Last May, I traveled to Bangor, Maine, Stephen King's hometown. The result of the trip was an article in Writing magazine's October issue (check out our exclusive King interview). Over the course of the week, I will be posting my journal entries from the trip. This first one outlines my punch-drunk excitement prior to the long, eight hour drive. Check back later tonight for actual Bangor goodness.

May 10, 2005

7:23 a.m.

It's a beautiful day for an eight hour drive. Wouldn't you say?

I woke up this morning at 6:00 and smiled. I closed my eyes.

I woke up this morning at 6:15 and smiled. I closed my eyes.

I woke up this morning at 6:45 and laughed. I could get up, I suppose. Still early though. I closed my eyes.

7:01. It might as well be Christmas morning. I might as well be a child. I sprang out of bed, to the window with a whistle. Stepped out onto the porch and took a deep breath. "It's a beautiful day for an eight hour drive," I said to the birds, to the squirrels, to the traffic, to the sky.

Now it's 7:30 and I'm clean and rarin' to go. I'm a last minute packer so I still need to throw some clothes and such into a bag before I take off.

I'm so excited. I'm Bangor Bound. Even dictionary.com is on my side. I swear to the stars that this is true:

Word of the day for Tuesday, May 10, 2005:
wayworn \WAY-worn\, adjective
wearied by traveling

If that's not providence, nothing is.

The forecast looks good for the rest of the day. Should be smooth sailing all the way. I plan on listening to String Cheese Incident on the way to the get my rental car. In the renter, I'll switch to a Stephen King book. I borrowed From a Buick 8 on CD from the library. Strangely enough, it's eight CDs. That should be more than enough. If the rental car has a tape deck, do not fret, I'm prepared. I've borrowed The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon. I'm actually hoping for a tape deck. I'm more excited about this one even though Tom Gordon has been less than stellar for the Yankees so far this year... when King wrote the book, Gordon was doing a bang up, wonderful job for his beloved Red Sox (and yes, Mr. King and I root for each other's nemeses. What're ya gonna do?)

I have some things to say about books on tape/CD... but that will have to wait for another day, another blog, another state of mind. For now, I'm just giddy for my trip. Ooh, I have to remember my camera.

Bon voyage!