Getting ready for an adventure!

In nine days I will be setting out on dream trip - a 3 1/2 week journey across the USA and Canada with my two sons (Paul, age 17 and John, age 16). We leave from Winston-Salem on Saturday evening, June 9, immediately after Paul's graduation from Reagan High School. We are then headed to Colorado for white-water rafting, to the Grand Canyon, to Fresno to see my brother Paul and his family, to Yosemite for some incredible hiking, to San Francisco, up the coast of CA on Hwy 1, to Vancouver to stay with some friends I haven't seen since 1986, to Banff in the Canadian Rockies, then across Canada and back home via some route we will plan as we go! I have been dreaming of crossing the country with my sons for many years, have been planning this trip for a year, and am looking forward to it more than words can say!

The photo is from the last time I had this "cross-country fever" - it was 1981, I had just graduated from college, and I flew with my bicycle to CA to start a 6 1/2 week journey back to NY. This photo was from Hwy 1 on the coast of northern CA. (At one point I thought I would like to bike across the country with my sons, but at this stage of life my air-conditioned Mazda Tribute is much more appealing to me!) I will return to this spot on the CA coast 26 years older, 10 pounds heavier, with significantly less hair, but most importantly not alone this time! I have truly been blessed with the family God has given me over the past 20 years.

I was planning on writing a journal as I travelled, but then I thought this might be a good occasion to set up my first blog. I will plan on updating this blog frequently throughout our trip, which is scheduled to end by July 4.