Dream, Plan, Execute
by Charles P. Eberson
I’m freaking out. The culmination of months of planning for a cross-country trip is upon us. YouTube channels, brochures, road maps, and internet searches have provided us a voluminous amount of information to sift through. At this writing, we are just a few days from our departure and since much of our three-month expedition is going to involve camping, our living room looks like a display at an L.L. Bean outlet. In the original mental picture of our journey, we envisioned ourselves as vagabonds of the highways traveling carefree from place to place with no schedule: simple carefree children of the 60’s. That quickly evaporated when we attempted to reserve our first campsite at the Apostle Islands in Wisconsin and were told they were full. We pressed on with our inquiries in North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming and Montana with similar results. Our persistence eventually paid off, but at the price of losing the spontaneity we were looking for. At this moment, writing this column is a welcome diversion, a sanctuary from the pressing burden of minutia that must be addressed before we leave. Do we have everything covered: credit card companies notified, copies of important documents made, house rented and personal items stored, medications accounted for, first aid kit for us and our vehicle, itinerary copied for family, chargers for all electronics, etc., etc.? I keep returning to the list on my legal pad, and the multitude of Post-It notes around the house, an exercise in redundancy. My head is spinning, but I think we have everything covered. My wife is trying to talk me down by telling me “we are not going to a third world country, for heaven’s sake.” I am sure there are Costco’s somewhere along the way, but still my mind keeps spinning.
Our friends who know my photography said they are looking forward to seeing photos. I also ambitiously set up a YouTube channel to keep a video log of our adventure. The bar has been raised and now there are expectations to meet, but I realize that I will have to strike a balance between making a record of what may well be the experience of a lifetime and just setting the equipment down to quietly enjoy the majesty of nature.
Over thirty years ago, when our children were young, we took them out west to the Badlands in South Dakota, Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons in Wyoming. The awe-inspiring landscapes left such an impression that my wife and I vowed to return sometime in the future. Finally, that time is now. I know that this undertaking will change my wife and I somewhat, as many challenges tend to do. At the very least, it will give us a new appreciation for what we have and what we have survived thus far.
By the time this column hits the newsstands, we will have already left home and will be camping in the Apostle Islands prior to moving along to Fargo, North Dakota and points out west. The publisher of Shore Local has been gracious enough to allow me to put my Senior Moments column on the shelf for a while and chronicle our experiences on the road to share with our readers. It is my hope that many of you will be coming along with us on our journey.
“Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul.” – John Muir
Charles Eberson has been in the newspaper business for over 25 years. He has worked as a writer, advertising executive, circulation manager and photographer. His photography can be viewed at charles-eberson.fineartamerica.com
