Holy Sh*t

Am I allowed to curse in my post title? Apologies. I am leaving. I am also freaking out. I know I'm not actually flying out until tomorrow but I have said goodbye to my house and mountains already, and to the cold and snowy weather! In the last couple of days we have FINALLY got some real winter. A bunch of snow and it was -37 this morning! I'm glad I got one day of it, plus the sun made it over the mountains today so it was gorgeous.

Yes, packing has been crazy but my bike is bundled up in its box and my duffle is stuffed full of crap I think I'll need, all ready to go. I assume I will be re-packing stuff in Cairo, yuck. Packing blows. Thank god for all the little mesh bags I have, they make me feel like I can pretend to be much more organized.

My last glimpse of those monstrous mountains for several months was sponsored by a dear friend who may have chased me down an icy road a little to say goodbye. Goodbyes have been a little gross, somewhat frantic and hurried and very sad. My mom and I were talking on the drive to Whitehorse today about a Winnie the Pooh quite that we find applicable. I don't have the exact wording correct but it describes how lucky one is when goodbyes are so sad. I got a lovely and extremely appropriate card from my grandparents today:

A little redhead on a bicycle! It must have been made for me.