I had a teary 7 year old clinging to me most of Saturday evening (they spent the night at Grandma and Grandpa’s) and all day and night Sunday.  Mateo would be fine for awhile and then his gorgeous eyes would get watery and tears would come down his face.  He tried to not let me see the tears and would bury his face into my shirt or my neck.  Broke my heart.  At one point, Katia asked him if he thought it would be fair that I spend time with Max now for awhile.  He tearfully shook his head “no”.  He is a 2nd grader, but still Grandma’s little boy.  Marluce is not quite as sentimental.  She gave me lots of hugs and kisses, but that is the norm for her.  When she asked how long we would be gone and I said probably at least 3 years, she replied “oh. that’s just terrible!”and happily went off to boss her grandpa around.  Hugs and kisses after the dinner and we were on our way back to the apartment to touch up the cleaning (Katia had already vacuumed and touched up the paint in all of the rooms) and then on the road to Winchester, Virginia to kick start the long trip.  With the U-Haul behind and the Santa Fe packed up like the Beverly Hillbillies, we arrived at our hotel at 3 am and brushed our teeth and collapsed into bed.  Next stop – Salem, Virginia, just outside of Roanoke.