Slowing Down
I just finished a tour Lambeau Field and am at the library in Green Bay. They redid the stadium a few years ago and it is very cool. The tour went up to one of the luxury boxes and down onto the field. Well worth the stop. Definitely a place to add to the list for my yearly sporting events. I also stopped by the pub their for a beer and to make a few, I’m not working phone calls. Sure there will be many more of those. I will be making my way west across Wisconsin for a few days hoping that the camp sites aren’t full with the 4th of July coming up.
I spent a couple of days in Door County Wisconsin which is the peninsula northeast of Green Bay. It is a touristy area with lots of antique shops, orchards, and knick knacks. I was in the younger portion of visitors, but only spent one day doing a little of that. They also have 5 state parks, of which I hit 4 of them. Very cool forest areas, sand dunes and Lake Michigan on one side and Green Bay on the other side. The mosquitoes took over my camp one night so I was locked away inside my tent to get away from them. One of the big things they advertise to do is something called a fish boil. I called one place and was told they have them every night before 8, no reservations needed. I showed up at 7:15 and was told they were already cleaning up because it was so slow. It is supposed to be a fish platter cooked over an open fire with onions and potatoes until it boils over onto the fire, I think. Normally I wouldn’t even have bothered to call so it is funny that the one time I did that it didn’t work out.
It has been nice waking up and listening to the waves and birds without having to rush around. Lots of wildlife here, I got some good pictures of some baby raccoons, but can’t upload them at this library. I’ll try to get them up next time. Forgot to mention that some raccoons had emptied out my cooler in Missouri, that was my mistake not theirs though. They made a mess and helped themselves to my oatmeal cream pies, a turkey sandwich, and some breakfast bars. Score one for them. The cooler has been spending the nights inside the truck now. Hope all is well with all of you.
Brian
Week 1
Lots has been going on. I started out with a canoe trip last Saturday on the Illinois river in northeast Oklahoma with Michelle. There were canoes and rafts everywhere at the start, but spread out a little bit as the day went on. The water was comfortable and it was relatively cool out, low 80s. Nice enough to do one jump off the rocks into the river. We didn’t tip over although I did at the end trying to get out of the canoe. On Sunday we took a short hike at Natural Falls state park and then hung out in the water the rest of the day. Very relaxful! It was tough saying goodbye on Monday, but it was time to get on the road.
I made it to Bennett Springs state park in Missouri. There weren’t a lot of areas to hike there, but I found a couple of short ones. Unfortunetly the ticks were out there just like in Oklahoma and my legs and shoes were covered. Guess that is why nearly everyone there was in the water trout fishing. I don’t think I’d ever seen so many fisherman in one place. They all seemed to be doing pretty well too. The next morning I went by Ha Ha Tonka park which has a castle built on a cliff overlooking the Lake of the Ozarks. Quite a place to build.
On Wednesday I made it to my old town of Ottawa, Illinois and stayed at Starved Rock. My friend Michelle and I hung out on Thursday catching up and having a couple of beers. She is a great friend and one that I really miss. She has also lived and travelled through northern rockies so had lots of ideas on where to go and what to see when I’m out there. Friday I went into my old office to see my former coworkers and catch up with them. It was a quick visit, but I enjoyed it.
I’ve been in Chicago since then for my cousin’s wedding yesterday. It was a very nice wedding and lots of fun. All of my family came out. We hadn’t all been together for 2.5 years. Today has been rough recovering from the party last night. I missed the brunch this morning, but needed some sleep and still do. Tomorrow I’ll be back on the road heading to Wisconsin. The next thing I have set up is a canoe trip in the boundary waters of norther Minnesota starting on the 7th. I’m looking forward to having some open time and slowing down my travel pace. I’ll let you all know how it goes.
Let the Fun Begin!!!
The time has arrived … I’m heading off tomorrow morning! Everything is packed, utilities are switched over, no turning back now. I’ve taken a picture of what I’m bringing with me. The big container has all the camping gear, the medium one is food and kitchen stuff, the small one has clothes and books. One cooler for water and beer, and one for food. Think I’ve got everything covered.
I just got a hold of a close family friend and my first football coach who is going to be doing my scuba training in San Diego. He is leaving on a 9 day dive trip in the Galapagos Islands two weeks after I arrive in San Diego. It sounds like he is ready to put me back through double days with all the training that he has planned for me. It will be great to have someone I know doing the training and making sure I learn all the important stuff. He also has spent some significant time vagabonding by biking from Canada to Mexico one summer and from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic another. He should have some good tips for life on the road for me. All that and he doesn’t retire until December!
Well enough talking about what I will be doing, next post will be from the road, I promise!
Almost There
Saturday I’m off on my adventure. I am going to spend the weekend in NE Oklahoma doing a canoe trip and some hiking with Michelle before heading to Chicago for a wedding. The canoe trip will be good practice for the boundary waters, as long as there is some water in the river. It has been very dry in Oklahoma for about a year now. I had dinner with some friends last night to say goodbye. I went to high school with one of them, Bobby Inot, who recently moved to Oklahoma with his wife and kids. It was good to spend a little bit of time with him before I left and they seem to be enjoying it here. I will get to see some friends and former coworkers in Illinois on my way to the wedding which I am looking forward to.
The big meeting at the plant last week went well. It was a nice way to go out and the comments from the people there let me know how much they wanted me to come back. Its nice to know when you are appreciated! My replacement is going to come up from one of our Mexican operations, he was at the meeting and came back the next day to go over my responsibilities at the plant. My throat was hurting the next day from having to talk so much. I also got the contact information for our director of operations in Australia and sent him an email. I will go by and tour a couple of them while I’m there to look around and see how things work down under. Right now I’m not trying to get a job out of it, but it is definitely something I would consider, maybe after returning for a year or two, who knows??? This trip will give me a chance to see if it is something I want to pursue further.
Looking back at all the planning and pondering I’ve done since I first started thinking about this trip I’m amazed at how similar it is to my first ideas. The initial thoughts about doing this stemmed from a Grand Canyon rafting trip my dad and I did in May last year. Just being outside and away from everything for 5 days made me realize how nice it would be. Also, one the guides on our trip was graduating from college and heading to New Zealand with her boyfriend that December, “until their money ran out”. Sounded like a neat thing to do. Obviously, not the way everyone thinks, but it appealed to me. After that I started doing some searching on the web and found out that lots of people do similar trips at all ages and to all locations. It isn’t nearly as common in the US, but we only start with 2 weeks of vacation (and some people don’t even use all of that) so we certainly don’t have everything figured out properly. The most helpful site has been www.bootsnall.com. They have tons of information on everything for budget travel; destination guides, what to bring, how to get there, and forums where you can ask questions, offer advice, and meet other travelers. Highly, highly recommended if anyone is looking to do something similar.
So back to my statement this trip being close to my original plan. I’ve always wanted to go to Australia, and I knew it was just too big a place to see in two weeks. Although, I had started considering a trip over there this year for two weeks just to get started on it. New Zealand is close by and I have yet to hear anyone say anything bad about the place. It has a huge variety of activities, landscape, culture, and great people all consolidated into two relatively small islands that are easy to get around. You can hike a glacier one day, be at the beach in a couple of hours, kayak the next day, and end up in a big city that night. An easy place to blow through a budget also with so much to do! Southeast Asia came about last and will be the toughest travel area for me, but one that I am anticipating more and more. I am looking forward to being the outsider and experiencing life from that side. However, it is still an area where they get a lot of tourists and speak enough english that you can get what you need and end up where you want to. I really can’t pick which one I am looking forward to the most as they all offer their own opportunities.
I went through many iterations on where to go and still am for what to do, but am happy with my choices and think that I am leaving enough time to hang out and enjoy the areas while still getting around to see a variety of different spots. At one time I considered staying overseas for a year and doing a true round-the-world trip, but decided to scale it back for a variety of reasons (lack of travel experience, health, and just plain trying to see and do too much). Well wish me luck and I’ll let you know how its going first chance I get.
Cheers,
Brian
Way to go Marsha!
I’m in Portland for my sister’s graduation. She got her Master’s of Education in School Counseling and has a full time job at the same high school she worked at last year. She really likes where she is at and what she’s doing so I couldn’t be happier for her. It has been another fun weekend. I ended up on the same plane as my Aunt and cousin from Dallas here and will do the same in a couple of hours on the way back. Marsha didn’t know that Brenda was coming out (despite everyone worrying that they slipped up). She went running up to her at the airport which was cool to see. I had a 20 minute warning that I would be on the same flight as my relatives, but despite that they saw me first and were quite surprised. We couldn’t sit close together, but they had to deal with the screaming baby so I was ok with it, maybe on the way back.
After going to the Portland City Grill Friday night for dinner and drinks, we had a kick-ass party at the Old Market Pub and Grill Saturday night. We had the back room to ourselves with open bar and food (thanks mom and dad)! Lots of Marsha’s friends and coworkers showed up and everyone had a good time. The shuffleboard games were getting pretty boisterous. Everyone knew about my trip so there were lots of jealous comments and questions about it. Just a preview of the wedding in three weeks where there will be 250 people instead of 35. It is a constant reminder of how lucky I am to get to be doing this.
I have nine work days remaning. Thinking about it being single digits on the drive to the airport seemed surreal. Tomorrow is our big annual plant meeting with our VP and general managers so I have been busy getting my presentations ready for that and trying to get the plant cleaned up. Summer is starting so there have been lots of people on vacation at the plant which has made things a little more challenging. Regardless after Tuesday I will really be on the downhill for my time left in Oklahoma. It will be plenty busy outside of work laying out everything to bring and trying not to forget anything. Not like I can go back and pick it up. It will be another trip to REI for sunglasses and pants when I get back to Dallas and I’m sure there will be a few on the road too. Thats all for now, I’m sure I’ll have another update before I’m on the road and then it will be when I can find internet access. Take care!
Brian
Practicing Croc Hunter
Four more weeks! The trip is becoming more real every day. I’ve been thinking/planning it for so long, now when I think a month in the future I will be somewhere else. I’ve been reading a few books on the places I’m going and other travel type books. One of the funniest is “In a Sunburned Country” by Bill Bryson. He is an English guy who traveled through Australia and tells of his adventure. When reading it, it actually made me think that Australia and Oklahoma have lots of similarities … hot weather, funny accents, big bugs (I think our mosquitoes are on steroids this year, or maybe the people are and they get it through the blood), snakes, variety of landscape, that sort of stuff. Now that we are getting into summer weather here it rememinded me of that. Despite the similarities I figure I’ll still go see the real thing, just to compare.
On that note, I got to practice my Crocodile Hunter routine last weekend. I was walking out of my house and saw the back half of a snake going around the corner of my house. I ran upstairs grabbed the camera and went back to find it. By Crickey she’s a beaut!!! It was a 5-foot black ratsnake just cruising around. A lot bigger than I was expecting to see. They aren’t poisonous and help take care of the mice and rats so I didn’t mind it being around. Just that first shock of seeing it. Well I took a bunch of pictures and it promptly crawled up into the engine compartment of my truck. I didn’t go chasing it like the true croc hunter would have. You know trying to piss it off and have it try to crawl up my shorts or something. Luckily, I wasn’t planning on going anywhere and I assume it had left by the time I did. Actually I’ve had a pack rat storing pecans and dry grass all over my engine compartment so maybe I should try keeping it around so no more wires get chewed up.
Really nothing new as far as the trip goes this time. I think I have the gear I need at least to start with and having a few months of living out of my truck will give me time to figure out what is going overseas with me or if I forgot something. Next week I am going to see what fits in my backpack and how much I want to carry. The advice I’ve heard is that the longer you are going to be gone the less you should bring. Except for money, always bring more of that. Usually you don’t have much choice there though. One potential good thing is that I may be able to leave all of my stuff in my house while I’m gone which would make the next month a whole lot easier without having to pack and put everything in storage.
First Tickets are Purchased!
I’m getting really excited about my trip, 6 weeks from tomorrow is my last day at work! Woohoo!!! So far I still feel like I have time to get everything done, but I keep thinking of more stuff to do. Since my last update I went to a travel doctor to get advice and immunizations to keep me healthy. I ended up getting a tetanus booster, mmr booster, polio, Hepatitis A and B shots, and some pills for typhoid. I have to get one more Hep B shot next week and should do one more A and B shot when I get back to complete the process. He also gave me a general antibiotic prescription for just in case and a prescription for malaria pills. I had checked that the doctor was covered by my insurance, but it turns out that is only the other parts of his practice so it ended up being ~$450 for all of that. Worth it not to get any of the not so nice things that I am now protected from.
As many of you know I have ulcerative colitis (www.ccfa.org) and it is a concern of mine about the trip, but I’m not going to let it stop me. I started stockpiling some of my medicines when I first started thinking about this trip last summer and will be in good shape by the time I head overseas. It has been an up and down year with it after two good years. I have been back on Prednisone for a few weeks now and that is reducing the symptoms and hopefully putting it in remission for a while. In many ways my day to day stress will be going way down without work, but being on the road and having no routine will take some getting used. We’ll just see how it goes and use the adage of plan for the worst and hope for the best. I will have emergency medical coverage while I’m overseas, but it will just cover big stuff.
From all accounts Sydney (my dog) is adjusting to city life just fine in addition to sharing the house with a cat. She is getting lots of walks and doesn’t have to worry about the coyotes anymore. Actually, I was the one doing all the worrying since she was fearless in going after them which just made me worry more! I went camping at Cedar Lake last weekend near the Arkansas border with my friend Michelle and it was a great weekend. Rained Friday night which kept everyone away then nice weather the rest of the weekend. The hike on Saturday was gorgeous, all of the hills full of cedar and pine trees really make you think you’re somewhere other than Oklahoma. It did make me want to be able to do that everyday which I will be soon enough. Speaking of which I have finalized a lot of plans for the rest of this year. Here is a current list of where/when I will be places. I really don’t have anything planned for times in between flights and excursions so it will be just getting to the next place and seeing what I want to do in between.
June 16, Oklahoma – Last Day of Work
June 24, Chicago, IL – Cousin Jenna’s Wedding
July 7, Ely, MN – Five Day Boundary Waters Canoe Trip
July 12, Boston, MA – Baseball excursion with my Dad, Danny C, Daniel B, JJ, and Jimmy
July 13, Boston vs Oakland Game
July 14, New York, New York
July 15, Yankees vs White Sox Game, Uncle Ken is coming down for this one
July 16, Minneapolis, MN
Aug 1, Glacier National Park, MT – Five Day Backcountry Backpacking Trip
~Aug 11, Portland, OR – Spend some time with my sister
~Aug 20, Start heading south
~Sep 1, Arrive in Santee just in time for Labor Day Weekend (river trip hint, hint)
Sep 24, Depart San Diego
Sep 25, Arrive Rarotonga, Cook Islands
Sep 28, Fly to Aitutaki, Cook Islands
Oct 2, Depart Cook Islands, cross the international date line
Oct 3, Arrive Auckland, New Zealand
Oct 4, My 30th Birthday!
~Oct 24, South Island, New Zealand
Nov 25, Fly to Hobart-Tasmania, Australia via Melbourne
Dec 12, Fly to Sydney
Dec 17, Parents and Sister arrive in Sydney
Dec 18, Head south to Melbourne
Dec 23, Back in Sydney
Dec 30, Family goes back to the US
Jan 2, Leave Sydney for …
All of the plane tickets up to this point are purchased and I did great on the prices so far. It helps not flying it at the holiday times like my family. I have $3,000 budgeted for plane tickets and I’m at $1,300 so far so its nice to have some cushion there. My plans in Australia are still up in the air. The north coast of Australia gets buckets of rain starting in Jan and hopefully tapering off in April so I will do my best to minimize my time up there then, but won’t be able to do so completely. Getting scuba certified is on my list to do while I’m in San Diego and since I will be within 100 miles of a coast for most of the time overseas I should get lots of chances to use it. Well that is probably more than 90% of you have ever heard me say at once so I better save some for later. The website seems to be working well so sign the guestbook and leave lots of comments or let me know if you have any questions.
Brian