Aug 24th 2012 Leaving Dublin

Well into the second week of our adventure and I am only now getting around to opening my blog. While I love technology I am still working on the social media aspect of it. I grew up with, and participated in, the promotion of technological change, but Facebook, Twitter and indeed Blogging are still somewhat alien to me. However, my Bucket List is about challenges, about getting out of my comfort zone and trying new things.

After creating my blog I sought some guidance from Google on what makes a good blog. I was not surprised to find a vast array of suggestions containing many contradictions. There were, however some common threads and it is with those few suggestions I will endeavor to impart some small insight into our US Road Trip.

I will be posting photos on Flickr whenever I get a chance and I will provide a link from time to time.

According to  Mark Twaine“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness.” 

I believe this to be true but only where the traveler is prepared to open their eyes, heart and mind

Friday August 24^th 2012:

In the beginning there was the book:

And so it begins.  Already I can hear you asking “what the hell is the significance of this first photo” or words to that effect. Well, all will be revealed shortly. We are not good packers and generally most of the clothes we take with us never see the light of day when we are away. They simple make the round trip and then get put away until our next holiday. We had intended to pack early in the week and then repack the day before we left but, as usual, we left it all too late. So, Bags packed by 3:30 am and off to bed for a few hours’ sleep.

To the Airport – our first ‘oh crap!’ moment

A good friend, Paul Sherlock, offered to take us to the airport. He arrived as planned and we left the house at 10am thinking that went well. Fifteen minutes into the trip Brenda says, ‘Jack, do you know what I forgot?’ Too late to turn back now I though, so, (a) we do without it or (b) if it’s really important we buy one when we get to our destination. But no, it didn’t fall into either category. She forgot the book, her Journal.  For those who don’t know Brenda let me tell you she is very creative in the artistic sense. She created a beautiful Journal to record her journey. (I will post images as we go along – if she lets me: )  )  Anyway, (already failing on Google’s suggestion to keep the blog short) we called Damian back home and asked him to pop the Journal in a taxi and send it to the airport a.s.a.p. Paul, a self-confessed careful driver, was genuinely concerned that the taxi would reach the airport before us despite our twenty minute lead on a 30 minute trip. The Journal arrived, by taxi, shortly after we did and was reunited with Brenda. The taxi guy apologized for having to charge 50 Euro for taking a book for a ride.  We were back on track

I am trying to find a suitable name for our travelling companion in the images below. Your help with this would be appreciated.

The Journal