August 28th

I leave August 28th for a month long trip. I'm 20 years old and the furthest from home I've been is L.A. and the longest I've been gone is 13 days. Now we're talking one month. One month and 3,000 miles from home. That's something. Even still, a month doesn't seem long enough.

We'll be leaving mid-day (though I argue early morning so I get some extra time in Missoula) and we head up through Washington and cut over to Montana. Our first leg is a 19 hour drive. Looking back, I'm not sure who had that brilliant idea - me or Brandon - but I regret not giving myself more leisure time. Our first marked destination is Mt Rushmore.

The quality of the image is piss poor (hip hip hooray for camera phones) but you get the idea. We're going from one side of the country to the other and back, with several stops marked and unmarked along the way. When we reach the East Coast our dear friend Alexandra is flying from her home in Munich, Germany to meet us in Newark, New Jersey and she'll finish the trip back to Portland with us. We also hope that our friend Brittney will be able to join us. (Hey Brittney. Come on the trip). Now you can see why a month hardly seems like enough time but it will have to do.

The trip started out as one to the Grand Canyon, a site at the top of my bucket list, but when we were planning it I turned to Brandon and said, "Brandon, I was thinking..." I'm sure I had that look on my face - a look my friends can only describe as the "Mary face" and it means I have an idea. A crazy, crazy idea that I probably think is the best idea I have ever had. The conversation went something like this, as I recall,

"Brandon, I've been thinking..."
"Oh no,"
"You know how we've always wanted to go to New York?"
"Yes..."
"Well, I've got an idea."

This was back in March, while I was bed ridden for a month and a half with mono. Maybe it was my droopy eyes, uncombed hair and stench that got him to give in and say yes (sort of like a puppy sitting in it's own filth, you can't help but feel sorry for it) or maybe it was because if he distracted me by planning a cross-country road trip he wouldn't have to sit through another re-run of Say Yes to the Dress. Either way, he agreed this was my best idea (ever) and we began planning.

It seemed so long ago back then. Six months away. But now we leave in 33 days. The days and the minutes passed so quickly, but isn't that what everyone has ever told us?

Welcome to my blog, a way for me to share my adventures and stories and practice my travel writing. Please, hang around. In 33 days we'll go on an adventure.

Enjoy every minute.
Mary