This is it, no more work until I am safely parked outside of the Best Western.

Having said that, the packing is still painfully slow, this is the first year I have flown out for the first tour, so the gadget and equipment levels seem to be dominating the suitcase.

Thankfully my very understanding and long suffering wife, Sue, has taken charge. I now have multiple packs of 5 days worth of clothes in vacuum bags. The tour t shirts are compressed to wafer thin and somehow we have managed to beat the 23Kg weight limit. The next challenge is hand luggage, two laptops, two cameras and assorted lenses, plus all the usual bits and bobs we seem to need to survive 10 hours - will my life be over if I don't have instant access to any of this stuff?

I'm thinking the clear bag of liquids can be junked, the hotel is right next door to a Walmart the size of a small town so a quick shopping trip for toothpaste, mouthwash and deodorant is in order. Failing that, I'm room sharing with Paul the first night, so I'll distract him with talk of supercells, structures and couplets, wait for the lecture to start and then nick his toiletries.

Catch you Stateside

Ian