Back to the Original Road

Well, now that I have pontificated enough, we'll get back to my original premise for the blog. A wild, old lady driving across country, flying by the seat of her pants.

I usually just pack the car and get a map and take off. But this time I was going to do research and a lot of preparation. I went to Barnes and Noble and bought a book of maps and two books on the best way to see civil war sites. When I got home, I realized that the map book was a truckers book with all the locations of stops, bypasses and other stuff essential to truckers, but my brain went into overload when I got to the cargo weights accepted by each state. So, back to Barnes and Nobel. This time I found a car guide with a map of the US along with a map of each state and some of the bigger cities. Ahhhhh success! I started with the US map and picked my major route. Very simple, just take I 40 to where I needed to turn off to go to Aiken, South Carolina, and proceed from there to Savannah, and then to the coast and up to Charleston. From there a piece of cake up more freeway to Richmond. Ha, I had it made very simply and direct.

Next on the agenda, back to Barnes and Noble (they love to see me come in) and buy guide books on places to see and things to do in each state, I went through. I had used Frommer in Europe and didn't have much trouble, so Frommer it was for the Carolinas, Georgia, and Virginia. I went through my guide books and marked in yellow all the spots that interested me. Wow, there were a lot of spots. I opened my map book again and started marking a more detailed route, went back to my guide books and decided I needed more detailed maps.
Back to Barnes and Noble again. By this time the clerks that hadn't known me before, got to calling me by name and asking how the journey was coming along. I just smiled and said great. I started marking routes through individual states but the yellow began to take over the maps. It was growing by exponential spurts. I decided to mark side trips in red and blue, but where these crossed the yellow they were orange and green. My maps were beginning to look like modern art done by a totally mad artist. I studied the mess and finally decided it was time to do what I do best. Fly by the seat of my pants.

Next up was choosing my wardrobe and packing. Now, I usually get all out of control when I do this, but this time was going to be different. I was packing only essentials. Let's see, I was going to be doing a lot of walking, so I needed good walking shoes. Hmmmmmmmmm, hadn't walked in a long time so down I went to a good shoe store and was quickly over-whelmed by the number of choices. A very nice young man explained that each type of shoe was made for a specific activity, "..,you know, running, jogging, walking, etc." He left out hopping and jumping, my major activity with grandchildren. I finally left the store with shoes, socks, insoles and $200 dollars less in my checking account. Now what other shoes, well, for going out in the evening or to church, heels; for less dressy occasions, but more than sight seeing, maybe some wedgies; oh, another pair of heels because my dress colors might not match, Anything else? No, if I needed more I'd just pick it up on the road. I packed all my denims, both long and Bermuda length (I am of the opinion that women of a certain age shouldn't wear shorts or go bra less), my light cotton Bermudas, all my tee shirts and any cotton shirts that matched my Bermudas, a swim suit, 15 pair of underwear (I don't like to do wash on the road), 2 slips (one white and one black) all the socks I owned (I tend to lose socks), all the comfortable bras I could find (believe me finding just one comfortable bras should win some sort of prize) and some pjs. I also needed a couple of nice dresses for church and two nice pant suits. I got out my big suitcase and packed and packed and packed. Gosh, I ran out of room. Maybe I should re-evaluate. Nah, just pack another case. I managed to pack underwear, socks, pjs and pant suits in my carry on along with my c-pap, various lotions and bath salts, tooth care items, my own brand of shampoo, my body wash and scrubby, two bottles of perfume and makeup. My medications get a case all their own. Well all there is left to do is to get the car serviced and packed.

I'll leave my narrative at this cliff hanging moment. Will she or won't she get all her junk in the back of the car? Will she forget anything? Will she be able to leave before 3pm (my usual departure time on trips)? Tune into my next blog to find out.