Today is the day.  Over the last several months I’ve occasionally mentioned going away for an extended work trip.  The reality of my profession (not the research scientist part, the who I work for part) is that in order to move up, there is required training and education that dictates this trip.

How long until I return?

I won’t see Veronica again until August 20th, when she comes to visit for our wedding anniversary.  I’ll won’t see my kids again until September 19th.

We’ll be okay.  This isn’t the first time, it’s actually the 5th separation of 5 weeks or longer that Veronica and I have had to endure.  For the first time, we have 2 reliable webcams, which is especially important for staying in touch with the kids.  But still, it’s gonna be tough, especially for the kids, and I’m not entirely looking forward to it.

Looking on the bright side, there is the prospect of meeting several blogger friends during the course of my travels.  In fact, I’m looking forward to meeting 2 or 3 of them before I even reach my destination on Monday.  I haven’t talked with any of them about disclosing who and where, so I’ll just leave you wondering.  Unless any of them choose to leave a comment and reveal themselves

Wednesday night I was finishing loading up my truck for the trip…

Once I was done for the night, I took a seat in the bed of the truck to relax for a minute  *click-click*

Veronica is saying goodbye over on her blog, it’s really sweet, I hope you check it out!

Thursday night I’ll be settling into a hotel room somewhere on the road and hope to make the HNT rounds then.  Until then, have fun without me!  Though I’m pretty sure I’ll be tweeting throughout the day as I head southward…

Happy HNT!!