Our intended route

Many have asked about our intended route so here is the plan, though we have not booked all the legs yet:

1. Night train from Moscow to Helsinki
2. Night ferry from Helsinki to Stockholm
3. Day train from Stockholm to Oslo
4. Day train from Oslo to Bergen, with a slight detour to do the "Norway in a Nutshell"
5. Ferry from Bergen to Newcastle (with coal in our pockets, of course)
6. Drive in rented car south through England, stopping in the Cotswalds
7. Southampton: board the Queen Mary 2 for the Atlantic Crossing (we do have the tickets for this one!)
8. Arrive in NYC in time for the Fourth of July and fireworks over the Statue of Liberty. As Christopher put it, "It will be like America is throwing us a welcome home party!"
9. By car from NYC to Niagara Falls.
10. Niagara Falls to Chicago to visit my alma mater and good friends
11. Chicago to New Hartford, Iowa to visit family Todd has never met and to see the farm where my mother grew up. As a special treat my mom will fly out for this portion to share about her childhood with the kids. I think Dad has to stay back with the cats.
12. Iowa to Colorado to stay with Todd's aunt. We were here last summer and this will be the first time the kids are on familiar territory and it will be much appreciated by this point!
13. Colorado to Salt Lake City
14. Salt Lake City to Reno
15. Reno to Oakland! !!

Don't you all just get tired reading about it? If you are anywhere near this route during the latter part of June and the early part of July, drop us a line. Someone compared our trip to the Amazing Race, and while we probably won't require anyone to shave their heads or perform some weird local ritual, we will be moving pretty fast. Come run along with us for a leg or two, if you would like! Maybe it will be more like the Olympic Torch Relay, without all the protests. Also if you know how to post all this here in map form, technical advice would be appreciated.