Updates, plusses and minuses

I haven't posted in a couple of weeks because I was feeling like I might not be able to make the trip and I wasn't ready to give up on it yet.

I did get a huge plus when I wrote to Pepsi to ask if they'd sponsor a "Halftime" for my trip to go along with Halftime Hype from the Super Bowl.  I received an email back stating that they liked my idea and would send me a t-shirt, some coupons and other fun stuff for my trip.  I was so excited!  I was able to say that Pepsi was helping to sponsor my trip! WooHoo!

Then yesterday, I got a package in the mail from them.  I'm still so happy that they recognized what I am doing with This Crazy Trip, but I don't think it's going to cover much of a half time. LOL

My halfway point, mileage-wise will be somewhere between Glacier National Park and Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, most likely.  If I go by days, though, it turns out to be the weekend of my high school reunion for Buchser High School in Santa Clara, CA!  I thought that would be so much fun to have a halftime there, so that's what I asked Pepsi to sponsor.

What I received was a t-shirt with a Pepsi logo, a Pepsi key ring, a blue Pepsi wristband, three different Pepsi bottle magnets, a card thanking me for my loyalty to their products and four coupons for 50 cents off of any flavor Pepsi-Cola soft drink.  The coupons expire the week after I leave on the trip.  So, even though it's not quite as big a halftime as I was hoping for, it WILL get me a discount on my daily Diet Pepsi for the first four days.

Another plus came when I went to Antwerpen Hyundai to get my Santa Fe detailed on Feb. 5th.  I didn't have anyone who could drive me back and forth, so I just stayed there and worked on my Seminary lessons for 3 1/2 hours.  It was exactly the same thing that I would have been doing at home, so I was pleased to be able to sit, undisturbed, for a long time and work.  When I told the Service Manager that I was staying, he was a little concerned but I assured him that I was pleased to be doing so.  Then he offered me a desk in the main showroom, which was completely awesome, and I happily accepted.  As I sat there, I wondered if the Manager would know who I should talk to about getting a car for this trip.  Just as I was getting ready to get my car, I got the courage to go talk to him.

Ron Fitzgerald is the Sales Manager for Antwerpen Hyundai in Clarksville, MD and as I shared my trip plans with him, I could see him catching the vision of what I was doing.  He got this grin on his face that I'm starting to recognize when I tell people about the trip - it's that look that road-trip people get, a longing and wishful-thinking kind of look, wishing that they could be doing it too.  Some people just think I'm crazy for wanting to do this, but there's a large group of people who just want to come along for the ride!  Ron was one of those people and I could see the wheels turning.  I never even asked for a car, I just asked who I should talk to, but he was WAY ahead of me.  Finally, he asks, "How much can you afford for this car?" and I replied, "Nothing.  It has to be free."

"OK," he answered, "I think I have an idea.  I'm calling our General Manager to see if this will work."  So, I'm quite excited about it and hope that his idea will work!

Now, for a couple of minuses.  In October, just before I had my knee surgery, I found a lump in my abdomen.  I had an ultrasound that showed a small mass about the size of a small apple.  I had another ultrasound in the middle of January to follow up with it and see if it had grown.  I was pretty sure that it was larger, but wanted to see what the ultrasound said.  My doctor called me and told me to go have an MRI done as soon as I could.  The MRI showed that it was about three times larger than it had been three months ago; about the size of a large grapefruit now.  So, I've been to the surgeon and I'm seeing an oncologist tomorrow.  The doctors don't think that it's cancerous, but it is growing rapidly and is causing other problems, so I need to have a hysterectomy fairly quickly.  I've been advised by three of the doctors I've seen that I should still be able to go on the trip, as long as it's not cancerous.

The other minus is that I wouldn't be able to teach Seminary next year if I do the trip.  I love the kids that I teach and I haven't been able to make a decision about whether or not to leave my calling in order to do the trip.  Or to possibly just get a sub during the time that I'm gone?  I don't know yet what to do, so it's still up in the air and is a bigger question to me than whether or not I have a car.

So, now you know all the details, good and bad.  I wasn't going to post everything that was going on health-wise, but then I figured that I'm going to be sleeping on your couches!  That alone connotes a certain level of intimacy, doesn't it?  LOL

Have a great week!

Disappointment and Sadness are a part of this, too.

This afternoon I told Tommy that I would probably have to take my iPad with me when I went on my trip.  He replied, "Where are you going?"  I thought he was kidding since we've been talking about it now for three weeks, so I said, "Ummm.... go look at the map on the Seminary room wall!"

He still wasn't getting it, so I told him that each of those little tags was someplace that I was stopping and that I would be leaving June 10th, right about when school got out and getting back on Oct 10th.  Then I heard a horrible sound: an 8 year old sobbing his heart out when he realized that Grandma was going to be gone ALL SUMMER!!

Oh dear.  I called him to me and held him on my lap for about 10 minutes while he cried about me being gone for so long.  I kept trying to explain: "I'll be leaving a while after Papa's birthday, then I'll miss my birthday, Mommy's birthday, Nick's birthday, then Daddy's and Maddison's birthdays, then I'll be back."  That just made it worse.  Then I tried, "Well, I'll leave when you get done with 2nd grade and I'll be back right after you start 3rd grade."  Nope, that was a dumb choice, too.  I even tried to joke with him that he was just going to miss my iPad and not me, but he wasn't having it.  It just brought a fresh wave of anguish.

I explained that I would send postcards home and that I would be able to Skype with him while I was gone and that appeased him a bit, but oh my goodness.... I broke his heart.  Finally we just sat with him on my lap in silence, enjoying the sweet time we have together now.  My sweet, tender-hearted grandson.

In other news, I received a reply from Cracker Barrel and they regretfully cannot support me for my trip.  I guess I'll just need to work a little harder and do without Lemon Pepper Trout for awhile.  No replies yet from Ford; Enterprise Rent-a-Car; Pepsi; McDonalds or PooPourri yet.  I'll let you know!

Time to Start Asking for Stuff.

Today is the big test.  I just sent letters to Ford and to Enterprise Rent A Car to see if they'll loan me a car.  I'm sending the letter to other companies also, but thought I'd start with those.

I sent a letter to a company that makes personal safety jewelry called Cuff.  It's a little devise that fits into a bracelet or necklace that will call 911 when pressed.  Their product is in pre-sales right now and won't be available for a few months yet, but they suggested I contact them later in the Spring, so we'll see.

After hearing the Pepsi half-time ads, I decided that it would be fun to see if Pepsi will give me some sodas for a half-time on the trip.  That should be somewhere around Glacier National Park in Montana and Coeur d'Alene, Idaho.  Wouldn't that be funny to just pull over and offer people a Pepsi for half-time?

I'm getting more excited about this trip all the time!  LOL

Here's the letter I sent:

It All Started With An Accidental Dare From My Husband…

Hi,  I’m Judi Stull.  I’m a Realtor (among other things) in Mount Airy, Maryland.  For a long time, I’ve harbored a dream of traveling around the U.S. but it was just cost prohibitive to stay in hotels every night and pay for gas while traveling that long.  I wanted to visit other Realtors, friends and family members who are flung all over the country.

One day, my husband said, “You can do it, if you can do it for free.” 

I just laughed at the time, but then a few weeks ago I decided to ask my 1500+ friends on Facebook if anyone would let me sleep on their couch for the night if I stopped by.  Within a few hours I had more than enough offers to get almost all the way around the U.S.  I was missing 5 states.  I even had friends in 26 other countries offering to let me stay with them!  I’m now getting offers from friends of friends in the states I was missing.

My first thought was to use an electric car so I didn’t have to pay for gas, but I soon realized that my route would not allow for that.  There just aren’t enough charging stations in the places I’m going.  However, I could use a hybrid!  I’m only scheduling about 250-300 miles a day so I will have time to visit and to see some sights, which will allow me the time needed to stop and charge up an electric hybrid.   During the times when there aren’t any charging stations, I can use gas power.

I’ve already had people offering me money to cover the costs for tolls and gasoline.

What I need now is a car.  Will you loan me a car to do this crazy social media fueled trip?  I will be gone a little more than four months and will probably drive a little more than 20,000 miles.  It’s just under 19,000 with only having cities, not exact addresses, on my route.   I am hoping to leave on this trip June 10^th and to return on October 15^th.  That’s 129 days if I stick to my schedule.  I will be staying with 120 different people and will be visiting nearly 300 people, all of whom will know that you have loaned me a car.  Plus it will be mentioned several times in my blog and on social media. 

I am very active on Facebook (Judi Bland Stull) and have been for many years.  After cleaning out my friends list of people who were no longer active, I ended up with 1522 friends. I am followed by 1133 people on Twitter (@JudiStull) and use Twitter, Yelp, Instagram and Swarm fairly regularly, I have a blog just for this trip at ThisCrazyTrip.Blogspot.com .  I am a good driver with no accidents that were my fault.  I don’t have any speeding tickets or other driving issues, even though I will admit to exceeding the speed limit occasionally. 

Will you help me make ThisCrazyTrip a reality?

Thanks!!

Judi Stull

ThisCrazyTrip@gmail.com  410-599-5955