On The Cusp of Vacation; July 19, 2013

Vacation.

The word itself generates a smile just thinking about it - even before the planning and the execution of the time spent takes place.

I look forward to this time every summer.  It means that Waverly and I get the opportunity to explore some part of the world.  Well, North America, for me, thank you.

She's already had a busy summer as she prepares to head off to college at Liberty University (Lynchburg, Virginia) in three to four weeks.

A church missions trip took her to Kenya and Tanzania in early June after her high school graduation, followed by church youth camp at Le Tourneau University in Longview this past week.

We've taken an annual trip pretty much every year since she was in grade school.

It has landed her in 45 or 46 different states, I believe.  (Rhode Island, Wisconsin, Michigan, Minnesota and North Dakota have eluded her, but she has British Columbia to her credit.)

If all goes well, she'll be able to add Ontario (Toronto and Ottawa) and Quebec (Montreal) to the mix this week.

We'll fly in and out of Pittsburgh, stop in Erie Saturday night for me to run the Presque Isle Half Marathon there on Sunday and then on to Toronto through Buffalo.

We've been up in the Buffalo area in the past while taking in Niagara Falls many years ago.

That was an epic trip where we flew into La Guardia, drove out there to see the Falls and then hit every northeastern state with the exception of Rhode Island over the course of the week.

The last two summers it has been Hawaii and Alaska.  Very thankful to have been able to have the time and resources to be able to make these trips happen.

If you're reading this, please keep us in your prayers as we travel.  Just simply for safety.

As I was driving into work on Thursday, I was listening to KSBJ and they were talking about children's most vivid memories were those from summer vacation.  Of course, it put a smile on my face - in the midst of a bunch of A.J. Foyt wannabes - to think of all of the great times that we've been able to enjoy.

We keep our schedule pretty fluid.

We have hotels booked in particular cities, but the details we hammer out day to day.

We're also going to try to run each day while we are in the various major cities.  Let's hope we succeed.

I'm going to get the opportunity, I hope, to see both a Canadian Football League game Thursday night in Montreal and then a Major League Baseball game - involving the Houston Astros even - on Friday night in Toronto.

It will be my first time back in Canada in six years after working a year and a half in Vancouver, British Columbia, and I'm very much looking forward to the week ahead.

I'll try to blog a little each day.  I hope that you'll follow along on the journey.

- Jon