OK, so this post is really a multiyear catch up post but
the Readers Digest version is that I am moving to Anchorage Alaska and thought
reviving my old blogger account was a simple way to at least try and keep in
touch with friends and to stay connected while on my long drive across country.
Yes, I am driving to Alaska and not taking an even remotely logical route. Oh,
and there is a cat with me.
Here is the background for those who may not know it. In
early 2012 I started going out with a girl, Thao, and just about the time we
really started to figure stuff out, she was offered a job (which she has
previously applied for) with the Peace Corp in Africa. She actually turned that
down, in some part because of me (or at least that is what I keep telling
myself). Well, a couple weeks later she was offered a internship through the
CDC (which I actually helped her work on, what was I thinking?!?). A slight pause
here, she already worked at the CDC in the Hepatitis lab but wanted to get more
into Public Health and Policy so anyway, she was offered a job with the CDC
but unfortunately for me and us, they assign you a place, you don't get to
pick. And she was offered Anchorage, Alaska!!! I asked her if there was any
chance I could talk her out of it again and was pretty much told
"no". So long story short, we decided that while we had not been
together a really long time, there seemed to be something good happening there
so we were going to try making it work since it was only a two year assignment.
A two year assignment you say? So why am I moving? Well,
the entire point of the program is to train people to get them into state
Public Health jobs. And after about 18 months with the CDC program she actually
accepted a fulltime job with the State of Alaska. So now there was no longer an
"deadline" for her time there and after many long conversations about
us and our future, I decided to go so spent 6+ months getting rid of as much
stuff as I could and started planning to move. The funny thing is, it would
have probably happened sooner but in January we had purchased tickets to visit
Vietnam and I thought it would be silly to fly across country just to fly back
so did not move over the summer when it made more sense. Now, I am actually
worried about snow on the trip so hopefully it will just stay away until the
end of October.
Back to the trip. So this is a
vacation/roadtrip/letterboxing opportunity for me. Yes, for those who don't
know, letterboxing is a major hobby of mine so that is part of why I am taking
such a bizarre route; I am on the hunt as well. If you don't know what it is, a
little simple research will help you understand but the Cliff's Notes version
is someone hides a rubber stamp, writes clues to direct you to the location.
You follow the clues (some extremely simple, some damned near impossible) and
find the stamp, take am imprint of it for your logbook and imprint your own
personal stamp (your avatar is a good way to think about it; an image that is
"you") the put it back and move on to the next one. It is similar in
concept to the much newer geocaching (1854 versus 2000) for those of you who
are familiar with it.
So I am taking a route that roughly is outlined below
with "highlighted" stops for letterboxing and/or touristing.
Day 1: Suwanee, Georgia to Talladega, Alabama with stops
in Cheaha Mountain State Park and the Talladega National Forest.
Day 2: Talladega, Alabama to Memphis, Tennesse with stops
in Tupelo, Mississippi, Oxford Mississippi and Memphis, Tennessee.
Day 3: Memphis, Tennesse to Murfreesboro, Arkansas with
stops in Little Rock, Arkansas and Hot Springs, Arkansas.
Day 4: Murfreesboro, Arkansas to Denison ,Texas with
stops at Crater of Diamonds State Park (because really, how cool is it to be
able to dig for your own diamonds?!?), Texarkana, Arkansas/Texas and Eisenhower
State Park.
Day 5: Denison, Texas to Ardmore, Oklahoma with most of
the day spent at Lake Murray State Park, Oklahoma.
Day 6: Ardmore, Oklahoma to Glen Elder, Kansas with stops
in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma and Wichita, Kansas.
Day 7: Glen Elder, Kansas to Kearney, Nebraska with stops
at Smith Center, Kansas (middle of continental US) and Phillipsburg, Kansas (to
visit a friend).
Day 8: Kearney, Nebraska to Laramie, Wyoming with a stop
at the Nebraska State Highpoint and a dip into Colorado to find and plant a
letterbox (yup, not much else of note happening this day).
Day 9: Laramie, Wyoming to Ogden, Utah with, well, no
real stops along the way other than to get out of the car every couple hours.
This is "Cross the Rockies, Round One" Day. The other one or two will be in Canada.
Day 10: Ogden, Utah to West Yellowstone, Montana with a
stop at what sounds like one of the best rest areas I have ever heard of in
Blackfoot, Idaho.
Day 11: Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming with a side trip through Montana to find and plant letterboxes.
Day 12: Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming.
Day 13: West Yellowstone, Montana to Twin Falls, Idaho
with a stop at Craters of the Moon National Monument, Idaho.
Day 14: Twin Falls, Idaho to Pendleton, Oregon with stops
at Shoshone Falls and Idaho, Boise, Idaho.
Day 15: Pendleton, Oregon to Seattle area, Washington
with nothing planned. I am going to stay with friends in Alki Beach and pick
Thao up at the airport on Day 17; this is just my buffer in case I get behind
schedule for some reason.
Day 16: Seattle area, Washington
Day 17: Seattle area, Washington to Vancouver, British
Columbia with stops at SEATAC Airport to pick up a certain girl... then we are
spending half a day in Vancouver just being tourists.
Day 18: Vancouver, British Columbia to Prince Georgie,
British Columbia
Day 19 through 21: now it gets interesting; there are two
routes and the option will depend on the weather. One is to cut back over the
Rockies to Dawson Creek, British Columbia and take the Alaska Highway. The
other is to head up the Cassiar Highway through British Columbia which meets
back up with the Alaska Highway at about mile 650. These are mostly driving
days as there are not a lot of things to stop at see. To give folks an idea, it
is approximately 2200 miles from Seattle to Anchorage so that is still a VERY
long way to go.
Day 22: Arrive in Anchorage, Alaska and start my new life.
Pictures will be posted on Facebook in this album (and
the link will be included in all future posts for this trip):
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