Tripline

Played around with Tripline today, to get an idea of the distance traveled as well as to see the pattern my criss-crossing the country.

Ghost ship

Lily: Missing the eye on your right.

I'm staying with my family here Steilacoom, Washington along the Puget Sound. Visiting at the same time as me is a pug named Lily. Lily has one eye and a tongue that is often not in her mouth. She snorts, wheezes and flatuates. Particularly due to the farting, she does not live into the name Lily.  I took her for a walk last night. The trains (Amtrak and freight) go along the coast and I wanted to go down to the water to see if I could see any go by. So I leashed Lily and I proceeded to walk down to the sound. 

Puget Sound, Sept. 27, 2010

I have attempted to take pictures of the wonderful dogs I've stayed with. In Austin last week, I took several pictures of my friend Bill's dog Midas would "smile" to greet me when I came through the door. By smile, I mean that he would bare his teeth at me while wagging his tail and jumping. I tried a few times to capture his talent. The past day or two, I've tried to catch Lily at her most bizarre. Turns out to be harder than it might seem. Posing is not one of her tricks.


While down by the sound, I noticed the fog as it hung just over one of the islands. "What a great image," I thought. I pulled out my phone to take a picture when Lily saw someone down on the shore and started barking. She tugged at the leash and the only picture I took was the one above. Realizing I would not have captured the scene as I saw it, I put my phone back in my pocket. The dog and I started walking back up to the house. 


As we walked, I looked up to the north. The fog clung to the water and visible through the mist was top of a ferry. It was headed for port across the sound and it moved in a ghostly manor. I'm no stranger to fog and coastal waters, but this seemed literally fantastic. (adj. 1. b.) Picture a film like Pirates Of The Caribbean and substitute something more modern and utilitarian gliding through the water. I thought what it must've been like in another time to see a ship in the water where you seemingly had not seen one moments before. I imagined pirates or vikings drifting across the water in that same stealthy way. As I was on land, I could not hear any engines. 

Midas: Not smiling.

It occurred to me that I could pull out my phone and take a picture. (It would last longer, as the old adage goes.) I would then own a representation of it and would tell everyone how it did not live up to the otherworldly quality I saw that evening. I decided instead, to enjoy the fleeting moment and leave the phone in my pocket. Like Midas's "smile" and Lily's poking her empty eye socket with her tongue, it was a fleeting image. 

Preparation

The luggage. Not full yet.

Six days until take off. I'm going through everything I think I may want to bring with me.

The first five days are a test of sorts. I have a couple of days with my sister in Chicago and then I'm off to Raleigh, NC for about a day. After that, I'll be back in Boston for 24 hours. During that day I will go through my luggage and figure out what is dead weight and what is missing. The big consideration is whether or not to bring my computer. Let's weigh the pros and the cons:

Pro:

• Speed: I can adjust flights easier and finalize my plans. 
• Connection: Having it with me will make it easier to monitor finances. (This is important as I am looking to travel on the cheap.) Also, since I am working for myself, it would be a useful tool for keeping up with my business.

Con:

• Weight: It's a MacBook, not some little netbook.
• Redundancy: I have an iPhone. It can't do absolutely everything I need.

For the first leg of the trip, I'll bring the computer and see how much it weighs me down.

The next thing to figure out is clothes. I have a hoodie from scottevest. This will be useful for any overworking air conditioning I encounter. I also expect it will serve me well later in the trip when I'll be in the Pacific Northwest. (Cooler in the evening, right?) Of course the big reason for anything from scottevest is the pockets. I can wear this to the security gate with all my crap loaded into the 11 pockets. All I have to do is take the thing off and it through the scanner. Hopefully this will ease some of the anxiety I get, that has me triple checking whether my wallet, phone or keys are still in the little plastic bowl.

As far as the rest goes, I'll bring one pair of pants, a pair of shorts, a bathing suit, 3 pairs of socks, 3 undershorts, 2 t-shirts and a button-down shirt.

Did I mention what I'm packing all of this into? A have a Timbuk2 courier bag. Chock full, this thing is a great carry-on size, but the thing I'm worried about is weight. Over the weekend, I'll do a trial run with this thing packed full. We'll see how it goes.

A new experience

I've been finding it difficult to express how unusual this trip is for me. I figured I'd speak it, since writing isn't my forte.

It's also a chance to mess around with green screen.

Planning

30 Days. It seems like a long time. However, here I am at the end of August, noting how quickly the summer has passed. 


One of the things about The AYCJ pass is that after purchasing it, I have to wait until Monday the 23rd to book the flights. This is great, because it gives me time to plan my trip before I book the flights. The spontaneous quality that had me purchase the ticket, gets to settle down while the rare rational me gets to working out the details. 


Here's my basic plan: I have siblings to visit in time zones across the US. (Actually, I'm EDT.) The siblings are what I'm referring to as my anchor stops. These are must my visit destinations. ORD, SLC, SFO/OAK


On the first weekend, I will be returning to Boston for a wedding. <BR>
Next are the good friends I want to visit. NOLA, RDU, JFK, PDX, LAX/LGB <BR>


There are other places like DC, Puerto Rico and Costa Rica. Can I make these places work? Should I try and go to to Pittsburgh, San Diego or Nashville because I have an open day?


A month seems like a long time. I know it will go by far too fast. I want to be a sponge and soak up these good times.

Confirmation!

My confirmation email has arrived. I am the owner of a 7-day All You Can Jet pass!