The First Day, 9.18.08

Hi Team,

Jane, Patricia and I have made it on the road and boy, what an adventure it has been already. We left Winston-Salem, NC at 11am after packing (I mean stuffing) all of the comforts of home generously provided by Sonja into the back of the rental truck with the two generators. We made good time on the road and made it to Wilmington, NC by 3pm, even with two pit stops along the way.

Once we had arrived in Wilmington, it was (drum roll please) time to pick up the Winnebago RV and put a face to one of the guys Jane has been sweet talking all week, Mr. Kevin. Mr. Kevin was patiently waiting for us to arrive and had the RV prepped and ready for our 1.5 hour walk through and training session on how to use and utilize all of its fancy-shamancy features. The 34-foot long Adventure Winnebago is spacious, clean, and meets the ground team’s standards for calling this vehicle home-sweet-home for the next month of so.

By 7pm, the three of us we back on the open road heading out of Wilmington, NC to Atlanta, GA, our next stop to get the RV wrapped and looking beautiful. I have to be honest, at first Patricia was a bit, okay…a lot, hesitant to be driving this boat of a car. However, a mere 17 minutes after Patricia got behind the wheel we were cruising at a full 57 mph. Not soon after, by 7:24, we were full speed ahead at 60 and by 8:09 she was feeling comfortable enough to pass a car and reach 70mph! Way to go Patricia!

At 8:53 we crossed the South Carolina boarder and decided to stop shortly thereafter in a small town, complete with all the small town charm and values, by the name of Dillon. Our waiter at dinner at the local Shoney’s, a charming high school senior by the name of Channin, was proof enough that small towns are still able to instill values and manners into their young adult population that seem to be missing so commonly these days.

After a good 11 hour day and a full 335 miles, Gound Team Ike decided to call it a night and recharge for another exciting day tomorrow. One final thought to leave you guys with: During the planning stages of this journey, someone mentioned to me that this whole excursion reminded them vaguely of the movie Thelma and Louis. As the miles were passing and I had time to reflect on this a bit more, I realized that right now, I couldn’t agree more. Three girls with a lot of energy and excitement driving into the unknown with a whole lot of open road ahead of them, as we head closer to Houston, TX in order to bring some relief to people in need. We’ve already been reminded that one of the best assets on our side is the ability to be flexible and work together as a team both on the ground and through the company. I just hope that, unlike in the movie (if you haven’t seen it, you really should check it out this weekend) we don’t end up driving off a cliff after all this is said and done.

We’re out to, as they say in the south, Git’er done!