Now we're in San Francisco-a tiny bit closer. Portland was great but the weather has finally gotten better now. The Sun shines here (unlike Portland) and it's warmer and dryer. We had a very excited shuttle driver in Portland and a jerk in SF. There also was an arrogant New Yorker talking aloud on her cell phone how horrible the people she was riding with were. The only good thing about that was that she was dropped off last and so had to suffer in the smelly van. Aaahhh well.....

Michael

I have to correct one thing Mike just said--officially we're in the Cupertino, not San Francisco. Laura has told me multiples times that people around here DO NOT think they're all one big happy family...if you live in San Jose, you live in San Jose, and you don't pretend to be the same thing.

But anyway, we're in California, which is all that matters. We had a good time in Portland...two really good, long hikes with Dad, a tour of the Lewis and Clark exhibit at the historical society and the beginning of wedding plans. I also promised Mom that I wouldn't mention that Dad had to change the toilet (really! The whole thing! And when he set it out on the curb for the trash pickup, the garbage men dropped the lid and there's now porcelain shattered all over the street :o)) or that we had an interesting lunch of organic hot dogs wrapped in brown rice tortillas (Mom has a lot of food allergies, so theoretically that was a good lunch for her, but YUCK!!!!!!)......but since I promised, I won't talk about those :o)

Plans for our time in the bay area include tickets to the San Francisco Orchestra and hopefully a hike in the Big Basin National Forest. Mike and I will also head into the city itself to see the sights. But for now a nap is calling my name, so more later!
~Ruth Ann

Portland

Hi from the West Coast! We've been here for about a week and are being quite efficient :o) The happiest news for me, anyway, being that
I NOW HAVE MY STUDENT VISA!!!!!!!!!!

Hooray! It came faster than I ever could have dreamed! I filled it out Thursday night at around 11 pm (I was eligible to apply online) and had my acceptance 8 hours later. I was imagining chewing my fingernails for the next 14 days and then having to apply for a tourist visa at the very last second so I could catch my flight to Sydney. Nope! It's in my hot little hands and it's not going anywhere!

Mom and Dad came up with a perfect Christmas present for those of use with weight limitations...We just got back from our pre-paid night on the town! Dinner at McCormick's, a night away at the local Marriott and brunch at the Black Bear Diner. Much delicious food was eaten, and since I finally have my visa, I slept SO SOUNDLY for a good 9+ hours. We also visited the local branch of Powells (the world's best bookstore) and took a drive over to the next county for scenic views and a tour of the locally flooding rivers. (It's a bit soggy here in Beaverton!)

~Ruth Ann

MY(Mike's) life in 100 pounds or less

Well, it is safe to assume that no one in the airline industry plays bassoon and has big feet. Apparently reed tools and my shoes weigh a lot! Who would have thought? And there are still clothes on the drying rack.

We leave for Portland tomorrow so everything has to be packed now. I hope the Ritchie's aren't too generous in their Christmas presents. We may not have room to take them! The change in weather will be wonderful though.

We signed up for an update on all apartments in our price range advertized in the Sydney newspaper. We've gotten a lot that look good, but you have to wonder about them when they say the apartments have a shower and a fridge. Is there nothing better to say about them? At least they have a shower I guess.

-Ruth Ann's Future Better(hopefully!) Half

My life in 100 pounds or less

Advice to anyone thinking of studying abroad: DON"T DO IT! YOU"RE CRAZY!!!!!!!!!!!

The newest of our continuing sagas: Today we called the airlines to verify weight limits for baggage. Everything we'd known to this point said 2 bags per passenger, 50 pounds per bag for a domestic flight, and 70 pounds per bag for an international flight. Alas, no. Regulations changed September 7th. If we had purchased our tickets BEFORE 9/7, we could still take 70 per bag. But since our tickets were purchased in December, we're only allowed 50 pounds per bag, the whole way.

Have you ever thought about 50 pounds? I mean, really thought about it? How much do all of your clothes weigh? Well over 50 pounds, I can now assure you of that! Not to mention the music we both have to take and Mike's reed tools...We've spent an interesting afternoon packing and repacking and dragging the suitcases to the bathroom scale. The problem is not space at all, which is what we had originally thought. Nope. It's definitely the weight. Even most guys I know would be shocked at how few clothes I'm now carrying!

~Ruth Ann

This is exactly what my cookie looked like!

Now we're testing to see if we can post pictures. I think I can I think I can!

Issues....

Well, we're almost ready to go! Ruth Ann is having trouble getting the final details straightened out with the U of Sydney. And of course, being the holidays, no one is there to answer questions or fix malfunctioning websites! I still haven't been officially accepted yet until they get my final transcript. I can't find out what's going on with that because NO ONE IS THERE!!!!!!!!!! The basement ping pong balls are getting a workout from our frustration.

All we've done here in Fargo is be lazy and eat. We've been out to eat the last three nights. Last night was Indian food-the best I've ever had-and in Fargo! We have gone through all my old stuff in my closet and threw a bunch away(not the legos of course). Our suit cases are basecally packed and we're ready to go-now only a month left until we do!

We searched online and found a bunch of apartments that are for rent. We contacted the companies(no one is there of course!) and hopefully we'll be able to set up several showings for when we get in. It looks like we'll be in North Sydney.
-Michael

P.S. The turtle soup was wonderful. Even Grandma had some and she liked it!