Two years.  I have had writer’s block for over two whole years.

I could tell myself that I was just too busy to write, but that isn’t the truth.  I just couldn’t do it. While nursing a long term knee injury that held me back quite a bit, I pulled away from everything that I had once been involved in.  Sad and angry with myself for the injury, I comforted myself with Netflix and just TV in general.

And then I turned 54.  That was a year ago, but in that year, I had lots of planning to do, moving to do, and traveling to do.  54 was a big wake up because that is the age my mother died from a blood clot after breaking her ankle.  I knew I was going in for a total knee replacement surgery, and my mind kept making all kinds of gloomy correlations.  However, I was determined to do something that I know my mother always wanted to do, and she never got the chance.

She wanted to travel.

I made it my mission that the summer of 2016 (the 20th anniversary of her passing) was going to be in her memory, and I planned to drive across the country in my van.  Of course, I had to buy a van, so I traded in my Elantra for a Town and Country, and I started planning.  I also decided that I needed this to be a healing experience for me, both spiritually and emotionally.  This gave me the idea to plant healing quartz crystals along the way; this was also my way of trying to add energy to heal our country because it sure needs it.

After months of planning, I came up with my itinerary:

Itinerary For Cross Country Sojourn 2016

June 29-August 12

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 29

1. Rochester, NY to Erie, PA         163 miles      3 hours

 

2. From Erie, PA to the Serpent Mound, Ohio         331 miles      5.5 hours
3. From Serpent Mound to Rocky Fork State Park, OH       17 miles      25 minutes

THURSDAY, JUNE 30

        Rocky Fork St Park, OH to Kickapoo State Park, Illinois         266 miles      4.5 hours

FRIDAY, JULY 1

        Kickapoo State Park, IL to Rockford, Illinois         208 Miles      3 hours

SATURDAY, JULY 2

        Rockford, Illinois to Sioux City, Iowa         396 Miles      6.5 hours

SUNDAY, JULY 3

1.  Sioux City, Iowa to Chadron, Nebraska         383 Miles      6.5 hours
2.  Chadron State Park to Alliance, Nebraska (Carhenge)     48 miles    1 hour

MONDAY, JULY 4

 

• Chadron, Nebraska to Mt. Rushmore, South Dakota        115 Miles    2 hours

• Return to Chadron State Park         115 Miles    2 Hours

 

TUESDAY, JULY 5

        Chadron, NE to Salt Lake City, Utah        603 Miles       9.5 hours

WEDNESDAY, JULY 6

        Salt Lake City, Utah to Lake Tahoe, CA       575 Miles      8.5 Hours

THURSDAY, JULY 7

1. Stateline, Nevada to San Francisco, California         190 Miles    3.5 hours

 

2. San Francisco, CA to Modesto, CA        92 miles    1.5 hours
3. Modesto, CA to Fresno, CA       96 miles    1.5 hours

FRIDAY, JULY 8 (stay in California till August)

        Fresno, CA to Murrieta, CA       300 Miles      5 hours

TUESDAY, AUGUST 2

        Murrieta, CA to Las Vegas, Nevada       265 Miles      4 hours

THURSDAY, AUGUST 4

 

• Las Vegas, NV to Hoover Dam         35 miles    1 hour

• Hoover Dam to Sedona, Arizona     356 miles    6 hours

 

FRIDAY, AUGUST 5

        Sedona, AZ to Albuquerque, New Mexico      349 miles    5.5 hours

SATURDAY, AUGUST 6

        Albuquerque, NM to Oklahoma City, OK      541 miles      8 hours

SUNDAY, AUGUST 7

        Oklahoma City, OK to Memphis, Tennessee      467 miles    7 hours

MONDAY, AUGUST 8

        Memphis, Tennessee to N. Charleston, South Carolina    670 miles    10 hours

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 10

 

• Charleston, SC to Foamhenge, Virginia      424 miles    6.5 hours

• Foamhenge to Natural Bridge Caverns     1 mile    5 minutes

• Natural Bridge Caverns to Lexington, VA      15 miles    16 minutes

 

THURSDAY, AUGUST 11

        Lexington, VA to King of Prussia, PA       378 Miles     6 hours

FRIDAY, AUGUST 12

 

• King of Prussia, PA to Hershey, PA        95 miles     2 hours

• Hershey PA to Penn’s Cave, PA       172 miles     4 hrs

• Penn’s Cave to Rochester, NY       226 miles    5 hours

 

Along the way, I buried or dropped crystals that I had prepared for the journey.  Click on the map to see where I dropped them:

After making all the reservations at camp ground (where I camped in my van) and motels, I set about making personal preparations to prevent my scared self from bailing at the thought of driving across country alone for the first half of the journey. I knew that the time to do it HAD to be now, and so I pushed down my fears and kept planning.  I owed it to myself to just DO it, and I felt I owed it to my Mom who never got the chance.  This was for both of us, and I couldn’t back out.