BOOM! LETS GOOOOOOO!!!

It just got real. The last couple days have sure been an eye-opener. This adventure that has been years in the making is really starting. REALLY starting. I knew it was coming but I didn't ever grip that it was going to be real, leaving what I know for a year to nothing but unknown. Holy crap.

The last days in the PNW were good. Bittersweet but good. Great time with friends and time with my mom before I headed out. The airport was sad though, I've never had a tougher time leaving home, ever. I definitely wasn't expecting it to bring me to tears. But it did.

Here's some poetic beauty. So I had a direct flight from SEA to DCA. Where did that flight path take us? Right over CMH!!! I got one last glimpse of my C-bus before starting this whirlwind. Saw the whole city from the air: OSU, Downtown, all of it. Right in the feels...

Friday I put in about 18 miles of walking and saw a ton of the sights: the White House, Washington Monument, WWII Memorial, Lincoln Memorial, Reflection Pond, Arlington National Cemetery, Kennedy's Tomb, Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, FDR Memorial, MLK Jr Memorial, Jefferson Memorial, the National Mall, the Museum of Art, the U.S. Capitol Building, and topped it off with a couple Half-Smokeys from Ben's Chili Bowl. Saturday was a little slower, Air and Space then Natural History Museums. I was a little tired. And it got uber rainy, so I stayed out of the downpour.

The program officially starts tomorrow. Just over 24 hours away. Truth be told, I'm actually less anxious now than I was when I left Washington. Kinda weird, but I guess I just needed to get closer to the start to get more comfortable and prepared.

Regardless of how I feel, how prepared I am, what I didn't anticipate, I am going to starting a crazy journey. Damn I can't wait...

Original Publish Date: July 28th, 2013