It’s time. Time to finish up a few details, relax with a visit from our daughter, Brooke, let the excitement of this move to Italy wash over us and just enjoy this final week here living in the United States. Then board the plane to start the adventure in Abruzzo…

Some loose ends have been tied up these past two weeks. Our shipment made it to our new house without any hiccups in customs. It took about 7 weeks from pickup here in Virginia to delivery at our house in Atri. Not bad, I would say. And from the picture Luigi sent me, it arrived in great condition.  I give upakweship.com a 5 Star rating!

Shipment & winter wood

And some dog food ready for the boys

And I also ordered a bag of dog food to be there upon our arrival. If you plan to move to Italy and are using Chewy.com for your dog food here in the States, never fear.. zooplus.it is your go-to for all kinds of dog food.

Luigi and crew took on the tough undertaking of cleaning the jungle that had grown up around the house. It’s a work in progress from the pictures below, but much better. John and I are excited to get working on it some more and really have a nice outdoor living space. (Sorry about the blurry images. It was raining and also Luigi took the house shot through his car window. )

The dogs had their health certificate exams this week. These are needed to fly. Our local vet clinic, which happens to be excellent, have vets certified to complete these exams for international travel. The certificates are then sent FedEx overnight to USDA office in Albany, NY, approved and sent to our pet mover. Hopefully that will all be completed by end of this week. As I said in an early post,  a bit nerve-wracking but under control.

Brooke and I are doing a mother-daughter day at a local spa here in Nelson County. She’s visiting from Santiago, Chile, where she and her husband work (and play) these past 5 years. Yes, big travelers and they love foreign countries, so helped to push John and I out of our USA nest, so to speak. She’ll be heading down to Williamsburg, VA to teach some gown making classes before she heads back to Santiago. Hopefully she and Ryan will visit us in Italy in 2018.

Brooke & Ryan in Chile

I’m sure there will be small details to take care of up until the flight, but we’re just trying our best to relax and not worry if we forgot any of those. We think all the big details are in place. I’ll catch up with you all once we’re landed and somewhat settled in.  Leave you with this easterly view from our new home. On a clear day, I believe we can see a sliver of the Adriatic Sea.