Sunday, August 12, 2007

in the beginning


as i begin this blog, there are a couple things you should know.

first, i am not really a writer, i've always preferred the spoken word to written; i'd rather call you than e-mail or text message, a verbal commitment to a contract and a little spontanuity to being programed. HOWEVER, with my recent retirement i've got more time on my hands and a desperate need to DO SOMETHING to fend off boredom and laziness, thus the planning of this trip began. it is the opportunity of a lifetime and with all the new technology available to us, i decided this was a good time to develop some digital skills, sharpen my photographic eye, and with my memory fading, write down a few memories of the trip while they are still fresh in my mind.

second, about 5 or 6 years ago, my daughter cami decided a move to boston would broaden her experience and open some employment opportunities for her. so... we jumped in the car on july 5th and drove across the usa in 4 days, 4 days!!! not the way to SEE the amber fields of grain, trust me. at some point along the trip and my countless exclamations, "this is the heartland of america" i decided the next time i do this i'll do it right.

third, some time ago my brother steve gave me a book titled, "100 things to do and see before you die". over the years i have kept a mental list of some things i would like to do before i leave this earth. numbered among those is a cross country car trip, visiting church history sites, ball parks and playing some golf along the way.

as feat would have it, i had also decided to replace Karen's car this summer... opportunity knocks. why not buy one on the east coast and and drive it back. a phone call to a good friend and Nike rep, put me in touch with a dealer in annapolis maryland who was willing to give me quite a good price on the car we wanted, the savings basically paying for the trip cross country. with all those ducks seemingly in line the decision was made.

many thanks and much love to karen for allowing me to go and trusting i'll get her car back safely. she gave some thought to joining me, but the weather report, the uncertainty of the trips' length, a very full schedule complete with 5 ball games and equal number of golf matches planned and finally, ryan and brittany moving to bend the first part of september, made her decision for her. i'm still hopeful she might join me in chicago, but trust me, there will be another trip, mayber even in september/october to pick up a car for my dad.

this will be my attempt to document the trip and if it all goes well there maybe others to come. enjoy!!

if you're wondering about the photo above... karen, that's your car, i hope you like it.

3 comments:

brittany said...

Wow, I wish I was there. I read the blog entries in backword order, but everything sounds great. The car is silver. Whatever you told me before was a load, it just silver.

Sounds like your friend took good care of you in Baltimore. How did he work for Nike from the East Coast? - Ryan

karen said...

Way to go Ron. We are sitting here with side by side computers enjoying your blof at the exact same time. I did not know you could be so verbose. Thanx for the detailed explanation of events. I quite like the look of the car and am sure I will enjoy driving it even more. Brittany says Ryan and I are dualing transcribers.

brittany said...

dad, i wish you could see this. ryan has set up his computer right here by yours and there are dueling commenters.

we are now going to the family website to post about your blog. so you'll have lots of comments. ryan says there is nothing worse than a blog with no comments.

cool car, glad you are having so much fun. we are so impressed you successfully posted to your blog.