86413 to 98038: An Odyssey

The Idea...

2006-07-06T21:00:00.000-07:00

Here is my new idea.... It gets me up to Washington to have a good time with my friends, and it also helps fund the purchase of a new computer.

Back in January, I decided I might try to sell my PowerBook G4, because it was getting very slow. However, things backfired when, in a VERY accidental drop, its screen died and part (a lot) of the case became warped. Basically, it is not a useable laptop computer anymore. Add to that, the fact that it is very prone to overheating, and thus, heat-related failures. Being that this is basically my only reamaining computer that is considered to be useable (especially considering my digital imaging and music situation), it is time for a new one, especially before college starts.

So, if I can raise X amount of dollars before Y date, My PowerBook G4 and I will travel to Washington, and my buddies from Washington and I will do Z to the PowerBook.

For X, I will need enough money to buy a new computer, either while I am in Washington or when I get home from my trip. Of course... there are a few supplies I'll need on my trip, and I'd like to have a small budget for miscellaneous things such as eating.
Y date, is when I take the trip, or a week or so beforehand. I need to reserve my spot on the various Amtrak trains at least a week before I make the trip. I would like to make the trip in early August.
Z... is what ever my audience thinks would be appropriate to do to a PowerBook G4. I could theoretically explode it, let my friends brutally smash it with baseball bats, hammers, etc, run it over with a car, throw it like a frisbee - several times, or a number of things. I could even run around Seattle with a friend or two, with the PowerBook, and a camera, and photograph it with and around various Seattle landmarks.

Hopefully I can rig something up!

Update!

2006-07-06T19:00:00.000-07:00

This is an interesting development. I don't actually think I will be able to ride my bike the entire way from Golden Valley, AZ, to Maple Valley, WA.

However, I did take a look. If I book the tickets early enough a trip on the train from Kingman, Arizona to Seattle, Washington will cost $376. This is much less than I would ever have expected a train trip like that to cost.

But there are still some other expenses. I am unsure of whether or not I would want to bring a computer, so I may still need one of those portable media CD burners, or an iPod and the photo transfer kit, because I still expect to take A LOT of photos. I think an iPod or other similar photo storage mechanism would be less expensive, because I don't currently posess a working laptop computer, and batteries for a portable computer are not exactly as common and cheap as AAs.

However, I have a plan... stay tuned!

Hello...

2006-07-06T17:00:00.000-07:00

Hi, my name is Cory Wiegersma and I have created this blog for a little project of mine.

I moved from Maple Valley, Washington (where my zipcode was 98038) in February 2003, to Golden Valley, Arizona, where I live now, where my zipcode is 86413. In doing so, I left all of my awesome friends from Maple Valley, who I have been lucky enough to keep in contact with via the internet.

Now, I am 18, have graduated high school, and am looking for something interesting to do over the summer, before I start Northern Arizona University, in the fall.

What I plan to do, is ride my bicycle from my home in US zipcode 86413, to visit my friends in US zipcode 98038. This is probably a 1,500 mile journey, if I go through California and Oregon, though I have not yet determined my exact route.

On my journey, I plan on taking pictures, a lot of them. Of everybody and everything, everywhere.

This blog is about how I will complete my journey, and I will update it prior to the trip, and during it.

Stay tuned!