As I drove through MO I was impressed with the gentle rolling hills and lush green forests.  Then I came to Springfield, MO and was surprised to learn it's the home of Homer Simpson.  Or so they say.  Who knew?

Then I came to Oklahoma where you don't need a tornado to go fast.  The speed limit's 75 MPH!

Also I want to extend my apologies to the butterflies of the world.  I think I single handedly wiped out several species as I drove through MO & OK.  They met their demise on my windshield.  Especially the ones that bleed "yellow". 

First stop St. Louis, MO.  Not far from the Arch is the Anheiser Busch Institute where you can probably major in beerology.  Further down the road I saw a bumper sticker that read "Re-Elect No One".  I completely agree.  If you're not a Democrat you have No Candidate worth voting for!

My daughter gave me a nice send off with a beautiful Mother's Day card.  Love you Em!  

My journey has finally begun but not without a few tiny glitches.  First I was still packing up the car at 4 AM the day I left.  And with only about 4 hours of sleep I also forgot a few things...like my make-up.  I discovered the omission when I happened to look in my rear view mirror hours later.  Yikes!

Research the places you want to visit.  Read everything you can about your destination and learn some skills you'll need to have a safe trip.

Did you know there are over 4000 types of knots?  I learned 2 of them.  That should be enough.

Test your gear before your trip.

This tent was left out in the rain for 24 hours.  The rain fly does not cover the sides or vestibule.        Water leaked in through the side windows and pooled on the floor of the vestibule. This tent is not designed for rainy camping conditions.  It just won't do for my destinations in the Pacific NW.

Place an article of clothing in your tent when it's raining.  After 24 hours this shirt was quite damp even though no rain actually leaked onto it.  Conclusion:  100% cotton is no match for 100%  humidity.

 I tested this camp stove to see how long it would take to boil water.  Outdoor temperature was 48 degrees with 25 mph winds.  This stove boiled water in 7 minutes!  Impressive.

Of course I used only one burner and it was cranked all the way up.  I think it used almost 1/2 the fuel in the propane canister.  Oh well.

Got a new tent.  Hope this one doesn't leak.  It was more complicated  to assemble.  Luckily this nice lady in the video showed me how to do it.  Amazingly it only took her 5 minutes to assemble, thanks to cleaver video editing.

This trip would not be possible without the wonderful support and encouragement of my family, friends and co-workers. Sort of...

Why Now?

Perhaps it's something about my generation:  Baby Boomer.  The older I get the younger I think.  And not too long ago I remembered there was something very important that I wanted to do when I was in my 20's and fresh out of college.  I wanted to take a road trip cross country and camp and hike along the way.  But life got in the way.  Money was tight, careers had to be built and then there was a desire to have a family.  So the years rolled by and now retirement looms in the not too distant future.  Much has changed...well except for the money thing.  My kid's in college now.  But it's time to live this dream or perhaps lose it forever.

In my next entry I will describe how I am preparing for my cross country journey.