Life Spoke

We finally did it! The food shipments are all laid out.

Tracey has been amazing these past two days. She came back from Burning Man and dove right in. Without her helping to organize it would have taken about twice as long to deal with all the food. We had 12 grocery bags of food to portion out, seal up and make into daily piles which were then combined into weekly loads. It was a massive project. My friend Brandon was an enormous help as well, both with advice and grunt work.

Thanks again to the Market of Choice for all the food. I also got word from Costco that they will donate $50 of store credit. Tracey will use that to purchase any ancillary items I need (ziplocks, vitamins, drink mix...).

I was ON AIR today at KLCC, the local National Public Radio station here in Eugene. I was so nervous going into the interview but everyone said I did fantastic and I'm really happy about it. More than anything I got a chance to truly explain my motivation; the emotional overload that led me to conceive of this project.

With only one day left I don't know if I can make the interview available online for you to hear. I will try to do that.

I wanted to remind everyone that this weblog will have updates on my progress. Both Tracey and my buddy Chris will be guest authors. I'll call them with updates every few days and they will let you know my whereabouts, my current motivations, struggles, epiphonies, favorite music for the day...that sort of stuff. Check back here often and SEND ME COMMENTS. I can't wait to read what you have to say.

I expect to be able to use the internet about once a week or so. I'll look for internet cafes, public universities and libraries. I'll also have access in Denver and Chicago when I visit Chris and my brother, respectively.

I'm pretty nervous. I was jumping around all day doing errands and was just a jittery ball of energy. There is a long list of To Do's right next to my keyboard here:
Stop into Costco
Phone interview with Asbury Park Press in New Jersey
Prepare for the party this weekend
Lay out my route from Denver to Chicago
Compile a list of cities I'll travel through so Jon at work can send out press releases as I go
Dry treat my panniers
Figure out how best to stow my water
Pack the bags with 1st week of food
Go to Post Office and get flat rate boxes, then pack the boxes
Breathe
Breathe again

The breathing thing is more important than you might expect. I actually forgot to breathe the other day and fell over backwards. It was embarassing.

That's how my life is going at the moment. This is the most intense thing I've ever done and without Tracey it just wouldn't be possible.

It also wouldn't be as exciting and powerful without your donations and frequent emails. Thank you everyone for your support. I feel as if I am doing the right thing for all the right reasons and every one of you has contributed to that sensation.

Thanks! I'll let you know how the first leg from Florence back to Eugene goes on Friday.
-Drew