Readying to Go (the Weekend Before)
As I’m writing this, I’m sitting in a quiet place reconstructing my playlist for the trip. It won’t be as good as the first version because I’m doing a quick and dirty job rather than taking my time as I was able to do with the first. Still, I should have plenty to keep myself musically occupied on the road. And there’s popular music spanning from the 1900’s to today. Jazz, R&B, Country, Rock, Gospel,… there’s not much that’s not represented. Someone asked me why my driving playlists don’t include Classical music. The simple reason is it creates the wrong response from me at the wrong time. I need to be analyzing the road, not the music. My new GPS arrived yesterday afternoon–thank goodness for overnight shipping, and I programmed my itinerary into it last night. The irony is that I’d intended to do that with the “old” GPS the…
Readying to Go (Less than one week to go)
Had a bit of a setback this morning. Someone broke into my car, the Red Barron, during the night last evening and stole both my GPS and portable sound system with eight GBs of music specifically created for the trip. Thankfully, though, the thief didn’t damage the RB, and the thief will be less than satisfied with the GPS because the manufacturer assured me it’ll stop functioning the first time it’s plugged into the Web for an update or anything else. I have a second sound system and will recreate as many of the music selections as I can. And if this is the worst thing that happens related to this trip, I will be most thankful. On a much more positive note, the RB got a clean bill of health from the dealership yesterday. She’s ready to hit the road!!
Readying for the Road (1 Week to Go)
My preparations are well underway. The Red Barron will be serviced on Tuesday, I’m going to clean her trunk out today to lighten the load as much as possible and save some gas. I’m grateful to see the gas prices dropping. As of today, the local price is $3.36/gal, down over 50 cents from its high about a month ago. The last time I went on an extended driving vacation, the prices were near or above $4.00/gal.!! Looking at my gas receipts afterwards, I decided not to total them up because I really didn’t want to cry. Speaking of that July 2008 trip, I put up a Web page about it shortly after it was done. Want to see it? Like the man for whom Grinnell is named, we were Goin’ West. However, we went to see Mount Rushmore–something I’d wanted to do ever since seeing the movie North by…
Readying for the Road (Two Weeks to Go)
Greetings! Still two weeks before I leave, and there seems to be so much to do!! I got my new GPS last Monday and am quickly learning to make it work the way I want it to do. I’ve also gotten both my AAA and AARP memberships up-to-date so that I can take advantage of any travel services the two provide. Last night, I updated my playlists of nearly 8 GBs of R&B, Rock, Jazz and more. That should be enough to keep me musically occupied the entire trip. This week–starting tonight, I need to finally put all of my thoughts about the symposium presentation down on paper and begin gathering any books, scores, equipment and other resources I think I will need to take for that presentation. If I can do this now, perhaps I will have enough time to weed out stuff that isn’t needed and be less…
Readying for the Road
Greetings! This first post is to invite you to share the images and notes about my upcoming trip to St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. Won’t be leaving until July, but I’m really looking forward to a fun adventure. I’m attending The Phenomenon of Singing International Symposium VIII where I’m scheduled to present a lecture-recital on interpreting Negro spirituals. Four days driving from Iowa in my faithful Ford 500–aka Red Barron–four days for the symposium, and four days back. My route? Your guess is as good as mine, but the tentative route is: http://www.mapquest.com/embed?hk=jJlSzy See you soon!