She's on her way!

I drove Ameranth and Anna down to R.I. this weekend to visit family, then over to Connecticut on Monday to my cousin Marlow's house. He's her ride to Maryland as he had to drive to PA for business and generously offered to take her down today. Thanks again!

On Saturday we went to a beach a couple of miles from my folks to get a photo of the pair on the Atlantic Coast, midway up the Narragansett Bay. This area used to be the Quonset Naval Air Station, developed during WWII and closed in the 70's. The airport is still there, but it's mainly small private jets now and much quieter than it was when I was a kid. Most of it is an industrial park, with new cars coming in on huge container ships, and other businesses of varying sizes. The town got the golf course, and has opened several beaches, a boat launch and a very nice bike/walking path. Blue Beach was deserted on Saturday so Anna was able to run free to chase the seagulls.

Ameranth reported the water to be freezing, and the day was not terribly warm, but at least it was sunny. We had not seen the sun in Maine at all, for the past week. Of course, it rained again Monday. Hopefully the weather will finally dry up and she won't be soggy all day as she starts her walk on Wednesday. 

Small Target Audience Alert- aka Geekery ahead!

As Ameranth planned her trip she thought about what she wants to accomplish. Her goal evolved from a coast-to-coast jaunt to wanting to explore the back roads and find interesting people and places as she wanders westward. I mentioned before that the Rockies combined with bears has convinced her that she doesn't want to walk that part of the map. Not that she couldn't, but that she doesn't want to. I totally support that conclusion.

After she decided to find quirky, famous or historic sites to visit along the way, she thought it would be fun to record them as accomplishments as in an MMO(massively multiplayer online) game with quests and waypoints on the way to the completing the mission or endgame.  So Ameranth has her website set up with her mission and her character sheet. She has some beginning quests and is open to suggestions as to other places she should visit. She'll collect a souvenier or take a picture at each quest marker, and record them in her journal as well as online.

I mentioned that it made me think about comparing her trip to Guild Wars, the game we both play. There are some similarities in the GW landscape and the areas she will be walking through.

Guild Wars starts off with a tutorial set in a beautiful pastoral setting. This area teaches new characters how to use their skills, travel and level up.

I figure the Erie Canal trip serves as her pre-searing area and that she is ready to hit the 'real' game now. In Guild Wars the first area is an arid, ugly, burnt version of pre-searing and it's a shock to end up there after the lovely beginning of the game.

Since Ameranth really has no desire to walk through highly populous southern New England, and even less desire to hit NYC or Baltimore, I'm considering that area Old Ascalon, and she's getting a 'run' (being run through a game area by another player instead of fighting your way there yourself) to western MD.  Here she'll be crossing the Appalachian Mountains, which would correspond to the Northern Shiverpeaks in GW. 

(Although we certainly expect that there will be no snow) After swinging by Pittsburgh and touching base with a cousin there, she'll head west and in game than means she would be hitting Kryta, another green part of the Tyrian world. We hope that the flooding will have subsided by the time she gets there, and that she doesn't end up under water.

It will depend on her route and quests how far south she gets. Since she and Anna don't like the heat, she will probably not get to an equivalent of the Maguuma Jungle, although there are arid parts there too. Though the mission chain in GW goes further west, it is possible to skip that part of the game and walk to the jumpoff mission to get overseas to the desert areas.

Here you will probably hit level 20, the highest level and complete your attribute points. You're a seasoned player, but the hardest gameplay is still to come. As in 'real' life, it's much easier if you have learned to play well with others and cooperate to reach goals by this point.

The game hits the mountains again and finishes in the Ring of Fire islands. Ameranth has yet to decide how and where she'll finish up- but she's got plenty of time!  A quest she would like to achieve would be to visit the office of Arenanet, the company who made Guild Wars, in Bellevue, Washington. (How geeky, eh? But we've been playing this game for 6 years and counting, and are impatiently waiting for Guild Wars 2 to be released.) It's just those darn grizzlies and those very high mountains that stand in her way.

I may have stretched this analogy a bit, but I'm having fun with it and look forward to adventuring vicariously with her, as a commenter said earlier.

Ch-ch-ch-changes

So we are experiencing an "extended stretch of ugly weather" as the Sunday paper's weather forecast put it. It's raining now, has been raining and looks like it will rain forever, world without end, amen.  Unless that Rapture thing happens.  J and I were talking about that and I said I think 'they' (the Rapture-ites) are going to be very disappointed- or the rest of us are going to be very surprised. J voted for the disappointment having the better chance of happening.

In other depressing news, Boomer is a dog without a pack, and he's not happy about it. Ameranth has been in MA since Thursday, dogsitting, and Boomer has been an only dog, oh what a lonely boy. I thought he might be happy without another dog to share our attention, but no. He wants more, more, more. The rainy weather has made walks shorter and less frequent as well. The first day I brought him to the pasture, he ran to the water, then looked around, a little lost. It's not as much fun running when you don't have someone to chase.

You probably can't tell but in that second picture, he is shaking himself as he runs and there is a mist of water surrounding him. He likes to sideswipe me and soak my pants leg as his next step, leading to a circling dance of avoidance. 

Behind him is a willow tree that we transplanted soon after we moved here. It was an offshoot of a tree that my parents had in their yard, planted when I was small. I remember my great-grandfather helping, and that the hole seemed huge when I got to stand in it. Maybe that's a false memory, but I like it. I like the connection between generations that I see when I look at the willow now. 

I got this wisteria from my mother as well- the wisteria from hell- It has never bloomed in over 20 years, and has tried to take over the nearby spruce trees. Last year we cut it down- we thought- but it refuses to yield.  I spotted this new growth and I guess we have to make the effort to uproot it soon.

We also need to tackle the new sumac popping up in the white violets. This is back where our extended chicken yard will go.

We've had some changes recently, some good like finally getting that bedroom finished and some sad like losing Rosie. But the biggest change to come will be later this week, when Ameranth and Anna take off on their next adventure. 

Since their trip last year hiking the Erie Canal in New York from Albany to Buffalo went well, she has decided to go forward with her big trip- walking cross country. Ameranth has spent the last year working and living here to save money for this. I'm driving her down to R.I. to visit with family, then to CT where a cousin has very kindly offered her a lift to MD, where she will start her walk westward.

She will be loosely following the American Discovery Trail. Despite her love of symmetry (or, a leetle touch of OCD) she decided that she doesn't have to start at the trailhead in Delaware, which would have her walking through several large cities. I believe the plan is to dip their toes in the Atlantic Ocean (via the Narragansett Bay) and hope to do the same ultimately in the Pacific. Common sense dictated the decision to not walk across the Rockies and bear country, so Yay for that! As of now, the goal is getting to Shoeshine in Boulder, CO and making further decisions then.

I've been asked why I am supporting her in this. First of all, Ameranth is an adult and has been planning this for several years now. I gave up pointing out reasons not to do it, and confine myself to pointing out what I think are sensible ways to stay safe and making sure she has what she needs- or what I think she needs. Secondly, it is a pretty cool idea and I think she's going to have quite an adventure. She's footloose and fancy-free right now and knows the opportunity might never come again. She wants to do this before "settling down and being a grownup for real". 

 

The house may be less cluttered, and may be a little quieter, but we'll miss having her here. Her, and her little dog too.

Slow Going

I'm still putting stuff away after last week, and finally think we've caught up. Sunday J and I drove down to Portland to meet two of his sisters for lunch, one with her husband and one with two of her children. My nephew goes to the College of Art there, and the others had been in NH to watch another nephew and his wife compete in the Tuckerman Inferno Pentathalon which consists of 5 legs: 8.3 mile Run, 6 mile Kayak, 18 mile Bike, 3 mile Hike, 1 mile Ski.  They are part of a 5 person team, and they did the bike and kayak pieces.  Due to our miserable weather on Saturday, the race was postponed until Sunday, so the spectators of the family came over afterward. It was nice to see them and Matt showed us some of the pieces he has been working on in the school. We had a good time, but the huge sandwiches we had made us disinclined to do any work when we got home. On the plus side, we didn't need dinner either.

Ameranth has been checking in each day and her trip is going....okay. The walking is fine, but the trail has been less than expected, and she has had to walk along busy roads more than she'd like. Plus, no more places to stay in the near future, and due to construction detours, etc she has not ended up near any campgrounds.  Still working out the kinks, and she has called to have me check out some stuff for her online. One of the downsides of being poor and having a phone that is only a phone and has no GPS or Internet capabilities.  Anyone out there know someone west of Schenectady who would let a nice girl camp on their lawn? 

Ameranth Goes Walkabout

Sigh.

So, she's given her notice at work and Sunday is her last day. Looks like she's really going to do it now. For several years Ameranth has planned to walk across America with her dog. The plan has had numerous revisions spanning the far-fetched idea of gathering like-minded folks (there are more like her?) to join her walk (ala Forrest Gump, I asked?) to the more realistic (?) idea that her soulmate will find her on the trek(because that kind of guy would think like me, Mom).

And for several years, I repeat her plans to people and see them react one of two ways. Typically any parents or other grown-up type people are horrified and concerned. Younger people or single males think it's great, although they caution her to bring a gun, which horrifies her.

But I could always laugh it off, knowing it would happen in the far off future, if ever. Now, she has money saved, she has her starting date and her dog, which she chose 2 1/2 years ago expressly for this trip. Anna has her pack and both have been in training, taking walks with practice loads.  Today, Ameranth told me she not only ordered new glasses, but a year's supply of contacts as well. People, she's serious now.  I can no longer pretend it will never happen.

Ms. M is not happy with her, Shoeshine is jealous, and I believe that while Sectaurs does not think it is a rational plan, he is also ready for her and her dog to move on, and his ladyfriend and her cats to move in.

As the Plan gets closer to implementation, I find I have conflicting emotions. Naturally, I think she should keep her job and not traipse across the country, practically inviting weirdos and kooks to track her down and attack her. On the other hand, she's a grownup and doesn't need my permission to do anything. She's intelligent; has ADD and social anxiety and 3/4 of a college degree; takes good care of her dog; is a vegetarian; attractive; funny; and adventurous. As silly as this sounds, considering what I've written here, she is sensible and down-to earth, well, about most things she is.

Ideally, she would like to have people follow her blog about her trip, get hooked on her and buy the book she wants to write afterwards. She has a netbook or whatever those little laptops are called and plans to email a friend of hers, who will update her blog. She is also planning to email the friend, and me with her whereabouts each day, "so you'll know where to start the police looking if I disappear, Mom"  Hardy har har.

I do understand how she feels. Like her life is kind of stagnant and she should do something soon, before she turns 30 and "has to settle down and be normal". As if.

In my early 20's, before I met J and knew he was the one for me, it seemed as if everyone else in the world knew what they were doing, where they were going, and has someone to go there with them.  #2 had his girlfriend, # 4 had a steady boyfriend, and #3 had gotten married as soon as she turned 18. I was alone and lonely. I had dropped out of college after 2 years and at a loss for direction. I looked into the Peace Corps, but I knew the same social anxiety that made me leave college would never get me on a plane to Africa.

Ms. M did go into the Peace Corps, after she graduated from college, and spent 2+ years in Moldova. I didn't like having her half a world away, but we all lived through it. Shoeshine joined the Army, and the 82nd Airborne and went to Kosovo. I really didn't like that!  Both of them made those decisions on their own, and I don't remember either asking 'permission'.

I applaud Ameranth for her courage in taking this step, even as I wish she wouldn't. Well, I don't really wish she wouldn't- I wish that she has a good time and meets only friendly, helpful, non-freaky people.  I want one of those umbrellas that insurance company uses in their ads, to hover over her the whole way and keep her safe.

There are still a couple of weeks left before she leaves, so who knows what will happen. I was happier several weeks ago when she said a dog-walking acquaintance had offered to drive her to Albany, since she was having trouble finding walking trails across MA. Her first destination is western NY, where her writing friend and blog updater/ is graduating from college in May. That means she can follow the Erie Canal walking paths and it's only 300 freaking miles.  Now, that dog person moved sooner than expected, and is no longer in the area. We'll see what happens, I told her I could always drive her across the Hudson to her starting point.I was hoping that walking that far would be enough, but she is still planning to continue. Curses!

Oh and by the way, not that I think any of my readers are wacky killers, but just in case, don't even think about trying anything! You'll never track her down.And she will be armed with pepper spray and a very ferocious dog!

I, however, am considering implanting a homing device when she is here before she leaves. Do you think that could be done in her sleep without her knowing? That and a portable web cam, though I guess it would be hard to count on WiFi along the trails.