The road trip encompasses very well the classic phrase "it's not the destination, it's the journey". I've tried a few times in my life to have a fun, enjoyable road trip, but I can never really get over the constant gasoline burning and the destination driven daily 'to do' list. But this time I'm out to change all that. I want a perfect blend of fun experiences and productive westward driving. And at the end of the road I want to be relaxed, not stressed about my nasty environmental impact.
Wikipedia says a road trip must be at least 3 hours away and done by automobile. Which means, that contrary to Wikipedias ideas, road trips could not possible 'date back' to any time before the existance of the automobile. The first successful transcontinental drive took place in 1903 and encompassed 63 days of driving between San Fransisco and New York. The total for food, lodging, gas, parts, and the car itself was $8,000 which works out to be about$125 per day. The growth of the interstate system in the U.S. allowed the development of road tripping as a hobby. In turn came welcome sign photography, caravaning, and RVing. Some road trippers even study roadology-the relationship between roads and culture.
Joining me for my journey will be the lovely Steph Smith. Hopefully, we can find a fun balance between national lampoons and road warriors, making it to our final destination of Laramie by January 6th!
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Sunday, December 26, 2010
Post Christmas Post
Goodness, my catchy titles make me laugh.
Of course, the day before I depart for the first leg of my journey a blizzard has arrived in town. Luckily though I have my three sisters, our dog, and plenty of food to keep my packing extravaganza stress free. After all, I can't change the weather-It's out of my hands. Just about everything is packed in the car with the exception of my bedding and the clothes I will use for the next two weeks in Maryland and on the road. I've established a bag of miscellaneous car things for the trip that includes a mountain house dehydrated ice cream sandwich, a box of tea, and wipes for the days when Steph and I will avoid showering.
Tomorrow morning I will gather the last minute items-toothpaste, baby blue spruce trees, phone charger, lap top, etc. Then, if the weather holds out I will either purchase two new tires for my car or get my leaking tire patched before I head to baltimore. If both those options fail, I will purchase a tire inflater from Lowes that plugs into a car lighter and inflates a flat ANYWHERE. A road warriors dream come true.
In the Christmas News department, I am the proud new owner of a mini sony e-reader, a pair of roper gloves, a harmonica, and a sporty/stylish blend bracelet. In particular, the e-reader settles the debate of what books to bring as I can have them ALL in a small device that doesn't even weigh as much as a paperback. Sweet.
I feel like I did as a kid right before you make your first jump off the diving board into the deep end of the pool. The twenty seconds of anticipation before you finally just jump feels like a lifetime of ponderance about what you could have done to better prepare yourself for your first big swim. But none of it matters as long as you just do it. You can't swim in the deep end until you actually jump into the deep end. There's no simulation for such a thing, only reality.
Of course, the day before I depart for the first leg of my journey a blizzard has arrived in town. Luckily though I have my three sisters, our dog, and plenty of food to keep my packing extravaganza stress free. After all, I can't change the weather-It's out of my hands. Just about everything is packed in the car with the exception of my bedding and the clothes I will use for the next two weeks in Maryland and on the road. I've established a bag of miscellaneous car things for the trip that includes a mountain house dehydrated ice cream sandwich, a box of tea, and wipes for the days when Steph and I will avoid showering.
Tomorrow morning I will gather the last minute items-toothpaste, baby blue spruce trees, phone charger, lap top, etc. Then, if the weather holds out I will either purchase two new tires for my car or get my leaking tire patched before I head to baltimore. If both those options fail, I will purchase a tire inflater from Lowes that plugs into a car lighter and inflates a flat ANYWHERE. A road warriors dream come true.
In the Christmas News department, I am the proud new owner of a mini sony e-reader, a pair of roper gloves, a harmonica, and a sporty/stylish blend bracelet. In particular, the e-reader settles the debate of what books to bring as I can have them ALL in a small device that doesn't even weigh as much as a paperback. Sweet.
I feel like I did as a kid right before you make your first jump off the diving board into the deep end of the pool. The twenty seconds of anticipation before you finally just jump feels like a lifetime of ponderance about what you could have done to better prepare yourself for your first big swim. But none of it matters as long as you just do it. You can't swim in the deep end until you actually jump into the deep end. There's no simulation for such a thing, only reality.
Monday, December 20, 2010
A theory of relativity
I'm not talking about Einsteins kind-this is my own theory.
Sometimes I wake up thinking about the list of 'problems' I need to deal with. Generally it's about money or at the very least requires money to fix. Sometimes, this list keeps me awake at night. In combination with other stresses, I find myself extra sensitive to anything and everything.
But in the midst of all the panic to get things done before I leave and my growing list of 'problems', I've had some time to kick back and relax. In support of my sister's newly invigorated musical pursuits, I've met someone who I think is the happiest man in the world. I couldn't help but ask what his secret was, but I didn't get much of an answer. He explained to me only one thing-that his net value was $2200. This made him smile and laugh a lot. He's not happy because he doesn't have problems, he's happy because there's no reason to be anything else. Additionally, he seems well supported by an excellent dose of Karma. I guess when you're happy the universe bounces your goodness back to you
It shouldn't matter where you are, what you're doing, or who you're with. At any given point, we all have everything we've ever needed to be happy. It's a choice to be happy. It's a choice to take any experience and be thankful for it. Now, I'm not saying that's its in any way possible to avoid the stress that life can bring, I'm just saying that stress of problems is all relative. At my job for example, people come in and believe that Christmas is ruined because we don't carry a hooded Denali jacket. I see this and think, 'man, I wish my biggest problem was not getting the exact jacket I want'. And then of course I walk by a homeless man on my way to my car, whose biggest problem is staying warm and finding food to eat.
Maybe problems are just waiting for solutions. Maybe gratitude is right next to happiness. Maybe you actually do get what you give.
It's all relative.
Sometimes I wake up thinking about the list of 'problems' I need to deal with. Generally it's about money or at the very least requires money to fix. Sometimes, this list keeps me awake at night. In combination with other stresses, I find myself extra sensitive to anything and everything.
But in the midst of all the panic to get things done before I leave and my growing list of 'problems', I've had some time to kick back and relax. In support of my sister's newly invigorated musical pursuits, I've met someone who I think is the happiest man in the world. I couldn't help but ask what his secret was, but I didn't get much of an answer. He explained to me only one thing-that his net value was $2200. This made him smile and laugh a lot. He's not happy because he doesn't have problems, he's happy because there's no reason to be anything else. Additionally, he seems well supported by an excellent dose of Karma. I guess when you're happy the universe bounces your goodness back to you
It shouldn't matter where you are, what you're doing, or who you're with. At any given point, we all have everything we've ever needed to be happy. It's a choice to be happy. It's a choice to take any experience and be thankful for it. Now, I'm not saying that's its in any way possible to avoid the stress that life can bring, I'm just saying that stress of problems is all relative. At my job for example, people come in and believe that Christmas is ruined because we don't carry a hooded Denali jacket. I see this and think, 'man, I wish my biggest problem was not getting the exact jacket I want'. And then of course I walk by a homeless man on my way to my car, whose biggest problem is staying warm and finding food to eat.
Maybe problems are just waiting for solutions. Maybe gratitude is right next to happiness. Maybe you actually do get what you give.
It's all relative.
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Downsizing at it's best!
Generally, downsizing is a negative term associated with lay-offs in a business. Luckily I'm not the victim of such a thing. I'm a volunteer. I'm voluntarily downsizing my life. Not getting rid of people, but getting rid of the things I want and figuring out exactly what it is I need. Luckily, I'm starting from a reasonable place. Aside from my car, everything I have fits in my room. Now, of course this is all relative. Some people would need to downsize just to make 6 foot piles of belongings that fit into their bedroom and others live out of backpacks year round(Kudos to Brad, Jay, and Alli for making this work and still looking cute). I've never been one to hesitate to throw away my old shit, but lately I feel like I have less and less things that are easy to throw away. So here's what I got...
1.CLOTHES/SHOES In the clothing department, things have been simple. I either wear it more than once a week in season or its going to goodwill. There are a few exceptions for items like dresses and cowbot boots. I try to follow the same criteria for shoes. I might even take a leap of faith to leave my whole 2 pair heel collection behind in NJ. Wyoming doesn't strike me as a fancy shoe kind of place.
2. MY ROOM-When I think about what I'll be doing when I get there, I can't help suppose that the first week or so I will spend a good amount of time in my room without furniture or friends. So I'll certainly need room decorations. Luckily I have a solid collection of maps and outdoor brand posters that I will use in an attempt to make my room feel more 'homey'. Bedding will also be a necessity, but it could be a month or so before I actually get myself a bed.
3. MY OUTDOOR BIN-This is a box of essentialls. Backpack, hiking boots, camel back. You name it, chances are good its in there and waiting for the Rocky Mountains.
4. ELECTRONICS-laptop, camera, i pod. done.
5. BOOKS-I'm trying to limit myself to 10 but it's hard.
6. THINGS/MEMORABILIA-ugh. the things category. Let me start by saying that my javelin IS coming to Wyoming. No questions asked. But where do I draw the line with journals, pictures, notes, etc. I think one shoe box is fair. More than fair actually, especially considering how far away I'll be, these little treasures will make me feel quite happy to see.
7. KITCHEN-Project marj glass and my 5 trillion nalgenes and to go coffee mugs.
And that's it. That's what I'm taking with me. Maybe downsizing isn't so bad after all...
1.CLOTHES/SHOES In the clothing department, things have been simple. I either wear it more than once a week in season or its going to goodwill. There are a few exceptions for items like dresses and cowbot boots. I try to follow the same criteria for shoes. I might even take a leap of faith to leave my whole 2 pair heel collection behind in NJ. Wyoming doesn't strike me as a fancy shoe kind of place.
2. MY ROOM-When I think about what I'll be doing when I get there, I can't help suppose that the first week or so I will spend a good amount of time in my room without furniture or friends. So I'll certainly need room decorations. Luckily I have a solid collection of maps and outdoor brand posters that I will use in an attempt to make my room feel more 'homey'. Bedding will also be a necessity, but it could be a month or so before I actually get myself a bed.
3. MY OUTDOOR BIN-This is a box of essentialls. Backpack, hiking boots, camel back. You name it, chances are good its in there and waiting for the Rocky Mountains.
4. ELECTRONICS-laptop, camera, i pod. done.
5. BOOKS-I'm trying to limit myself to 10 but it's hard.
6. THINGS/MEMORABILIA-ugh. the things category. Let me start by saying that my javelin IS coming to Wyoming. No questions asked. But where do I draw the line with journals, pictures, notes, etc. I think one shoe box is fair. More than fair actually, especially considering how far away I'll be, these little treasures will make me feel quite happy to see.
7. KITCHEN-Project marj glass and my 5 trillion nalgenes and to go coffee mugs.
And that's it. That's what I'm taking with me. Maybe downsizing isn't so bad after all...
Saturday, December 4, 2010
Life at 7,000 feet
My first bit of research on living at elevation has led to an alarming conclusion...The human body functions best at sea level and no where else. The first 18 years of my life were spent at 1,000 feet. The next 3 at about 200 with a few intermittent bouts of actually living at sea level on boats or at coastal campsites. And now I'm moving to 7,000 feet, and I'm getting a dehyrdation headache just thinking about it.
The concentration of oxygen in sea level air is 20%. By 16,000 feet it has dropped to 10% and by 29,000 feet it is only a third of what it was at sea level. The highest altitude longer term human survival was 2 years at 19,000 feet. At altitude the body acclimatizes by increasing heart rate, respiratory rate, and limiting what the body considers non essential functions like food digestion(which to be quite frank is actually essestial). Full acclimatization is a process considered to take days or weeks, I'm budgeting months.
At the very least, I suppose I can be pleased to know that in the not so distant future I could potentially be a human who's in shape at elevation, thereby making me a super human at sea level and capable of personal record breaking 5k times. That and I can finally follow the high elevation directions when baking.
GROOVY.
The concentration of oxygen in sea level air is 20%. By 16,000 feet it has dropped to 10% and by 29,000 feet it is only a third of what it was at sea level. The highest altitude longer term human survival was 2 years at 19,000 feet. At altitude the body acclimatizes by increasing heart rate, respiratory rate, and limiting what the body considers non essential functions like food digestion(which to be quite frank is actually essestial). Full acclimatization is a process considered to take days or weeks, I'm budgeting months.
At the very least, I suppose I can be pleased to know that in the not so distant future I could potentially be a human who's in shape at elevation, thereby making me a super human at sea level and capable of personal record breaking 5k times. That and I can finally follow the high elevation directions when baking.
GROOVY.
Friday, December 3, 2010
29 Days to go.
Today I had my first 'oh shit' moment about moving across the country. After waking up to my car being towed(literally about 200 feet away and 15 minutes before I got there) and ticketed this morning, I got back to my house to get ready for work. When I went outside to start my car, it wouldn't start. I came back inside in a fury of lateness screaming 'My car won't start'. So my sisters came outside and helped me start the car. I enjoyed a nice simple moment of having two people that know and love me to help me do something stupid like start my car. But then I began to seriously consider the fact that I'm moving 2000 miles away to a place where I literally know ONE person. Additionally I considered that I will not live with that person and he won't be in my house when I need someone to help me start my car. My mind took over and I made a list of the trillion things that I will miss so much about being home. Irreplaceable things.
Ultimately I know that I do have so much to look forward to in Laramie. But even more imporantly, I need to appreciate the things that I have right here and right now.
*Cue Megan and Marli hitting the Gong*
Ultimately I know that I do have so much to look forward to in Laramie. But even more imporantly, I need to appreciate the things that I have right here and right now.
*Cue Megan and Marli hitting the Gong*
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
The Countdown Has Begun
So last night I went over to mailboxes etc. to get a few documents notarized and send my paperwork out to laramie via fax and UPS($14 for two single sheets of paper ground shipping-bologna!). The woman working there saw University of Wyoming logos and preceded to tell me the life story of her brother who graduated from the university and now works in wildlife range management with some type of consulting firm. Small world I tell you...30,000 people in Laramie and I run into the sister of one of them in Mt. Arlington NJ's mailboxes etc. WEIRD.
So It's REALLY actually official now. My paperwork is in, contract signed, and I leave for Laramie in exactly 1 month. I celebrated by purchasing a pair of mountain khakis on sierra trading post clearance for only $23. I have a feeling I'll be living in these pants every day next summer. The other, more depressing part of my celebrations was making a list of all the other things I'll need but can't afford right now(leather gloves, a sleeping bag, a solid pair of boots), and trying to piece together some type of a budget for my trip. It's one of those days where I really wish monopoly money was an option-especially after paying $106 to transfer a title and register a car in NJ 6 months after it came here just so I can drive it away into the beautiful western sunset. At least I don't have to take back roads anymore just to avoid the cops.
So, for the next three weeks my priorities are to work and save. Also in the mix is to run enough that the altitude of 7,000 feet won't be absolutely inhibiting enough to ruin my enjoyment of winter activites like skiing.
Is it Christmas eve yet?
So It's REALLY actually official now. My paperwork is in, contract signed, and I leave for Laramie in exactly 1 month. I celebrated by purchasing a pair of mountain khakis on sierra trading post clearance for only $23. I have a feeling I'll be living in these pants every day next summer. The other, more depressing part of my celebrations was making a list of all the other things I'll need but can't afford right now(leather gloves, a sleeping bag, a solid pair of boots), and trying to piece together some type of a budget for my trip. It's one of those days where I really wish monopoly money was an option-especially after paying $106 to transfer a title and register a car in NJ 6 months after it came here just so I can drive it away into the beautiful western sunset. At least I don't have to take back roads anymore just to avoid the cops.
So, for the next three weeks my priorities are to work and save. Also in the mix is to run enough that the altitude of 7,000 feet won't be absolutely inhibiting enough to ruin my enjoyment of winter activites like skiing.
Is it Christmas eve yet?
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Where the heck is Laramie?
Laramie is in Wyoming. Which is north of Colorado. East of Utah and Idaho. South of Montana. And west of South Dakota. To say its in the middle of nowhere would be something of a lie because in my mind it's in the middle of everywhere. What more could a mountain woman ask for than easy access to mountains, ski slopes, yellowstone, jackson hole, the badlands, the rockies, boulder. I mean really-it's the center of the mountain world!
So you get the geographic idea. The city itself is flat and relatively small, although big by wyoming standards. Of the 30,000 city resdients, just about half of them are students at the university. The town originally sprung up with the Union Pacific railroad camps and to this day remains an important part of product movement through the mountain interior.
Annual Precipitation is only 10 inches. Coupled with a January average of 21 and a July average of 64 I think I'll be quite comforatable-at least in the summer! Of course I'll also be pleased by the snowy range 30 miles to the west and the laramie range 7 miles to the east. Add a little rocky mountain national park for a weekend trip and I'll be in heaven...but my car will not be!
Other than that it seems like quite a simple and pleasant place. The people are quite connected to the land as most are ranchers and understand the importance of natural resources very well. They're also extraordinarily friendly and unlike Towson, when I call the university a live human being answers the phone! For now it's on to find a place to live. Luckily I will enjoy rent that's less than $400 a month and a location where I can ALWAYS walk to class or work.
Over and Out.
So you get the geographic idea. The city itself is flat and relatively small, although big by wyoming standards. Of the 30,000 city resdients, just about half of them are students at the university. The town originally sprung up with the Union Pacific railroad camps and to this day remains an important part of product movement through the mountain interior.
Annual Precipitation is only 10 inches. Coupled with a January average of 21 and a July average of 64 I think I'll be quite comforatable-at least in the summer! Of course I'll also be pleased by the snowy range 30 miles to the west and the laramie range 7 miles to the east. Add a little rocky mountain national park for a weekend trip and I'll be in heaven...but my car will not be!
Other than that it seems like quite a simple and pleasant place. The people are quite connected to the land as most are ranchers and understand the importance of natural resources very well. They're also extraordinarily friendly and unlike Towson, when I call the university a live human being answers the phone! For now it's on to find a place to live. Luckily I will enjoy rent that's less than $400 a month and a location where I can ALWAYS walk to class or work.
Over and Out.
Saturday, November 27, 2010
On Board
Alright, so this is my first blog EVER. If nothing else, at the end of it all I'll have a great journal of what I've been up to from January-August 2011. So for starters, I'll tell you about the job. I've just accepted a position as a trail crew leader for the Wyoming Conservation Corps. The program is housed at the University of Wyoming in Laramie and aims to provide crews for state conservation projects while helping Wyoming's young people gain natural resource management experience through service of wyoming's land. Beginning in January I will set sail via my 2003 saturn vue for Laramie. From January until early May my comittment to the program will involve taking a 2 credt 'conservation leadership' course with the 15 other crew leaders at the university. In that time we learn history, undergo training, and most importantly, hire our crews for the summer season. When school gets out in May, we begin our projects across the state working 10 days on and 4 days off until mid August when the season finishes. It sounds simple, but I'm sure there will be so much more to it than that.
For the next month, I'll be working like a maniac to save up money and get ready for the big move. I guess it's a good thing that I already know my life fits quite easily in my car...
For the next month, I'll be working like a maniac to save up money and get ready for the big move. I guess it's a good thing that I already know my life fits quite easily in my car...
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