Greetings oh earthlings, my name is Aliro!

Well, I don't know what to say, I think I should start at the beginning. Though which beginning I'm not quite sure. So strap yourself in for the introduction!

Duane and I first met in high school. I can't recall exactly where, when or how we met, but due to our common interests we became friends. We mostly hung out my senior year at Creekside with another friend, Preston. Then after I graduated we kept in touch until I moved to Eureka.

Anyone who knows me, knows I'm notoriously bad at remembering e-mails, phone numbers and web pages, so we lost contact. Then managed to find eachother again on MySpace. Even then, with the exception of going to see My Chemical Romance in 2006, we didn't talk much.

But then, in the summer of 2008, calamity struck. I'd gone to a concert in San Francisco and come home with severe abdominal pains. It turned out to be an endometrial tumor roughly the size of a basketball and weighing 15 pounds. It was excised along with my right ovary and half my left. I'd been trying to tell people for years how badly I hurt, and until that happened they thougth I was just exaggerating (it's true, ask my mother).

As I convalesced and my fair weather friends disappeared on me, I started to think. I missed going out and hanging out with my friends. But, I was house bound. So I looked to the internet to keep me company.

Around the time of my second surgery in November (it was to laser off all the scar tissue and gunk from the last surgery) I got back into contact with Duane. We talked as often as either of us were available. He had to work and go to school, and I was just exhausted in general, but in January of this year was when Duane told me about his idea.

He told me he wanted to road trip on Route 66 during the summer. But as these things are often boring on your own (I know as I travelled extensively in 2007) he asked if I might like to come along.

At first I wasn't sure. I might need another surger in March and I'm not working at the moment. But then I went to dinner at the local Moose Lodge with my family. We were going to celebrate my mother's birthday which had been the day before.

As we were eating, I mentioned the idea to my grandmother, when she asked me what I wanted for my birthday. She smiled and said, "I think that's a great idea. You seem to be happiest when you're on the road." I realized that she was right. Some of my best memories were of trips I'd taken to see various concerts (as not many musicians schedule tour stops in Eureka).

So I called Duane and said 'yes'. Then I asked if it would be possible to do video blogs while we were travelling, and the Roadtrip Warriors were born.

Currently we're plotting our course through the country, and listing places and things we want to see. We're also planning segments for the website, so stay tuned and we'll have more up to show you soon!

Good fortune, and good journey,

Aliro.

PS. Any questions or comments can be forwarded to my e-mail or Duane's, and we'll get back to you soon as possible. We'd really like to hear some suggestions of out of the way places or odd things to see while we're driving cross country, so don't be shy!