People are often judged by their First 100 days. Usually individuals elected to some sort of office. Since I elected (vs. being voted in) my current position I’ll consider myself eligible for a standard First 100 Days review. Many ways could be used to describe/define/explain/evaluate my first 100; perhaps a good way would be 100 days in pictures!
My car was packed beyond reason. For a car that sat 85% of the time over the last decade I was indescribably nervous about driving it cross country…….and weighted down with the remainder of my life. Nonetheless we cashed in a wish and prayer and took off under dark, misty skies for the 1500 mile trip. While were in no big hurry we did have a time-table. Having driven this 3-4 times I was nearly able to ignore the maps and we made time to jump off the normal path of sustenance by gas station and fast food. One time we even found a local grocery and decided we’d pick up some fresh food and make our own meal. What a great way to stretch the legs and wake-up in the middle of the night.
Low-lights of the drive: The drive, at times the weather(powerful summer storms in multiple states), arrogance (overestimating how far how fast…..hotel availability…). One night I felt especially good (probably after the awesome fresh grocery stop!) and pushed driving too far. So far we ran ourselves out of hotel options and landed in a hotel parking lot in the middle of a hot-state in the middle of the night. Pulled out a save by finding a terrific Holiday Inn with the most comfortable bed ever….and checked in at around 4:00a.m.(yup, a.m.). Best few hours of sleep I can remember, perhaps ever. Thank goodness for late check-outs! Now back to the weather….
We took off in a drizzle and around three hours in hit an all out Great Plains storm. Big lightening, thunder and most disturbing was the wind. Driving an old, suspect high-profile vehicle (over) fully loaded, including bikes and a big bag on the roof is risky enough. Add in a rain and wind storm makes it the stuff of legends. No time for details but plenty of white-knuckled driving was to be had in several spots along the trip. Heading into the deserts of New Mexico we ran into a few storms that looked like this.
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| New Mexico Storm Brewing, July ’11 |
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Conversely as we ran into dry air the sunsets became even more brilliant. While not a great view (what is when you’re rolling down the freeway at full speed) I can attest to the beauty of driving into desert sunsets.
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| Sunset around the New Mexico/Arizona Border |
Of course nothing could be more rewarding than pulling into the drive in one piece. All in all a great trip, filled with memories to last a couple lifetimes.
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| Front Yard, July ’11 |
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Much more to come to get through the first 100, but so far I give myself an A- for the trip down. The drag on the A being the hotel misstep~~of which I’m occasionally still reminded!
AniMal
People are often judged by their First 100 days. Usually individuals elected to some sort of office. Since I elected (vs. being voted in) my current position I’ll consider myself eligible for a standard First 100 Days review. Many ways could be used to describe/define/explain/evaluate my first 100; perhaps a good way would be 100 days in pictures!
