Thanks, Marsia. My brain is coming back slowly, but it sure does feel good to start feeling more optimistic. I don't feel ready for our trip, but usually, I overthink everything, take duplicates, overpack (not really- usually about 15kg) & just pack, repack etc, Maybe this time I won't.
I hope A is more sensible than a lot of his friends. Their FB posts are encouraging him to race. I'm sure he's got more brains than that.
Thanks, LaMa. It does ease the load for us. The driving in to pick him up from work was only going to get harder in Winter. He may join the Air Force as he's been talking about doing that for a long time. It wouldn't hurt him to get away & expand his horizons. He's a lovely boy & I wouldn't like to see him get stuck in a small town rut.
G & I aren't up to much but we are going to take him down another load of wood this morning. We won't be cutting any, just getting it from our wood piles.