Leaving tomorrow at 730am. And so it begins

The snow stopped, and the plows came.  It only wound up being about a foot (which after last weekend seems like a little dusting) so I am in good shape for a 730am departure tomorrow morning.

Shirts are folded...

Bags are packed. (neatly)

Room is in perfect order, in case I run out of money and need a clean, well lit place.

Closet is organized...

Luggage is waiting patiently in the garage for the sun to rise...

and at this point, Ive cleaned all the snow off the car and put a few things in the roof bin.

I've come a long way, and have yet to even begin the road trip.  Up until now it has all felt like somewhat of a dream.  DC ended abruptly and I left my friends in a rush.  I got home to NY and really never slowed down.  Now- with only 6 hours left until I leave, I feel a bit lost and confused, but also a tad excited.  I'm really sad to leave everyone, both in DC and in NY, but I know what lies ahead will remind me why I thought to do this in the first place.  Anyway, thanks for reading, whoever you are, because this blog has really helped me create at least one solid purpose for my trip, documentation.  Next time I write, will most likely be from Libertyville Illinois... who thinks I can do 13 hours of driving in one day?  Im not so sure... maybe my next post will be from some roach motel along the highway... ha.

Wish me luck!

How do you pack for an endless trip?

The question has come up a few times, and I've always just brushed past it-  "Are you moving, or just taking a trip?"  The truth is, I have no idea, and that is becoming a problem as I try to pack.  I cleaned my car, put on the roof accessories, put in the cell phone holder, sunglasses holder, and even some air tight snack containers.  At this point, the car, for all intents and purposes, is empty, and ready to roll. 

The car(go), on the other hand, is one big mess of a situation.

(for those of you Monroe blog followers, notice the Mr. Cone t-shirt front and center- Cant leave town without one of those with me.

I hope to have this all sorted out by tomorrow, for tonight Im just going to have to clear the bed so I can sleep on it.  I guess I'll have to accept the fact that all my favorite things are not going to be coming with me.  How many t-shirts do you think I need?  How many pairs of socks?  Enough for one week?  2 weeks?  Usually I am a smart traveler and a good packer, I've learned the best methods the only way I truly believe you can when it comes to packing- experience.  But my travel over the past 10 years has been limited to either weekend, one week, or in some cases 10 days.., so this is certainly going to be a challenge, but one that I am up for, and I hope to come out of it a pro at 'extended trip-journey-adventure-light scale car move, packing'.

Update on the weather: The snow is coming down now, there looks to be about an inch on the road, and it is 1230am, so it looks like I have tomorrow to finish this up with hopes of a Thursday morning departure.

 

Photos of the Band

A few weeks back my friend Eric, the bass player from Stuedabakerbrown, asked me if I would be interested in shooting some up-to-date images of the band before headed out west.  Flattered by the fact that they would even think to ask me, I told him I would love to.  Tonight I got the chance to spend about 5 hours with the band capturing some fun moments, first at Eric and Mike's place, and then at their recording studio.  Im pretty happy with the results so I figured Id share a few here.  If you wanted to check out some more- head over to my flickr page via the link on the right.

check them out at http://www.stuedabakerbrown.com/

Getting close...

I've been doing a poor job of keeping my blog updated, but I like to think that is simply because I haven't left yet.  Time, however, is running short here in Monroe, and exactly one week from today I should be about 6 hours into my ride.  Am I nervous?  Yes.  But I am equally as excited.  While on the phone last night, I compared my situation to sky diving... you might think you are completely ready to do it, but no one would fault you for being a bit nervous minutes before you are about to jump, right? 
Anyway, there are many things left to get done here before leaving... finish the third day of cleaning out my parents garage with them (tomorrow), transfer all my stuff from the various locations it currently resides into either the garage, my bedroom here, or into my 'to take with me' area, go to West VA with my dad for three days, clean, service, and pack my car... and well, I guess that is it.

For those of you who are wondering where I will go first... Im heading to Libertyville, IL which is just outside of Chicago... here is a picture of my first 'home-on-the-road'...

In the meantime...

I neglected to mention in my first posting that I want my blog to be mixed media. My mediocre writing + my photographs. So I hope that even if you can't get past all the grammatical errors in my writing, you can at least browse through and take a look at the pictures. I take great pleasure in photography and am often spotted toting my SLR around in my geeky backpack when I know there might be some good images to be captured...

I wanted to share a few that I shot last week while at a (long overdue) visit with my good friend Dan and his family at their incredibly welcoming, and cozy home in Highland Mills, NY. They have 5 amazing dogs all of which, I might add, are well behaved, so I had to take out the camera to capture a few shots of them in character... While outside I was also able to grab a few shots of Dan's Dad's Tea House... He has been building it, in an authentic fashion, for the past year. It blew my mind.

The tranquil tea house...

This sculpture was spotted while walking around back from the front of their house towards the tea house... A good desktop background, if you ask me.

And here are three of the dogs...

In the words of Kimmy Greenholtz "that perfect Golden Retriever over there, is Sadie..." I like to think that she is in a deep state of meditation here... (though in reality she was blinking her eyes after starring at a squirrel out the window for about 10 minutes)

I think this was Lucy... but ill have to confirm that with Dan. There are two of these little guys and they look a like.

And the boss, Sammie. He's just checkin things around the yard, making sure all is well.