T minus 2 = AAA, Thank You!

Tuesday, April 29: So here I sit with less than 48 short hours to go and the list, although still long, has more items crossed off.

Today's biggest tasks, aside from my normal duties that involve keeping my 6 and 7 year old kids going, centered on final route investigation, navigation and mapping. In between distributing school sun hats, getting haircuts and evening swim lessons, we managed to hammer out the final details of our routes for day 1 and 2.

My dad and I (with my daughter jabbering away endlessly in the back seat & Swingset Mamas playing their tunes) took a jaunt to the Port-Sonoma Marina to determine if we were indeed brave enough to cross the Petaluma River bridge on foot. My original plan had included finding a kind and willing boat person to deliver us from the east, marina side of the river to the west, boat launch side instead of negotiating the somewhat slim foot path option. I thought my 'ship had come in' last week when I met a young kayaker at the launch that was eager to take us up on our wine for float offer. Unfortunately, he vanished and we are on to plan B. So, I will sharpen my fingernails and hang on tight as we cross that tall, tall bridge. Today's trek also provided a few answers regarding the first part of our day 2 travel plan through the Sonoma River Valley. I sense we were both relieved to take a moment and compare the actual, physical, see-it-with-your-own eyes research to the map and Google images we have been studying for the last couple of months.

After a tasty pasta dinner prepared by my husband, David, the official map session unfolded. Mr. Map (my dad) at the helm, scissors and glue stick in hand, a stack of AAA maps were reduced to a slice of their former selves. Retaining only the sections of the Napa, Sonoma, Novato, San Rafael, Sausalito/Mill Valley and San Francisco that we will actually set foot in, mileage checked, the maps were clearly labeled, marked and put to rest in their moisture sealed Ziploc bag. The request for 'moisture protection' made me a wee bit nervous after determining earlier today that we may have a few unexpected marsh spots on our day 2 walk! In regards to that unknown, the decision was made that we would day-pack our flip-flops on day 2 in the event that we do encounter the need to do a bit of wading. After all, it wouldn't be an adventure, if there were no unknowns, would it?

Busy and full, it was a great day. Unexpected surprises on my doorstep (a lovely new journal and other fun treats), a long day of driving by a friend to Chico to retrieve Kleen Kanteens for the walk , a beautiful bouquet of tulips delivered, more walkers wanting to join in along the way, confirmation of a donated passenger van to transport kids back across the Golden Gate Bridge, many kind emails, a teacher that toured his class through our website/blog, the list goes on. As in my journey of the last FIVE years, this adventure is unfolding on a foundation of wonderful, cool, amazing people that I feel so blessed to have as part of my life. So, with 33 short hours until departure, and six until I have to wake up and be a guest on the local morning radio show, I say thank you all (AAA too!)---what a trip this will be!

T minus 3= The Printer, The Baker, The Button Maker

Monday, April 28:  With three days to go, the push is on to finish 'the list.'  That said, Monday was my last day of pre-company errand running,  task doing, and general pick up, as my dad, Mike arrived in the evening.  So the day was filled with a host of trip prep activities:

• The day started with a flurry of UPS deliveries:  sun protective clothes donated from Coolibar (all of  them fit,yeah!) and a giant box of sunscreen from Blue Lizard that had been a bit abused in route resulting in a significant cleaning project.
• A mad round of housecleaning that was intended to fall in the hands of the new housecleaner however, it was discovered mid afternoon that she wasn't coming after all---eee gads, fast vacuuming followed.
• Summer camp registering, bill paying, 200+ emails and some actual work-work were squeezed in.
• Errands began with a special trip to the one place that has my favorite energy bars - Key Lime LARABAR. Great walking energy food; just raw nuts and fruits.
• A last sundry and first aid run.
• A couple more pairs of socks from the running store as I keep being cautioned to make sure my feet are dry so blisters stay at bay.
  
• Then a printer visit to proof thank you  notes and wallet-size sun safety cards so pass out along the way.
• A visit to the button maker to pick  up the last of 160 name buttons for the school sun hat program-hats go out to the kids tomorrow
• And at last, a stop at the baker to procure a cookie delivery for my kind friends at Influence Internet that had been working so hard to make our web site happen.  

My dad arrived, as advertised, on time.  We managed to snap him up mid errand and kid activity shuffle just as planned.  Then off for a quick evening walk and leg loosen followed by a tasty fish taco feed and the cold beer that motivated me a good part of the day.  Tomorrow, T minus 2, is logistics and packing day.

Travels with Kari

Pack packed, beard sheared, bus fuss, and rail trail to Napa set for Monday 5/28 and the 555walk. I'm a ready teddy, keen-eye Jedi. Once again Daddio Mike boards a bus--AMTRAK this time--as the first "non-virtual" step in yet another adventure. Spring in California and a leisurely bus journey from San Luis Obispo across the hills to Hanford, north by rail through the verdant Central Valley, and along the living (or perhaps dying) delta/bay to Martinez for the bus to Napa Wine Train Station.

I'm reminded of a great first bus trip in February-April, 1977, when Kari "missed" nine weeks of school, as we boarded a late-night Greyhound (Gordon Lightfoot's "it's a dog of a way to travel" still rings in my ears) in San Luis Obispo for an overnight land voyage on the beginning leg of a sixty-three-day odyssey to Coral Gables → Boston → SLO. Total for all tickets--$150.00; the case of Moctezuma Dos Equis that Kari's mom, Marilynn, won from the senior pediatrician in her office, who bet that we'd return in a week as no father could successfully take such a trip with a ten-year-old daughter--priceless.

So now we've planned and mapped and measured and selected and the jaunt begins. And like war, all plans will be modified by necessity and choice soon after the first few steps. When I undertook another sixty-three day journey in 1977--this one an 800-mile sea kayaking voyage up the Inside Passage--my brother wished me well with a quotation he'd read in John Steinbeck's Travels with Charley:

"Once a journey is designed, equipped, and put in process, a new factor enters and takes over. A trip, a safari, an exploration, is an entity, different from all other journeys. It has personality, temperament, individuality, uniqueness. A journey is a person in itself; no two are alike.  And all plans, safeguards, policing, and coercion are fruitless. We find after years of struggle  that we do not take a trip; a trip takes us."

And so, we've each chosen a great travel partner, and hope that some of you, too, will join us in walking and celebrating Kari's health, courage and strength. She knows full well, as do I, what Amelia Earhart means when she writes that:

"Adventure is not for novices. It is not for scatterbrains. It is for people who have wanted to do a certain thing, who have wanted it for years...and who finally, concentrating on that above all other beckoning thoughts, have carried it through."

So in spirit and step with John Muir, we acknowledge that "there are tides and floods in the
affairs of men, which in some are slight and may be kept within bounds, but in others they overmaster everything," as we continue with our "California Dreaming."

Journey vs. Adventure

ad·ven·ture n

1. an exciting or extraordinary event or series of events

2. an undertaking involving uncertainty and risk

jour·ney n

1. a gradual passing from one state to another regarded as more advanced, for example, from innocence to mature awareness

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A blog – wow! How does one begin a blog? is it, ready, set, go? or, three, two, one: blast off? maybe, on your marks, get set, GO? I haven't a clue if there is a correct way to do this therefore, as with many other things in my life, I am going to just jump in, headfirst!

At this point it seems logical to answer a few questions that have been asked of me recently, right up front. From my daughter, "Mommy, why are you doing this (the walk that is)?". From just about everyone that I run into during my day, "are you ready?", and from myself, " can I do this?". So here lie the answers:

WHY? This one is a two-part answer.

Part one: As I explained to my six-year-old daughter and seven-year-old son one night last week after they launched the 'WHY' word at me, "life is a journey with lots of surprises and unknowns. Some of the surprises are pretty sour and yucky so as I see it, you have two choices---keep living a sour life or take your sour stuff and figure out how to use it to make something sweeter." Perhaps the old 'when life gives you lemons, make lemonade' thought train is simplistic, but it is real for me. The diagnosis of life threatening cancer and subsequent journey is pretty darn tart but, there is also a tremendous amount of learning, growth and hope that has come with the experience. That said is my intention to use this adventure (555walk) as my way to make 'a big batch of lemonade', enough to share with everyone.

Part two: The second half of 'why' is best captured in an email I wrote to my dad, and the response he gave when this idea started brewing last fall:

November 25, 2007 (to my dad)

Hey there- Still rolling over the thought of/need for a physical adventure/goal in my life. Late April will be the five-year anniversary of my melanoma diagnosis and a very significant milestone in my life (so far)… I have been considering a Napa to SF walk - --perhaps I could walk to my five-year appointment at CPMC. More people could join in at different points, kids too, and it could still be a great adventure. I have done a few pecks at figuring out a route but nothing serious. Would love to cross the Golden Gate. If you have any thoughts on where to begin, let me know."

November 27, 2007 (from dad)

Dear One-- Sounds like a great idea--can I go too?

One of the many lessons I have learned from my cancer journey is that life should be celebrated--milestones, accomplishments, seasons, goals---birthdays simply aren't enough. In an effort to practice the lesson, I decided that five years was sure as heck something I wanted to celebrate and, in a special way.

READY? Ready for an adventure? Sure. Ready to walk more miles in a day than I ever have before? And then do it again the next day? And the next? With the exception of the lousy cold that has rendered the first half of my last week walk-free, I think I am as ready as I will ever be. I have been walking regularly for the last three months, usually 35+ miles/week. I have shoes that feel great thanks to the local running store and I have discovered the comfort of good socks. I have lost quite a bit of weight (my knees say 'thanks') and my spirits are good. And I have Mr. Navigation, THE Ultimate Map Man, and a diehard enthusiast for a good adventure, a.k.a. my dad, along with me. It feels like the answer to the question is, "yes, you bet I am ready." When in doubt, I have to put it in perspective and think back on a day five years ago when a doctor walked into the room shortly after surgery and said "it's cancer"---for that, we weren't ready because there is no amount of training that can make you ready for that journey. For this, five days, we ARE ready.

CAN I? This is the question that usually crosses my mind (A) in the middle of the night when I wake up and ask myself, 'why the heck did I come up with this idea; what was I thinking; am I nuts?' and (B) when I am out walking, start to feel a bit tired and am certain I am almost at my walking goal for that day only to look down at my pedometer and see that 'ugh, I have only made it half way'. And, each time I eventually answer that question of 'can I', and the answer is 'yes, of course I can.' In the end, in the scope of this adventure/event, I keep coming back to two things: (1) blisters just simply can not be worse than the barfing was, and (2) this is a five-day adventure, my cancer diagnosis has been a five-year journey.

So, ready or not, here we go, countdown with us, then, let the adventure begin!