Go West Young Men!!

The time has come for us to head west!! Somehow in the whirlwind of this past week, the trip sneaked up on the three of us. While I am excited to take off on what will most certainly prove to be an adventure of a lifetime, its hard not to feel the bitter sweetness of knowing that college as I've known it for the last four years is over. It is tough to think that four years has come and gone. It has been an UNBELIEVABLE four years and I wouldn't trade the friendships or the memories for anything. Today marks the start of new memories and deeper friendships to be built.

Our bags are packed and we're ready to go. We are traveling in a 2005 Towne and Country Minivan. It is actually very handy because as you can see from above, the food we need to pack could feed a small army. As of Thursday night here was the food inventory...

Drinks:

14 20oz ounce sodas

2 2-liter sodas

6 vitamin waters

23 20oz gatorade

31 energy drinks

18 powder packs

2 gatorade canisters

1 orange mix canister

2 gallons of water

3 bottles of water

2 crystal light canisters

4 half gallon iced teas

2 boxes of teabags

Canned Goods:

7 pineapple

3 mandarin orange

21 soups

5 mixed fruit (minis)

2 corn

1 applesauce

3 tuna

2 peanut butter

Snack Foods:

19 peanut packets

12 sunflower packets

11 packets trail mix

21 packets of ramen

16 cups of ramen

24 bags of chips/pretzels

6 bags of beef jerky

16 cracker packs (minis)

2.5 boxes of crackers

27 oatmeal

1 tub of raisins

16 boxes of bars

7 dry meal mixes

1 can of cashews

2.5 cereal boxes

5 boxes unhealthy snacks

1 pack of cough drops

1 bottle bbq sauce

1 bottle of syrup

6 boxes of mac and cheese

1 bag of buns

1 pack of gum

Non-edibles:

2 soap bottle

1 scrub brush

1 cooler air freshener

1 saran wrap

1 aluminum foil

2 containers

assorted plastic wear

napkins

cups

1 box of tissues

*Note- The food count has gone up since that inventory.

So after months and months of planning, calling, emailing, researching, and endless late night meetings, we are finally ready to depart for our journey. First stop- Rockford Illinois. We will leave around noon today and head to JD's house in Rockford. The plan is to spend the night there and continue on to Kansas City on Monday. Stay tuned for more adventures in the next few days. Please pray for safety as we hit the road.