In the last few weeks since I have been writing about the trip to and from St. Louis, I have been leaning on challenges a lot. I often do for at least a few days or so when I come back from a road trip because, well, I’m usually a little tired, having driven hundreds or even thousands of miles in a short period of time. So when I got back, I leaned on the hundred plus unclaimed challenges I have sitting around for just such an occasion. This time, even though the trip was relatively short and not terribly taxing, I found myself leaning on them pretty much the entire time I’ve been writing for the last few weeks. At first it was tiredness. Then I got a root canal and didn’t have the energy to go out. Then I spent a few days helping someone with medical issues. Then I had some catching up to do at work. And, finally, my car went into the mechanic a couple of days ago. My time has not, for the most part, been my own; my ability to travel even less so. I consider myself lucky though that I have past work in the caching arena to fall back on.
That said, I’m going to be leaning on them again in the foreseeable future. I am in something of an extended pregame at the moment. Last year at Thanksgiving time, I took an excursion to Hotlanta and back. Unless something really bad happens, I’m going to be taking another one again, this one lasting a little longer and hitting more counties than I ever have before. On a certain level, I’m a little worried; I’ve never been on a road trip that long or even quite this fat, I think. On another level, I’ve been preparing for something like this for years and there’s no reason a little time and solitude will harm me significantly. I will not roll as hard as I usually do (this will be a marathon, not a sprint), but I know I’ll roll harder some days more than others. Heck, I’ll even have one mostly travel free day. I’ll probably only hit two counties (or county equivalents) that day. My big problem, I think, will be note taking. If you’ve been following my work for a while, you’ll notice that I tend to be much more laconic as a trip goes on. After hitting as many counties as I’ll probably visit, I expect a few of my entries will basically read “I got here, I took pictures, grabbed a cache, and then drove off.” But I guess we’ll cross that bridge (and probably a few others) when we get there. I guess my point here (and I do have one) is that I’m going on a trip soon, long enough that I’ll have to do some writing and posting from the road. I guess you’ll all find out about how it starts when I get to…
WAIT! We’re not quite there yet, but give me time!
