Tooleing : T Minus One

For the record, I am not the Jack Reacher of cross country travel.  This will not be the journey of a man with a toothbrush in his back pocket, one pair of jeans, a tee shirt and a debit card. Do we even know what Reacher does on the undies front?

My big maroon Escalade will be overstocked with clothes, books and sundries.

Digital Camera

Digital Camera

Digital Camera

Here’s My Travel Inventory:

• One 2006 Escalade – Maroon. It’s big – I’m loading it.
• Enough socks and knickers for a month. I want to do laundry once only on this trip. Never if possible.
• Way too many shoes, belts and boots. Will I finally get to wear those 6 year old shit-kickers in Nashville?
• 30+ concert and film t-shirts. These are always good for starting conversations. What Missourian doesn’t love Pet Shop Boys?
• Some gym clothes (I’ve great intentions).
• A dozen dress shirts and a dozen pair of trousers/jeans/shorts.
• A few hoodies, sweatshirts and jumpers.
• A Big wash bag – including my Kiehls, Art of Shaving and BVLGARI products. The road can be hard on a man’s skin.
• An online purchased grooming kit that seems to deal with some functions I never want to touch. I’m not sticking that in there.
• A few jackets / dressy to knock around.
• Assorted Baseball caps – Depeche Mode; ELO; Foo Fighters; AC/DC – five panel of course.
• IPhone; iPad; Laptop; portable Bluetooth player and a truck load of chargers and cables. I have loaded every Hotel booking app known to man; Podcasts; Audible; Amazon Music; the first Game of Throne book. It’s 40 hours long. Holy God!
• A couple of Michelin Road maps and road atlas I cannot follow. I had no idea Alaska was so close to Hawaii.
• A yellow submarine notebook.
• 200 CDs – for those dead zones
• 2 dozen books – the paper kind – I’m old school. Nothing too taxing for the road. Will I finally read Dune?
• A  couple of throw blankets. I’ve had visions of Jack at the end of The Shining.
• Two flashlights; a plastic skull for the dashboard and a POW/MIA cap. Some Texan friends gifted these as a form of local road protection.
• Malaria tablets; penicillin; morphine; Cyanide tablet embedded in false tooth filling and Advil.

153,681 on the milometer thing.
Departing Ancram, NY Tuesday September 4^th. First Destination Mentor, Ohio.

My obvious driving song to kick it all off:  “Behind the Wheel” – Depeche Mode.
Who cares if it’s about sexual dominance?

Let the games begin.