Not the speed limit, silly. Most of the highways I’ll be on will be 10-15 mph above that speed (and that’s all – remember, I’m “law-abiding man”).
I’m talking age, people. As in one day past 55 when I start the GNABRT next Thursday. (Technically, not true, as I only made it into May 27th originally by a mere 26 minutes)
There’s probably a point of diminishing returns where taking a ride like this, solo, to boot, is just no longer feasible. Keeping to our musical allusions, here are a few tracks to read by…
After Midnight – I live a peaceful life. Serene. It has a routine that keeps me blissfully calm. I get up each morning at 5 am and, after some light exercise, head out for my walk at 6 am, followed by a shower and breakfast (or vice versa). Thereafter, the whole day awaits.
That also means that I am usually in bed by 10:30 or 11 pm. That’s not going to work so well for the next two months. The ball games alone will have me up late and some of the driving…whoo! Oh, and West Coast time. I forgot about that. Yoiks.
I’ll try to get less sleep over the next week and see if I can train my eyelids to stay up and my mouth to stay closed. At least the first week is mostly without incident.
Got to be There – The first two (almost three) weeks of the schedule are locked in. I’ve contacted the people who I will be meeting with (and in some cases, staying with) as well as booked the hotels through Southern California. Here’s a high-level view:
Day 1 – Jacksonville (364 miles)
Day 2 – Daphne, AL (398 miles)
Day 3 – Houston (479 miles) with a run at Arlington (256 miles, each way)
Day 6 – Artesia, NM (682 miles) my first killer run!
Day 8 – Phoenix (619 miles) and another, just 2 days later
Day 10 – Las Vegas (291 miles)
Day 11 – Los Angeles (270 miles) with a run at San Diego (123 miles, each way) and LA (40 miles)
Day 17 – San Francisco (409 miles) still planning and then my longest hop, to Seattle (807 miles!)
Birthday – This will either be the longest birthday party ever (hey, peeps, free meals for me all trip long?) or the shortest (no annual BBQ and hitting the highway 5 hours after I add another notch).
Walk on By – There are still a number of friends I have not heard back from that I hope to visit during my trip. It’s possible I have old emails (they are old friends) or perhaps they just (gulp) don’t want to see me. I’ll find out over the course of the next two months!
I think I’ve got myself organized to the point where my “i’s” are dotted and my “t’s” are crossed, so I think the actual packing part is going to be the easiest (I hit on the bright idea of keeping a “daily suitcase”, which I will fill from the main suitcase on those stops of only 1 or 2 days).
Everything else should work out fine. I’m only going to be 55, after all, which means I should have time before suffering those senior moments.
More frequently than I do now, that is.
