Everyone was up early in anticipation for the removalists’ arrival but it was not necessary. Kylie and the kids went off to running class and Derek stuck around a while, but when the movers hadn’t come when they were supposed to, he head off to work. After 9am came and went, I called them and…

Wanting to get driving before the heat of the day set in, I had an alarm set for 5:30am and despite the lack of sleep, I dutifully got up to its ring. No breakfast, just straight out the door, I started driving. I didn’t have anywhere to go, just needed to get through 400 miles…

Right when the clock hit 8am, I started calling the mechanic I wanted to take the car to for a look at the IAC valve and the SMOG. I’d talked to them earlier and even though they were going to charge more than anyone else for the SMOG, he at least seemed happy to give…

Everyone was up pretty early but I snoozed bit before I joined everyone at the breakfast table. We had a mission this morning, it was to get all of us and our bikes down to Santa Cruz to see Jayne and her brother’s family. Jayne, a friend of mine from Brisbane and a friend of…

I was up early, keen to get on and work on the Astro. I was hoping to have her all ready for the grand reveal tomorrow for hew new owner. Before breakfast, I’d done an oil and filter change and managed to change the top radiator hose without making too much of a mess. The…

I woke up in no hurry and as soon as I was up I was enlisted to help D&K go pick up a rental car to replace theirs which had recently been written off thanks to a rear end by a guy in a truck. It was a game of car shuffle with me taking…

I woke up early, happy that my last night in the Astro had been uninterrupted and stoked that I had such a beautiful view to enjoy after crawling out of bed. The sun was rising over the clear waters of Tahoe and it was serene. After looking out over the water, I got back into…

The wind had died down by the time I woke up very early at around 6am. Not only that, but a couple of mozzies were now buzzing around the van. I tried to go back to sleep since the sun wasn’t properly up yet, but I couldn’t hack the high pitched hum of the mozzies…

We’d set alarms for the morning but we didn’t need them. I was awake early again and got up. Anthony was already stirring in his tent and Dan knew he needed to get on the road early so soon enough we were all up. Anthony packed up in a flash and was ready to leave….

There were a few cars on the nearby road in the night and with each one that passed, I stirred, thinking it might be Rob and his mates. When I looked at the clock and saw 3:30am, I assumed they weren’t going to make it. I didn’t think anything had gone wrong and in any…