Well, after a great day of visiting with family and friends, we hit a bit of a snag, the first real challenge of the trip.

Michelle discovered at about 5pm that she didn't have her purse. That began a feverish expedition to find it. We went back to the only store we visited yesterday, Target, and checked all over the store and with management, but no luck. We called all of our credit card companies to place holds on the accounts, and were somewhat surprised that no activity had been recorded. That's a good sign, we believe, but it might also mean a small time crook took the purse, dumped it and took the cash and camera inside.

So, now begins the fun of replacing cards, accounts, and protecting the identity with calls to credit reporting sources, etc. We're heading towards Cape Cod today, so we'll be working through this on the road. A big thanks to Tami Case (and Dave) for helping us out as we walk down this road. We're still hoping and praying it'll turn up.

Update:

Just a quick update as we stop for lunch. We made one last stop at Target this morning to do one more check. We figured out that at some point yesterday, Michelle's cart got switched with another one, either by mistake, or by the person who grabbed the purse.

After one more thorough search we found the purse stuffed in a cart in the back of the store, and thankfully, only the cash and camera were removed. We're assuming it's a small time crook or someone who was desperate for money. We're very thankful that this is the case as a true ID thief would have wreaked way more havoc. The cost to us was about $200 in cash and replacement camera (our third this trip now), so overall, not too bad, considering.

The irony is that we spent 2 weeks in DC, NYC, and Philly, much more "dangerous" cities, and this happened in upscale Connecticut. Who would have guessed? God is good though, and as we had hoped, it all worked out without a big tragedy, so we're thankful for that. Thanks for all the prayers during this short but traumatic time.