In another thread I asked for opinions as to where in North America you would travel if you had the opportunity. I asked this because such an opportunity has come to me. Now all is in readiness and the expedition is set to begin on the 20th of May.

The adventure is sure to be filled with thousands of opportunities for photographs and sounds that I would love to share with you. Much of what I will be doing will not be especially germane to the Mudcat. I just don't want to clog up the threads with such stuff even though some of you might find it interesting. After studying various means by which to accomplish such sharing, I've decided it would be best to create a separate online journal. Not only does the journal have the capability of recording my notes on what I encounter, but it also affords the possibility of the inclusion of images and even sound bytes. This is not to say I won't be posting some Mudcat related stuff here or that I won't be sending a few pictures to the Mudcat gallery. I'll be doing that as well. It is just that there will be lots of other goodies I will want to share. Like the threads on the Mudcat, you will have the ability to post comments on my journal. There is also an email feature that will allow private communications.

My daughter, Kelly, (a sometime 'Catter, currently residing in Dallas, Texas) designed the journal (Okay, it's a "blog" but I just don't like calling it that for some reason!) for me and will be helping me to update it and to maintain it during my travels. She has also been my technological coach with regard to some of the equipment I will be taking with me. For instance, I had no idea at all how a wireless internet connection works for a laptop computer. Until last month I had never even touched a laptop. Kelly has patiently explained a lot to me that will certainly come in handy. Max has also been especially helpful and has offered to be of even more help in the time to come.

Although this is certainly going to be a great adventure for me, I want very much to include you in it as much as possible. My hope is that the means I have chosen will accomplish this.

Here is the link to my journal.

As I write, it is still under construction; but Kelly assures me it will be ready to go within the next few days. I just wanted to tell you about it before I unplug my desktop computer and pack it away.

There's a lot more to tell you about the trip, but I will be adding more and more as I go along.