It's the Final Countdown!!

Yeah yeah, sorry for the cheezy Rocky reference in the title. It is now 10:58pm on Thursday, March 31st. Wow, tomorrow is the day. The big day. When I envisioned this crazy run, tomorrow just never seemed like it was going to be here. And now, boom! Here it is. The last few days have been pretty calm. And by calm, I mean to say hair on fire, running around like a chicken with my head cut off calm. We got to stay with my sister's friend Letia and her husband Matt in Beverly Hills last night, which was an awesome gift by them. Great people!! We left shortly after noon to drive down to Long Beach. We found a room about 5 minutes from the Belmont Pier, which is our starting point, at the Comfort Inn & Suites. One of the nicest hotels for the price I've ever been in. Anyways, we went to the pier today to check it out, and that is when it officially hit me, that this is going to happen. It's very difficult for me to describe in words on a blog just how I am feeling right now. I am obviously very excited about this monumental quest I am undertaking. However, there is all this other, well, shit, for lack of a better word, running through my head. I have that very nervous energy I remember very vividly from pre-game locker rooms in high school. All sorts of emotions, both nervous and focused. I remember though, looking around those locker rooms at my teammates, my friends, and feeling a sense of calm because I knew they were right beside me to have my back, and I had their backs. I feel alone in this test. Noone to look at and say to myself, I know they are in this with me. This is my fight, and mine alone. I am always envious of how cool, calm and collected wrestlers like Brad Hickman, Dylan Cottrell, Sam Whiting, and Josh Fisher. I watch them get ready to go on the mat, and am amazed at their focus and determined look. I see no fear or worry in their faces, just a calm, focused stare in their eyes. I think about all this, and it almost scares me more, because I have none of that right now. Just nervous energy, butterflies in the stomach, and a good deal of self doubt mixed in for good measure. I am generally a pretty confident feller socially. However, my life has been filled with a lot of self-doubt. It is probably the reason I am 32 years old, with no wife and no children, and no real career path to speak of. All of these things I crave in my life. I look back at who I was, and how I was at 16, 18, and 21 years old, and I was filled with confidence about all of those things. But somewhere along the way, it all just went away. For the past 6 or so years, I've just been floating through life, apparently waiting for it to just pass me by daily. Suddenly, I was no longer in the game. Hell, I wasn't even on the team anymore. Well that all ends as of 9am tomorrow!! This run will not only benefit the Wounded Warrior Project, it will benefit my physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual well being. It has to. It must. I am going to take every opportunity that this experience gives me to change myself into the man I always knew I was meant to be. If I can finish this journey, I will undoubtably be a better son, brother, worker, and friend, and hopefully soon a good husband and father. This will absolutely be the defining moment in my life. I'll end this blog with the words of a song I have always lived by and will continue to work towards: "I wanna be the one, when all is said and done, who lived a good life, loved a good wife, always helped someone in trouble. On the day they lay me down, I want everyone to gather 'round, and say he was a father, brother, neighbor, and a friend. He was a good man." Wish me luck!!

Hello West Coast!!

Finally made it to Los Angeles!! Gonna get settled in for the night, then off to Long Beach tomorrow to find a hotel, and shop for first round of groceries. I'll update more tomorrow night before the day of the 1st run.

Colorado to Vegas!

View from the gate as we leave Arrowhead

Gorges along  I 70 in western Colorado

Utah

Bellagio fountains

Bellagio lobby

Hoover Dam

The Long, Long, Long road to California.

Hey everyone, sorry I haven't kept up with the blog until now. Preparations back at home were so hectic leading up to the run that I barely had time to update the facebook site. Hopefully, now that we are on the road and the prep work is over, I will have a much better chance to update the blog. We left from Spencer on Saturday, March 26th. Estimated time of departure (according to mom) was 10am. I was thinking much more like Noon. So, in true Miller family fashion, We pulled out of the driveway at 527 Church Street at a healthy 4:30 pm. The drive thru WV and Kentucky was nice, but as soon as Indiana was in our sights, the skys went dark. Then came the snow. Then came more snow. Luckily, this snow was briefly interrupted by snow. Being the self-proclaimed long drive expert that I am, I convinced mom to let me get us to Columbia, MO anyway, which was our original Saturday destination. That lasted until the Illinois border, where the intense snow turned into, massively intense, blinding, all-encompassing snow. We decided to call it a night at the first rest area in IL. The bed in the back of the van was very comfortable, so I'm very excited not to have to worry about sleeping arrangements on this journey. Yesterday was Sunday. I wanted to make up the lost time from Saturday, so we got on the road at 7:20am, sights set on Arrowhead, CO. It was a beautiful morning drive because the sun was out, and everything had a dusting of white snow. We drove hard through Kansas and into Colorado. Unfortunately, as the darkness came, so did the fog. Drove through thick fog all the way to Denver. Mom wanted to quit an hour before we even got to Denver, but my stubborness won. So we pushed on, to the Rocky Mountains. Apparently it snows in the Rockies. That John Denver's full of shit man (Dumb and Dumber movie reference, for those that don't know). We were finally forced off the road after 16 hours of driving, just 40 miles from our destination. We figured heck, we'll take it easy today. Just a short 40 mile drive and we can rest for the day. Well, 40 miles equals 2 hours in the Rockies, because with blinding snow, and covered roads, the speed limit drops to a slothful 20 mph. We have finally arrived at Arrowhead, and after unclenching my teeth, fists, and other unnamed body parts, I can finally relax long enough to sit down, enjoy the afternoon, and blog.

The Long Road Home-- August schedule

August
◄
     Aug.1
Georgetown, KY
Paris

     2
DAY OFF

     3
Paris
Route 537
Van Thompson Road

     4
Van Thompson Road
Route 60
Owingsville
Polksville
Salt Lick
Lakeview Hts

     .5
Lakeview Hts.
Morehead
Olive Hill

     6
Olive Hill
Counts  Crossroads
Grayson

     7
DAY OFF

     8
Grayson
Exit 191 WV I 64

     9
Pea Ridge
Hurricane
Teays Valley

     10
Teays Valley
Winfield
Confidence
Liberty
Kenna

     11
Kenna
HOME!

The Long Road Home-- July schedule

 

July
◄
The Long Road Home　
Honoring
Our
Troops
　
Andrew Miller’s run CA to WV

An event for the Wounded Warrior Project


◄ July1

Weaubleau, MO

       2

Weaubleau
Wheatland
Hermitage
Preston

      3

DAY OFF

      4

Preston
Mack’s Creek

INDEPENDENCE DAY

　   5

Mack’s Creek
Camdenton
Linn Creek
Osage Beach

      6

Osage Beach
Kaiser
Brumley
Iberia

      7

Iberia
Vienna

      8

DAY OFF

      9

Vienna
Vichy
Junction Hwy H

     10

Highway H/68
Saint James
Steelville

     11

Steelville
Plus 20 miles

     12

Petosi

     13

DAY OFF

     14

Saint Joe State Park
Farmington
Perryville

     15

Parker Lake
Silver Lake
Perryville
McBride
Chester, IL

     16

Chester, IL
Rockwood
Glenn
Grimsby

     17

Lake Murphysboro State Park
Carbondale
Carterville

     18

DAY OFF

     19

Benton
Route 14
Macedonia
McCleansboro

     20

Enfield
Carmi

     21

Carmi
Route 1/14
Crossville
New Harmony, IN

     22

New Harmonie State Park, IN
Poseyville
Cynthiana
Haubstadt

     23

DAY OFF

    24

Haubstadt
Wheatonville
Lynnville

     25

Route 62
Dale
Saint Meinrad

Happy Birthday Garlan!

     26

St. Meinrad
St.Croix
West Fork
Sulphur

     27

Sulphur
Leavenworth
Corydon

     28

DAY OFF

     29

Doe Valley CC, KY
Shepherdsville
Mt.Washington
State Hwy 1169

     30

Shelbyville, KY
Route 60
Peytona
Bridgeport
Frankfort, Route 460

     31

Frankfort, Route 460
White Sulphur
Georgetown

The Long Road Home--June

June

 

May ◄	~ June 2011 ~					July ►
Sun	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat
The Long Road Home	Honoring Our Troops Run from CA to WV	The Wounded Warrior Project	1 Middle Water, TX Dalhart	2 Dalhart Conlen Stratford	3 DAY OFF woundedwarrior project.org (events; get involved)	4 Stratford Texhoma
5 Texhoma Goodwell, OK Guymon	6 Guymon, OK Hooker	7 Hooker Tyrone Liberal, KS	8 DAY OFF dmrun.blogspot. com email: dmrun2hot @gmail.com	9 Liberal, KS Kismet	10 Meade Minneola	11 Minneola Bloom Kingsdown Bucklin
12 Bucklin Greensburg	13 DAY OFF woundedwarrior project.org (events; get involved)	14 Greensburg Haviland Wellsford Cullison	15 Cullison Pratt Cairo	16 Cairo Cunningham Kingman	17 Kingman	18 DAY OFF dmrun.blogspot. com email: dmrun2hot @gmail.com
19 Cheney State Park McConnell Air Force Base	20 McConnell Air Force Base El Dorado	21 El Dorado Rosalia Reece	22 Reece Eureka Neal Toronto Route 105	23 DAY OFF woundedwarrior project.org (events; get involved)	24 N. Toronto Yates Center	25 Piqua Iola Gas La Harpe
26 La Harpe Moran Bronson Uniontown	27 Uniontown Red Field Fort Scott Missouri border	28 DAY OFF dmrun.blogspot. com email: dmrun2hot @gmail.com	29 Nevada, MO	30 East Nevada El Dorado Springs Junction routes 54 and 39	Notes: The Long Road Home Andrew Miller Honoring Our Troops

The Long Road Home -- May calendar

~ May 2011 ~					June ►
Sun	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat
1 Globe, AZ Route 60/77	2 Globe plus 20 miles to plus 40	3 Globe plus 40 mi. Carrizo	4 woundedwarrior project.org (events: get involved) DAY OFF	5 Carrizo Show Low	6 Show Low Vernon	7 Vernon Springerville Eagar
8 Eagar Red Hill, NM	9 DAY OFF dmrun.blogspot.com email: com dmrun2hot@gmail.	10 Red Hill, NM Quernado	11 Quernado Omega Pie Town	12 Pie Town Datil	13 Datil Montosa RV Park	14 DAY OFF woundedwarriorproject.org (events: get involved)
15 Montosa RV Park Magdalena	16 Magdalena Socorro	17 Bearnardo plus 20 mi.	18 Bearnado plus 20 Mountainair	19 DAY OFF dmrun.blogspot.com email: com dmrun2hot@gmail.	20 Mountainair Willard	21 Willard Encino 　 　 　 ARMED FORCES DAY
22 Encino Vaughn	23 Vaughn Route 54 Pastura	24 DAY OFF woundedwarriorproject.org (events: get involved)	25 Pastura Santa Rosa	26 Santa Rosa Cuervo	27 Newkirk Tucumcari	28 Tucumcari Plus 17 miles
29 DAY OFF dmrun.blogspot. com email: dmrun2hot@ gmail.com	30 Logan Nara Visa 　 　 　 MEMORIAL DAY	31 Nara Visa Romero, TX	Notes: The Long Road Home Andrew Miller runs from CA to WV—an event for The Wounded Warrior Project Honoring Our

The Long Road Home -- April calendar

April 2011

 

◄ Mar 2011	~ April 2011 ~					May 2011 ►
Sun	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat
The Long	Road Home	Andrew Miller Runs From California to West Virginia	An event for the Wounded Warrior Project	Honoring Our Troops	1 Long Beach, CA Naval Weapons Station Seal Beach Westminster Garden Grove	2 Garden Grove Orange Anaheim
3 Anaheim Corona Home Gardens Woodcrest Orangecrest March Air Reserve Base	4 March Air Base Moreno Valley Beaumont Banning	5 dmrun.blogspot.com email: dmrun2hot@gmail.com DAY OFF	6 Banning Cabazon Morongo Valley	7 Morongo Valley Yucca Valley Joshua Tree Twentynine Palms	8 Twentynine Palms plus 20 miles	9 Twentynine Palms plus 20 to plus 40
10 DAY OFF woundedwarriorproject.org (events; get involved)	11 Route 62 to junction Route 177	12 Route 62/177 Rice	13 Rice Vidal Junction	14 Vidal Junction Parker, AZ Route 95	15 DAY OFF dmrun.blogspot.com email: dmrun2hot@gmail.com	16 Parker, AZ Bouse Route 72
17 Bouse Hope	18 Hope Salome Wenden Route 60	19 DAY OFF woundedwarriorproject.org (events; get involved)	20 Wenden Route 60 toward Wickenburg	21 Wickenburg Morristown	22 Morristown Route 74 Lake Pleasant 　 GOOD FRIDAY	23 Lake Pleasant Boulders
24 DAY OFF 　 　 　 EASTER SUNDAY	25 Boulder Scottsdale	26 Mesa Apache Junction	27 Apache Junction Queen Valley	28 Superior Top of the World	29 DAY OFF dmrun.blogspot.com email: dmrun2hot@gmail.com	30 Top of the World Miami Claypool Globe