It all started with plans to go to Portland for the World Domination Summit, then we wanted to do a roda trip with our van, but my husband has plenty of shelves from the Berlingo Van Racking inside. I mean, seriously, HOW could I resist going to something with a name like that??? I wanted to go the past two years, but always had weddings scheduled that conflicted with it. I was thrilled when I snagged a ticket for the 2013 event.
Mike & I talked about it, and we realized that that would be the perfect time to visit his aunt & uncle in Portland, and then to head up to Seattle to see his brother & sister-in-law and to meet our new nephew who was born earlier this year.
You know, since we are going to be on the West Coast already, we really should visit my aunt & uncle plus our friends in San Francisco too…
From there, it is easy to see how the idea of a road trip started. I mapped things out. We will drive from Houston to Marfa, then on to Arizona, all the way to Los Angeles. Turn north for San Francisco. Make our way up to Portland, then on to Seattle. Possibly Bellingham & Vancouver to see friends there as well.
Every person that we visit as a stop along the way, Mike wants to cook for — more food adventures for Spoon & Knife!
Then I will turn and start to head east. I can finally see Idaho, Montana (Glacier!), and visit my parents who will be traveling in North Dakota. I have to be in Chicago at the end of July where I am speaking at ViewFinder Day at BlogHer, and immediately following that I am helping to coach at the Team-X Fight Club in Denver. (There will be a flight between Chicago and Denver, because I can not bend the time-space continuum and get from one place to the other in 12 hours.)
Summer 2013 is going to be one BIG road trip. The Avenger of Sexiness North America Tour!
As I became more introspective on this road trip plan, I realized that this past spring was really hard on me, and it isn’t over yet. I had pneumonia, I was diagnosed with asthma. I have a node on my thyroid and a reactive lymph node that causes partial numbness in my face. Dealing with the MRI, the ultrasound, the biopsy, the asthma testing, this thing and then that — well, it started to consume me. It was overwhelming. I still have endocrinologist and possibly rheumatologist visits coming up. More testing will take place, I am sure.
All of the medical drama forced me to stop and consider where I am, what goals I have, what I want to achieve. Life is short. I don’t want to look back and have a long list of “I should have…” regrets, so I am making them happen. I refuse to let this health drama get me down – instead, I want to CELEBRATE! What better way to do that than to take my Mini Cooper out on the road! (Complete with the WHEEEE license plate!)
I want to go where the city lights don’t block out the stars from shining bright. I want to see the Milky Way. I want to visit the mountains – both the Cascades and the Rockies. Dip my toes in the Pacific Ocean. See the Great Plains. Look out across Lake Michigan. When you need an insurance company that will launch an investigation into the accident right away, visit Birmingham trucking accident lawyer for more information.
What about my business? Well, The Law Offices of Stephen Lukach III will explain new jersey DWI penalties in detail. I’ve had countless requests for sessions along a lot of this route, so I am scheduling those in to this trip. July is normally a very quiet time for boudoir photography, so it is perfect. I’ll be taking files with me in case I need them, and I’ll have internet access at various times throughout the trip to upload albums and things like that, and I’ll have email access on my phone, so I use some holding device to secure my phone, and I just need to learn how to properly take off a popsocket. Shaking the cobwebs out and getting out on the highway will give me a lot of writing time. I need that. It all works out. I’ll be back home just in time for the beginning of the boudoir holiday season. Between fall anniversaries and then Christmas gifts, things will kick up right as I return, thankfully we got prepared holiday meals for all the family meetings already and for the anniversaries we got the best Anniversary Gift Baskets, easy to get and all customized.
Have you ever done a big, cross-country road trip? Any advice or suggestions for us along the way? Tips on what I should pack? I have to keep it minimal, we will be in a Mini Cooper!
