The Count-Down Begins

In only 12 days, I'll be on the road, starting my Lap of America. I'll hit the road the morning of July 7 and head for Michigan to visit with my Mom and sister. After a couple of days in Saline, I'll point the Jeep toward Chicago. Once I clear the bottom of the Great Lakes, I plan to visit Mt. Rushmore and the Crazy Horse Memorial, the Black Hills, and anything else that looks interesting on my way to Ennis, MT. There I'll meet with my buddy Teddy, his cousin, and another guy from work, and we'll spend a week in southwest Montana chasing trout. The third week of my trip will involve a stop off in Seward, Nebraska where my oldest son was born, and a visit with my Mother-in-Law in Concordia, Missouri. Then it's on toward Monroe.

I don't think I'll be bored.

In the intervening time, I have a few things to put together and get loaded into the Jeep. 4 fishing rods of various descriptions, a bag with my waders and fishing equipment, clothes, laptop, 3 different cameras, Ipod, phone, drugs, GPS, binoculars, tool kits, first aid kit, about 83 different battery chargers, 25 miles of computer cables to connect everything to the laptop, and a partridge in a pear tree.

One thing I've never been accused of, is having insufficient equipment. When we camp, I drag a 5x8 enclosed trailer behind the Jeep with at least half a ton of "necessary" equipment. We're prepared to cut fire wood, catch our dinner, cook it, sleep in comfort, deal with inclement weather, and entertain ourselves.

This trip, I'll be traveling a little lighter. I won't have to tote my lodging, heat, or food with me. About the only thing necessary this trip will be me and a couple of credit cards. If I need it and don't have it, I'll buy it. In the words of Mel Brooks, "It's good to be the king!" :-)

Rest assured, I'll have the 'puter with me to process and post pictures, descriptions of what I see, visit, and otherwise encounter.

I'm really looking forward to this trip. I've wanted to fish the Blue Ribbon streams in the west for 20 years.

But there are a number of things I'll miss.

First, and foremost, I'll be away from Marilyn and our family. After 39 years, I've learned that traveling by myself is much less enjoyable than traveling with my family. They're all good people. (Most of them take after their Mom.)

I'll miss Wally-the-wonder-dog. I hope I'll be able to sleep without him pre-warming my side of the bed.

I'll also miss the kitchen construction. Marilyn's scheduled to have the kitchen rebuilt while I'm gone. I know I won't miss the 1973 Harvest Gold range and counter tops. :-) I'm thrilled for her. She's spent the last hour and a half on the other computer plotting something to do with cabinet hardware. I've not seen her happier in a long time. I guess it's good to be the Queen, too.

One thing I hope I don't think about is work. I'll have my RSA token with me, and unless I get a new cell phone before the trip, the guys at Acuity Brands Lighting will be able to track me down. If I need to, I can connect to my desktop at work from hotels and truck stops. Technology stinks.

Enough. I'll try to be a little more entertaining tomorrow.