Plucky Survivors See America 2010: January 31, 2010

From Merry Maladies, the email journals Mary wrote about her journey with breast cancer.

January 31 2010

So what do you do when the news is not so good?  Well, we could just sit around and mope and there certainly has been some of that, we won’t lie.

But here’s the deal… all we have is the space between now and then, whenever “then” is.  And true Plucky Survivors can’t sit around wasting that space because there are too many oddities to see, too much good stuff to eat, and too many fluffy beds to soothe our aching bodies.  In short, the open road is calling and so we proudly announce…

Plucky Survivors 4.5: One For My Plucky and (At Least) One More For the Road

Starting in just a few days, our first ever Plucky Mini will traverse several hundred miles over three days around the southern California area from the heart of Hollywood to the high desert to sunny Palm Springs and back again as we see some of the local wonders we have never had an opportunity to experience (or at least not fully experience).

We start on Friday, February 5th at a local attraction that some people may deem in poor taste considering the circumstances.  We would suggest that those people really don’t know us very well or, at the very least, haven’t been paying attention to the last four road trips.  What is it?  The Museum of Death, of course!  Filled with spectacular gruesomeness including serial killer artwork, a coffin collection, and full size execution devices and more, this fits squarely into our pantheon of grim reaperesque Plucky stops including the Museum of Funeral Customs, the death-themed miniature golf course in the basement of a funeral home, and the numerous cemeteries on all four previous trips.

After that we will meet up with friend and fellow Plucky Survivor Arlene for dinner and entertainment at the famous Magic Castle in Hollywood.  Then it’s off to hopefully replicate our very high comfort level from last year’s Philadelphia stop with a night at the Los Angeles Sofitel.  We still dream about those beds so we are hoping the LA version is just as divine.

Saturday, February 6th is as classic Plucky Survivors day dedicated to the offbeat.  We start in Pasadena at Bunny Museum (rabbits, not playmates), then up to Hesperia for the Banana Museum, a few miles to Victorville for California Route 66 Museum, through 29 Palms and Joshua Tree for one or two of their local attractions (it’ll be a surprise), and then on to the Palm Springs area for a night at the fabulous Desert Springs, a JW Marriott resort and spa in Palm Desert.

On Sunday, February 7th, we were planning a presidential history day but that has changed now that the Saints, from Mary’s beloved New Orleans, have made it into the Super Bowl.  We will still have time to do the Richard Nixon Library but then it’ll be back to Mary’s house where a bunch of friends will be gathering to watch the big game.

Afterward, it’ll be our biggest group of Plucky Passengers yet as we all caravan to Griffith Park Observatory to look at the heavens.

We’re not saying this will be our last Plucky Adventure – note the defiant “at least” part of the title of this trip – but we’re definitely going to make sure it’s a good one.

We’ll be posting updates and photos from the road on this page, so stay tuned.  We’ll see you in a few days!