It's Almost Go Time
Three months ago I sat down and began a bucket list that ended with item #5 at Alaska. It was a whim. I hesitantly texted my niece to see if she would like to take a road trip with me, to which her response was, "Sure, I'm down!" The following day, I ordered 2 copies of a book called Milepost 2017 that fully details the stops along the Alaskan Highway through Canada and into Alaska. It began as a fantasy that turned into a possibility that is now finally becoming a reality.
Looking back on this week, the theme has been "If it can go wrong, it will." No one is at fault, per se. It's just the way of the world. When plan A fails, you have to resort to plan B and sometimes have a plan C on the ready just in case. That is how I have planned this trip. I have recognized from the beginning the importance of being self reliant in order to embark on this journey and I think we might actually be ready! Or close to it ... Hard to believe!
This week was a little bit stressful, trying to iron out the last minute kinks. But thanks to Hoehn Motors, my car has been serviced and we have a brand new set of Michelin tires to carry us along on this incredible adventure, along with 2 full size spares, just in case. Vanessa and I were given a lesson on tire changing today by Susan and Cesar at Hoehn so we know what to do with them if anything happens. Those suckers take up a ton of space, but we will be happy they are there should we need them! We had a Thule clamshell installed for our camping gear (should we need it!), shirts made, press releases sent, and decals done on the car by Modern Image here in San Diego.
But who really cares? Some may argue that advertising that we are two young girls traveling a very long distance together may draw negative and possibly harmful attention to us. That makes me sad, and that is precisely the reason I have worked so hard over the last 3 months to gain the attention we have been given; that is why I continue to seek that attention. Women have been obligated to be afraid for far too long. It is exciting for me to share this journey with young women who may currently lack the oomph it takes to embark on an adventure of this scale. There is a big, wide world out there that is just waiting to be explored and not just by men or by me. Women can do cool stuff, too, and I want to show not only Vanessa but other young women as well that they can do it too! If one person is inspired by our journey, my job is done. Even if it's just my niece.
Tomorrow will be [somewhat] controlled chaos. My little African Grey, Buddy, will go off to his friend Eric's house. I tucked him in for the last time tonight and I cried. We have a routine ... he gets his night-night walnuts and I tell him how pretty he is. It's stupid, I know, but that's our routine. I will miss his pretty little whistles in the morning, the way he cocks his head at me when I talk sweetly to him, and the way he bounces his head up and down when we whistle along to music together.
And my precious Chalupa, the one-eyed chihuahua. Such a pain in the butt, but she is my baby and I will miss her.
Stay tuned .......... We leave on Sunday for Salt Lake City.