July 2, 2010 In Uncategorized

round and round and round she goes

For those of you who have asked, curious about my travel itinerary/plans (of course subject to change at any given second if I catch wind of some must explore place or thing that’s not on my list already.) Here is the loose version as I sit today at the beach on day 2 of my adventure.

Richmond, VA to:

*Outer Banks, NC
*Wilmington, NC (I know- this isn’t exactly the most direct route to Alaska from Virginia ,but I’ve never been the most direct route kind of girl. I’m working in Wilmington for a week and getting my car all tuned/prepped for the long haul as well as seeing some friends. Of course I also thought It’d be fun to say I drove my car to put my toes in both U.S. coats and jumped in this summer.)
*Back through Richmond, VA for a night
* NYC (I’ll be seeing someone very special to me and beyond significant to this trip and BLR. It’s been 16 years since we last saw each other. This reunion is something so important to me I can’t describe it, but am looking forward to doing my best to share stories after our meeting.)
*Upstate NY/Finger Lakes
*Toronto?
*Chicago and ‘burbs of Chicago
*Madison, WI
*???
*???
*???
*Seattle?
*Alaska
*???

The great thing about having an open schedule and living in a free country is that I can change my mind, take advantage of any opportunity that comes my way and make plans as I go. My goal to get to Alaska for the anniversary on 8/18 might not happen as it’s already 7/2 and I have a lot of places to stop, people to see and living on the road to do that is vital to this trip. I have accepted that and it’s OK with me. Safety and keeping in mind the point of all this is most important to me anyway. At “worst” I will have my time in Alaska and be ready to gift the 10% pay it forward from all donations and sponsorships by 9/30/10 if not before. I already have some dough in the account and waiting on stories from you all to roll in!

I am excited that I will be meeting one of my readers who I have become email pals with for about a year and a half after she stumbled upon BLR. She and her husband offered to host me immediately upon announcement of my trip. I’ll see them on my way to NYC soon. How cool is that? It will be like meeting a long lost friend again. The connections we can make with each other through technology amaze me. Looking forward to meeting you in person G and seeing the rest of you along the way!

P.S~ You can track my route (red line) on the map above n the Alaska page!

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July 1, 2010 In De-lish, Donations and Sponsorships, People, Photos, Virginia

get your kicks

I am happy to share the news that Fruit 66 is sponsoring me for the Alaska or Bust road trip. They have stocked me up with more cans of their D-lish drink than I could imagine to keep my thirst quenched. I’m a fan of this sparkling juice because it’s all-natural and there’s the equivalent to one full serving of fruit in every can. You know I eat and drink my fair share of treats and chocolate, so this is a good alternative for me to grab instead of a soda on the road.

Fruit 66 gives a portion of their proceeds to the School Nutrition Foundation. Their product is in a slew of schools and replaces those bad for you sugary/high-fructose corn syrup drinks for kids. I love that. Any program or product that promotes health and activity (especially for kids)- I am all about endorsing.

Here’s a funny addition to my Fruit 66 story:

I leave Richmond, VA (home base of the drink) for the first leg of my trip to meet up with my Uncle’s extended family on their beach week. As I brought a few cans into the house, his 9 year old niece Gillian sees me and screeches “I love that stuff! We have it at my school!” (She lives in GA.) This sassy little cutie whom I had never met before was all about smiling for the camera as she guzzled down her can. What a perfect poster child for this stuff.

Thank you Fruit 66! I am already making friends and keeping the kids happy with your yummy drink.

Gillian with Fruit 66

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June 30, 2010 In People

meet sarah

Sarah Intern goofy face

Sarah is my rock star, mack-daddy, bomb-diggidy Blue Lollipop Road intern. She was born in Alaska, that’s why she emailed me in the first place. Our meeting went like this:

She emails me answering my ad; “Hey! Id love to help you with your project.”
I call her immediately; “Um- wow, great, can you meet…maybe like- right now?”
She responds; Absolutely. I’ll see you at the coffee shop.”

(She is there waiting for me before I can even get there.)

We sit down with nothing more than a quick “hey!”, we leave the coffee shop 2 hours later after we agree to meet late night and work until ridiculous hours because she knows I am leaving in a week. She then proceeds to keep constant communication and work practically 24/7 for me to help get the new site launched, decide on branding, take photos, tweak photos, brainstorm ideas, show me some tricks and tips on different technology and a whole bunch of other stuff. She’s helped with the whole shebang.

This girl is spectacular. She is smart and sweet, adorable and talented, reliable and driven, organized and responsible and most and best of all genuine and fun. This is a stranger I have now only known for a week, but already feel like is my second little sister and I know we’ll be friends forever. I am so beyond lucky to have her as my intern and a part of this project that means so much to me. I love how some things just work. I haven’t had to explain a thing about myself, the project or anything I have needed help on since the second we met, she just gets it. It’s like we are on the same brain wave.

Did I mention she is doing all this work for free?

Below is the two us goofing around before I said goodbye to start my trek. What a gem she is. I will miss hanging with her, but I’m so excited to be able to work with her throughout my journey.

Dear Sarah,

You RULE. Thanks chica. With your help, I have been able to kick off my dream job/trip/project in style and stress-free. This means more than I could ever explain.

Di and sarah goofing around

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