Matt
Joined: 22 Sep 2005 Posts: 102
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Posted: Thu Sep 22, 2005 9:49 pm Post subject: This is it! Fri Aug 26, 2005 11:00 pm |
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Well, I won't make this post sappy, even though I would probably like to. I'll save the sap for the "wrap-up" post once we're done. It's about 10 at night right now, and I'm listening to my mom snore a few feet away (don't tell her I wrote that.)
They arrived today when we were roughly 9 miles from the coast, so that's where we'll start tomorrow a little before 9. Just a couple of hills, small curves, and one left turn away from the coast.
It's amazing how little we've really thought about actually getting here. We learned early on to block out the thought of finishing when the journey is so long, because it's maddening to think about it when you're so far away. That works really well until you're actually close enough to look forward to it in earnest and realize that you've become so good at blocking out thoughts of the end that the concept of finishing seems foreign and odd.
We are, however, both excited and eager. We ate a wonderful dinner, followed by ice cream (Brandon and I both had something called a Tsunami Banana Split, which was probably bigger than my actual dinner.) It was great to talk to John Wallace, and we could probably spend days swapping stories common problems and joys of our journeys. I have a strong feeling that he will emerge somewhere in our futures, perhaps as the catalyst for our next great adventure.
After dinner we took everything out of the stroller, only to find that last night had found it the victim of a ferocious sprinkler attack. Things in the bottom were soaked, but that wasn't too bad - generally if things are in the bottom, it's because we haven't used them in so long that we've forgotten them. We divided most of our shared equipment and mementos, laughing at the things that we brought along that never saw use. It wasn't too bad to do, and I'm glad we got it over with today, as it's one less thing to do tomorrow as we're sunning ourselves on the beautiful Oregon beach.
For those of you worried that the web site will soon cease to exist, don't worry. The site will stay up for many, many years. It also won't become completely inactive after tomorrow - we still have many, many videos to edit and post, along with pictures (by the way, the newest ones are here: http://www.runacrosstheusa.com/images/8-26 . They go all the way up to today - the "final day" pictures will get their own special section.) We also do have very sincere plans for writing a book, so check with us time to time to check out our progress, though it will probably not be completed until '07, and even that is just a random guess by me.
Well, it's time for me to sleep, even though I know I will spring quickly from my bed tomorrow morning from sheer excitement and jubilation. Until tomorrow! |
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