On The Road

Finally, I am moving. Left this morning. Writing tonight from Franklin, Indiana.

For those of you who do not know, I am driving to Alaska. The goal is to arrive in Skagway, Alaska by July 30. Then it will be a few days visiting my buddy Emily on the island of Sitka and a week of bicycle touring beginning back at Skagway. I am very excited to see my dear friend and her home. I am just as excited about being able to explore some of the spaces in between North Carolina and the Yukon

Besides the freedom of the road, gorgeous and interesting places, and intriguing and fascinating people, these are the things that are helping inspire me on the road:

Book I am currently reading:
"Undaunted Courage" by Stephen Ambrose -I should have read this last year before I did the Lewis and Clark seminar in Montana. It's the story of one of the greatest expeditions in history and the president who backed it all. I'm not physically close to the Lewis and Clark trail (maybe on the return drive), but I feel very close to the spirit of the Corps of Discovery.

Books that that have gotten me here:
"On the Road" - Kerouac, "Grapes of Wrath" - Steinbeck, "White Fang" - London

Text message:
"Hey coach can u bring back sarah palin for me if not a shirt lol :)"
from Enrique, one of my wrestlers. I am just glad he knows who Sarah Palin is, even if he has never met a punctuation mark in his life (and no, :) doesn't count).

Theme songs of my trip:
"Lost!" - Coldpay
Running with the idea of "Not all who wander are lost". Plus, it's a great song.


"Rise" - Eddie Vedder
from Into the Wild soundtrack. I have other music on my iphone, but this CD is the one in the car player. Also, the embedded video has sweet scenes from the movie.
Such is the way of the world
You can never know
Just where to put all your faith
And how will it grow


"When You Were Young" - The Killers
This song just came out when I was last in Alberta. I remember ripping around Banff and Jasper in my rented Chrsyler 300 with this blasting. You can believe that this song will be loud when I the Rockies. Plus, I needed a Killers' song on here.


"Highwayman" - The Highwaymen (Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Kris Kirstofferson and Johnny Cash)
This is for the Superfans. It's the song the GT Superfans play and sing before we go into every game. I get chills when I watch the video, right about 2:05 when Johnny Cash breaks into verse 4.
I fly a starship across the Universe divide
And when I reach the other side
I'll find a place to rest my spirit if I can
Perhaps I may become a highwayman again
Or I may simply be a single drop of rain
But I will remain
And I'll be back again, and again and again and again and again

"Drive" - REM
The quintessential road trip song.