The Mysterious Mystery Trip

I have surely mentioned at least once that I have a big birthday coming up soon.  And, no, it isn't the big 3-0.

I don't know what the school cutoff date was when I was entering kindergarten but somehow I am the youngest of almost all my friends.  The whole kindergartner redshirting trend had not yet begun when I was 5 years-old.  Because of this, I have witnessed many friends turn 40 this past year.  Not surprisingly, they have all survived unscathed.  No one has suddenly become covered in wrinkles, started wearing Depends or been pulled over for driving under the speed limit.  In fact, I think we are still a pretty good-looking bunch.  (Don't you just love how black & white pictures make everyone look better?!)

Okay, so maybe our wrinkles are covered by sunglasses

I really do get that this birthday isn't a big deal.  So much so, in fact, that when my (3 years-younger) husband asked me what I wanted for my birthday, my response was a new roller bag for traveling.  I really just wanted a new piece of luggage for our next trip to visit in-laws or a rare weekend getaway.

I wasn't surprised, then, when my husband presented me with my birthday gift.

A brand new roller bag!!

My enthusiasm was sincere when I jumped up from the couch to give him a big hug and get a closer look at the luggage.  I suppose I should have been a little suspicious about the fact that my birthday was still three weeks away...

When I opened the bag, it was empty with the exception of a note that read:

PACK ME!
Use these guidelines
* Pack enough for about 7 days
*For weather like California - about 70-75 daytime, 50's-60's night
*Swimsuit or 2
*Flip flops
*Running shoes & running clothes
*1 pair of fancier shoes/sandals
*Casual clothes - shorts, skirts/sundress, t-shirts
* Sweaters for night
* Good camera
* Lots of books/Kindle
* Sunglasses/sunhat?

Of course, the first words out of my mouth were, "Are the kids coming??!!"  And the glorious answer I heard was "Nope, just us."

Not that I don't love my kids but, well, you know how a family vacation differs from a couples retreat...  I am usually in need of another vacation after returning from a vacation with my toddlers.

All this happened late last week and now we are leaving for our mystery trip in just a few hours.  My parents are watching the kids for the first half of the week and my in-laws are flying in from New York for the second half.  I am all packed and ready to go...with no idea where we will end up!  I haven't been able to get much information out of anyone the past ten days.  Not that I haven't tried, believe me.  All I know is that we are flying and we will be at least one time zone away.  Not really a lot of info to go on, that's for sure.

It has been a long time since my husband and I went on a trip by ourselves, especially a week-long trip.  I am beyond excited and ready to go.  I would be happy going pretty much anywhere with him so there is no possible way that I will be disappointed.

Has anyone every surprised you with a trip?  Any guess as to where we are headed??

I know I mentioned in an earlier post that I was going to talk a little about my running but I need to find a way to zip up my overflowing roller bag...  

- Kristen