T-Minus 30 Days

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
— Robert Frost

I leave Middletown a month from today (Aug. 19). Just writing that makes this whole adventure seem almost impossibly real.

I plan to take Robert Frost’s advice to heart and take the road less traveled — but not until after I get to Boulder (to have my electrical system installed) and Portland (to spend time with my West Coast family).

My first two routes will be very linear and along well-traveled roads. No scenic routes for me right away; my goal is miles in the rear-view camera. But then my world opens up. 

I still haven’t mapped out where I’ll go after Portland. I intend to savor my time there, visiting with family and hitting a couple of restaurants I keep hearing about. (I’ll be traveling with a set of chopsticks I bought at Portland’s beautiful Japanese Gardens; maybe I’ll be able to put them to use.)

While I’m in Portland, I’ll brainstorm with my daughter and daughter-in-law about where I should go next. Maybe I’ll head west to wade in the Pacific and bark at sea lions. Maybe I’ll go north to Seattle to see Dale Chihuly’s brilliant glasswork and the Space Needle. I might want to visit Washington’s rain forests, which I have heard are glorious. I could take a ferry to Whidbey Island, which my daughter and her wife enjoyed. 

Later, I’d like to make my way south to the California coast, some redwood trees, and eventually across to Yosemite — preferably after the tourist season has subsided.

But right now, it’s time to wrap up my preparations here in Middletown. I still have a little work to complete in the van and I still need to empty out my apartment. (That alone will take much of my last month here.)

Ultimately, I’ll be setting out on a journey steeped in possibility. I have high hopes for all of this: the traveling, the chronicling, the experiencing and absorbing and — if it works as I hope — the growing. 

See you all in a month.

“To be hopeful means to be uncertain about the future, to be tender toward possibilities, to be dedicated to change all the way down to the bottom of your heart.”            — Rebecca Solnit