NEW ORLEANS - HALF WAY TO NEW YORK!

Hello everyone.  This is really the first time I've been able to take a break (and have the internet access) to write a new post.  As you can see by reviewing the Blog, Pat has been very busy keeping up with all the events and posting the information on this blog.  She is the best.  Although I'm not able to answer all the comments on the blog, I do get a chance to read them all - they give me the energy to push through some of the tough runs and lack of sleep that seems to never end - thank you all very much for the nice words and  encouragement.

Living in this RV with 5 others (4 of which I've just met) can be a challenge sometimes.  Each have unique personalities and ways to look at things.  As you all know, I am one that does not like to be late for anything.  If I am going to see a show with family, or meet someone for dinner, or have a work meeting to get to, I like to get there early or at least on time.  The Aussie's have a different way of looking at time.  If you say "we need to be ready to leave by noon", the Australian's take that to mean "we need to start getting ready at noon".  This kind of carefree attitude, when it comes to being at places at certain times, stresses me out!  But, I've learned to adapt by adjusting "ready to leave" times by an hour early - so we actually leave on time and get to where we need to be (most of the time) now.

Our days come in 18 hour increments -  (6) hours of running then (12) hours before our next run begins. The days/times/places for the most part run together and I really have to think sometimes of what day/date it is and what our location is and where we're headed.  The (12) hours goes by quickly and break down to this:  (2) hours to drive to our next location so we are near the start of our next shift; 2 - 3 hours to shower and do laundry; leaving about 7 hours to eat, gas up RV, fill water tanks on RV, empty waste water in RV, miscellaneous things like coordinating the next route with the other groups, media events, etc - and then sleep.  In my normal life I try and get about 8 hours of sleep each night.  On this trip I am averaging about 4 hours of sleep between shifts, with as little as (2) hours and as much as (6) hours of sleep!  Surprisingly I am doing ok with 1/2 my normal amount of sleep. 

As you can see by the heading, we've made it to New Orleans, the half-way point of our run!  It really has been amazing so far with so many more unbelievable events scheduled for the next two weeks.  From what I know now, subject to change of course, we'll be running in to Memphis on Sunday, 8-29-10, where we will be driven to Graceland for a private tour.  I don't know why there is a museum because Elvis is still alive!  We'll continue north arriving in Chicago on Wednesday, 9-1-10, afternoon.  There are a lot of events scheduled in Chicago, including a great reception all the way in to town, a tour of Chicago from a tour boat on Lake Michigan, and many other events during our 24 hour lay-over there.  We'll run out towards Washington, stopping briefly at the Flight 93 Memorial on Sunday, 9-5-10, afternoon.  We arrive in Washington DC on Tuesday, 9-7-10, and have a 2 day lay over for dozens of events, tours, media interviews, etc.  I'll have more details as we get closer to that date.  We leave Washington DC on Thursday, 9-9-10, enroute to New York.  Once we arrive in New York in the very early hours of 9-11-10, we will run down Manhattan along (or through) Central Park with a very large procession of first responders leading the way.  We will dress in our "BDU" uniforms and walk across the Brooklyn Bridge in a group to the World Trade Center memorial site.  I believe we will all change into our "Class A" uniforms for the tribute ceremony honoring the victims of 9-11 at 8:46am, which, of course, is the purpose of this event and why we all took on this once in a lifetime challenge. 

Thanks again everyone, I'll try and do an update when I can.  Rob.