Westward-Ho!

And....weeeee're off! I think almost everyone's father historically yelled that phrase when pulling out of the driveway in the family van or station wagon bound for summer vacation fun (for me this occurred at the Jersey Shore. Enough said.) and clearly somewhere along the way this phrase became a requirement for dad-hood. It's gotta be written in the rule book. So just for posterity I gave a good 'ol "and we're off" as we saw Meadow Lane fade away in the rear-view of our loaded jeep at 4:30 am yesterday as the embarking of our Westward Road Trip Extravaganza 2007(-8)! came to fruition (henceforth WRTE07-8!).
It was an impressive first-day-out to say the least.

WRTE07-8! by the numbers:

hours since departure: 43
states hit to date: 7 without counting PA. (total will be 10)
number of deer carcasses on Westbound I70 between PA and MO: 21
number of hawks, alive not dead, mostly perching:43
number of "This American Life" audio episodes heard: 6
number of hours without legitimate sleep: 29 (turns out I'm not that young anymore. I am subsequently achy and sick-ish after pulling this impromptu all-nighter and I know the last few hours in the car I was belting out my accompaniment to the "Rent" medleys one minute, then felt my head drop and realized my eyes had been closed mid-lyric... snapped back up still singing and repeated the cycle.)
Roadside America attractions spotted and detoured for: 1


All day I've been wondering, what happened to the good old days of invincibility when I could easily go out drinking on a Saturday night, roll home at last call, wake up to an alarm I had set correctly, get to my 8am dance rehearsal on time, and still finish the day like a hummingbird?
Camped away in one of my favorite cities, Boulder,CO for the next two days, I hope to rediscover the insights to this time-frugal method of existing and apply them in a less self-sacrificial way, and heal the sleep deprivation for the next phase of our rally Westward. Ho!