The day has come

I just woke up.  I’m still in bed.  I’ve been hit with an allergy attack, but that’s nothing new.  My room is all but empty.  In a little while, I’m going to get up, eat breakfast, then break down my bed.  That task will be easy, but getting the mattress into the garage… not so much.  I’m praying either Isaac or Kris will still be here to help (Harley had to split early this morning).  After that, there’s a just a little sweeping to do, a shower to take, a backpack to secure and double-check, and then I’m gone.

I’m going to get my oil changed and tires rotated if I can, and I have to get a replacement vehicle registration card from AAA (Lehnig is taking my car while I’m away, and apparently I threw the old card away when I cleaned out the car).  If there’s time after that, I’m going to drive to Escondido to see my mom, both to visit and to make use of her copy machine to photocopy my passport, my credit cards, and other important documents.  After that, I’ll be driving down to SDSU to pick up Chris from school.  I’ll be driving myself to airport, then passing to keys to Chris for him to take it home, and that’s it.

The panic has actually subsided quite a bit.  I’m really interested at what’s going to happen on my trip, what I’m going to see, find, discover, and feel, and what’s going to change in me.  It’s not fear anymore, just trepidatious curiosity.  I want to be on that plane, on my way to the unknown.  I’m dreading the 27-hour travel ordeal more than my actual destination, which is a good thing.  I still don’t where I’m going to be staying my first night.  Hopefully one of the airports I’m in will have Wi-Fi, and I arrange something.

Last night was great.  I did some last minute recording with the Dime Novels in PB.  We laid down four tracks in the studio, in addition to two others we’ve done before (I’ll at least be on half of the new album).  Somewhat appropriately, we ended my share of the evening laying down stomps and claps.  The five of us just stood around the room, stomping on the one and clapping on two and four.  It was fun, a good representation of my time with the band.  Five guys having one hell a good time.   I’ll miss playing them while I’m away.

On another note, I found out our audio engineer is A) practically my neighbor, and has heard every party we’ve had here (including my going away thing last week), and B) was the bassist for ‘Buck O’Nine,’ a band I listened to in middle school during my ska phase (HA!).

After the session, I drove back home to San Carlos.  Laurel came over and helped me pack.  I didn’t realize it, but I was screwed.  I had no idea what I was doing in terms of packing.  With her international travel expertise, she saved me from what would have been a disaster.  I have even more room than I thought I had, and now I’ll be traveling with a comfortable amount of gear, and it doesn’t even feel like it weighs that much.  More importantly, though, I’m just glad I got to see her before I left.  She’s a true friend, and I’ll miss her very much.

I feel as though the goodbyes I’ve been saying have been somewhat inadequate.  I haven’t been open enough in telling you all what you mean to me.  A big part of me doesn’t want to leave.  I am going to miss you all very much. I suppose that’s a little dramatic also, haha!  I am returning, but not for a while, and I’ll be thinking of you all while I’m away, no matter what’s happening to me.

Okay, that’s enough writing.  It’s time to for breakfast and breaking beds.  I’ll post some pre-trip and in-transit photos later.

Soupy twist,

Ed