Our unbelievable 93-day journey officially started a little more than two hours ago. As I write our inaugural journal entry, I am sitting in the front seat of our brand new Fleetwood watching the dotted white lines that decorate I-70 disappear beneath me. To my left, manning the steering wheel is Kevin Dawson (Katose), our driver and handyman, and behind me seated at the dining table, is Jed Barish, the producer of our tour. Peering over Jed’s right shoulder is none other than our iron-man videographer Branic Keltz, who is unfortunately battling bronchitis and pink eye. With the exception of Jed and Katose, the four of us barely know each other, and yet, the environment inside our new summer home is cozy and productive. Katose is burning the asphalt behind us, Jed and Branic are editing the day’s video, and I am
here, writing the obvious.

We started our tour with a bang just a few hours ago, at the kick-off party at Gallaudet, where Dr. I. King Jordan and Greg Hlibok gave speeches of support for what we are doing this summer. There, we were also entertained by Rathskellar, a Deaf performing arts group, and were given a departure befitting kings, with more than 100 people showing up to wish us luck and to say good-bye. As we left the gates of Kendall Green and set off on the 93-day long Blitzkrieg of America’s attitude towards the Deaf community, we have already run into some minor frustrations. Knowing that they would have to live the next 93 days without each other, Jed and his girlfriend, Angela could not say good-bye quickly. Much to the rest of the crew’s pleasure, Jed had no problems putting on a public show of affection that the rest of us wish we had caught on tape! Jed wasn’t the only one, however, who had a hard time saying good-bye to our friends, family, and loved ones. We all left behind people who mean the most to us in our lives, and it will without a doubt be a trying summer living without them.

After deciding to stop and eat at Burger King for dinner in Frederick, we resumed driving towards the campground in Donegal, Pennsylvania where we are spending the night. Exactly 33 miles after leaving Burger King, however, Katose and I started to feel a little uneasy because the cities that we were passing on the road could not be found anywhere on our map. We quickly realized that instead of traveling on 70-west like we were supposed to, we had spent the last half hour traveling in the opposite direction. Instead of arriving at the campsite at 10 p.m. like we had planned, we are figuring to pull in at 1 a.m. Sure, it’s annoying that we had to drive an extra hour towards nowhere and back, but what’s an hour when we have 2,232 to go?

As our first day winds to a close, we can reflect on what has happened tonight. Even though it is just Day One, we have all already learned a lot about each other and a few of each other’s quirks. We have begun to understand what exactly our roles and responsibilities are for the trip, and how to flush the onboard toilet. We also started to get an idea of what to expect in the days, weeks, and months to come, and learned many other things.

Katose, for instance, just learned the importance of sign-reading.

Related posts:

1. Day 2
2. Day 21
3. Day 18
4. Day 3