Another List!?

Only 1.5 days left in The New American Center for Living (our house), before we set off on our great adventure. Our goal is to have the car packed tomorrow night so we can just head out in the morning early Monday. That means today we want to:

1. Set up the tent (remember that procrastination I was talking about? Guess I didn't entirely quick the habit yet)

2. Clean out the fridge

3. Clean the house

4. Begin packing (this means I may add something else to my list, and Kt will probably be done)

5. Sort through and organize our pile

6. Grocery list/shopping

7. Laundry

I'm sure I'm forgetting something.

Last night Kt and I met up with some girls for a wonderfully fun night (thanks again Jules!) and while we have plenty left to do, enjoying a quiet cup of coffee feels pretty good right now.

As the pile grows...

...so does my unfounded anxiety. For some reason today has brought some sort of bizarre anxiousness with it. Maybe it's just the Barry Manilow medley Kt is currently singing.

Books, bears and more bears (oh my!)

While my packing list looks like this, my book list is much more extensive. I have gathered a few book suggestions from NPR's various lists and a few suggestions here and there. So far on my list are:

Garlic & Sapphires by Ruth Reichl

The Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Society by Mary Ann Shafer & Annie Barrows (read about 4,000 recommendations for this book. It doesn't sound like something that I would ordinarily choose, but so many recommendations got me thinking.)

Half Broke Horses by Jeannette Walls (Author of The Glass Castle)

The Help by Kathryn Stockett

The Zookeeper's Wife by Diane Ackerman

The Kingdom of Ohio by Matthew Flanning

**Rilke on Love and Other Difficulties by Rainer Maria Rilke

**The Lonely Polygamist by Brady Udall

With the exception of the starred books, these books have been narrowed down by their availability at the West Palm Beach Public library.

Books already in my possession to be read are:

The Prodigal Summer by Barbara Kingsolver

When You are Engulfed in Flames by David Sedaris

The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery

Alone in the Kitchen with an Eggplant by Janine Ferrari-Adler

Any reviews or recommendations for books to avoid on this list or others to add?

In other news, I'm preparing for a bear attack. I have planned to be attacked by Grizzly bears, Black bears, rogue Kodiak bears who've wandered down from Canada and Polar bears. In preparation I have been practicing my evasive tactics on Lil Wayne (the cat not human). Thus far, I've managed to escape him successfully, but not without a few wounds. I fear a bear mauling may be slightly more damaging than a Weezy scratch. Then again, maybe not.

All worn out from my evasive bear attack techniques

For those who have strong stomaches and can handle a little blood, google bear attacks in the images. You won't be disappointed. I just threw up. Twice.

We leave Monday. Get crunked up.

Paula Abdul had it right.

Now that school is out for summer (cue Alice Cooper), Kt and I have stepped up our preparation for the impending trip, while simultaneously dealing with my procrastination head on. This may come as a shock to some, but I am a fabulous procrastinator and manage to resort to organized chaos. O.k. semi-disorganized chaos. Kt, on the other hand, is uber-organized and matches my fabulosity with procrastination with her mad skills of list making and sorting. Kt's packing list easily has 137 items on it, while mine looks a little something like this:

Sunday night I may up it to 4 items

Like Ms. Abdul once told me, opposites attract and therefore we only have a few more things to "collect" before we leave. This time next Monday (barring natural disasters and the ridiculousness of life I've come to expect) Kt and I will be well on our way to NOLA. Our goal is to be as flexible as possible and we expect plans to change. With that said, I will use the word "plans" as a loosely defined term needed linguistically to communicate and not as something we are determined to do or dead set on happening. So, for those of you are wondering and have been asking, here is our plan:

		Destination
Day 1	Mon, June 21	WPB to New Orleans
Day 2	Tues, June 22	New Orleans
Day 3	Wed, June 23	New Orleans, La to Houston,Tx via Baton Rouge
Day 4	Thurs, June 24	Houston to Carlsbad, NM via San Antonio
Day 5	Fri, June 25	Carlsbad
Day 6	Sat, June 26	Carlsbad to Grand Canyon, Az via White Sands
Day 7	Sun, June 27	Grand Canyon, Flagstaff, Sedona
Day 8	Mon, June 28	Grand Canyon, Flagstaff, Sedona
Day 9	Tues, June 29	Grand Canyon, Flagstaff, Sedona
Day 10	Wed, Jun 30	Grand Canyon to Joshua Tree, Ca
Day 11	Thurs, July 1	Joshua Tree to San Diego, Ca
Day 12	Fri, July 2	San Diego
Day 13	Sat, July 3	San Diego to San Francisco
Day 14	Sun, July 4	San Francisco
Day 15	Mon, July 5	San Francisco
Day 16	Tues, July 6	San Francisco to Napa, Ca
Day 17	Wed, July 7	Napa to Redwoods, Ca
Day 18	Thurs, July 8	Redwoods
Day 19	Fri, July 9	Redwoods to Seattle, Wa via Portland?
Day 20	Sat, July 10	Seattle
Day 21	Sun, July 11	Seattle to Bozeman, MT/Yellowstone
Day 22	Mon, July 12	Yellowstone/Bozeman to Denver, Co
Day 23	Tues, July 13	Denver
Day 24	Wed, July 14	Denver
Day 25	Thurs, July 15	Denver
Day 26	Fri, July 16	Denver to Badlands, SD
Day 27	Sat, July 17	Badlands
Day 28	Sun, July 18	Badlands to Chicago, Ill
Day 29	Mon, July 19	Chicago to Winchester, Va
Day 30	Tues, July 20	Winchester, DC, New York, Philly
Day 31	Fri, July 21	Winchester, DC, New York, Philly
Day 32	Sat, July 22	Winchester, DC, New York, Philly
Day 33	Sun, July 23	Winchester, DC, New York, Philly
Day 34	Mon, July 24	Winchester to West Palm Beach (Flow-Rida)

Guess who made this chart?

There are a few changes already in the works (Yosemite?) and places we want to stay longer (Seattle), but for the most part this a fairly accurate guide to our 34ish days on the road.

So, what do you suggest? Places to stop in those states? Eateries, attractions, last minute tips? We'll take them. Well, I'll read them and if I like them I'll pass them on to Kt (insert emoticon smiley. I don't publicly emoticon).

I'll update this picture as we (Kt) organize(s) this pile.