Ed note

When my mom told me she was planning to keep an e-mail journal of her and my dad's cross-country travels, I immediately thought a blog was the only way to go -- how better to showcase both narrative and photos in an easily accessible way?

So I offered to set one up, pasted her first e-mail into Day 1 -- and VermontersToBe was born. Now, I fully expected my computer-savvy mom to pick up the reins within a day or two, but with all the actual trip-going, she didn't really have time to learn the Blogger basics.

I have to say I'm glad she didn't. For the past 3+ weeks, Mom/aka Sue has been sending me the copy and photos by e-mail, and I've done the production, with the odd editorial comment and web-link thrown in. And I've really enjoyed it -- quite happily I think it's made me read the journal that much more closely, and many times I've pictured myself on the ride along with them. And by searching for various links, I've actually learned a bit along the way. (as well as found a few random images online; apologies to the copyright holders if any, but as I don't think we're a commercial enterprise, I hope you don't mind!)

So though my parents' cross-country journey may be over, their Vermont journey is just beginning. So I hope this blog is too -- I'm sure we all can't wait to read all about their ongoing New England adventures -- may there be many more!

• Days until Ed, Ashley and Paige have a cross-Atlantic journey to join in the adventures: 9