Friday, June 11, 2021

Day 0 - Its Finally Here

 Day 0

After years of dreaming and months of planning the time has come to clip into the pedals and start the ride of a lifetime across the country.  The route we plan to take is the northern part of the US. There are a variety of reasons why I picked this route, the biggest is it is shorter than most.  At my age, length doesn't matter.  We will start at Fort Stevens State Park, through Portland, up the Gorge to Missoula, a stop at Mt Rushmore, over to Minneapolis, down to Chicago, along Lake Erie to Niagara Falls then over to Portland ME.  When I describe it like that is doesn't seem so bad, but when I consider 3659 miles and over 280 hours in that the little leather thing they call a saddle, I get nervous.  My butt is more nervous than anything.   

There was a lot of planning that went into this that I know will go out the window after the first day but that's OK, its all about the "experience" I keep telling myself.  There is a detailed day by day schedule listed here.  It shows the towns and distance per day.  I am very fortunate to have a few people who I caught in weak moments and convinced them to join me for portions of the ride.  As you can see, there are many open spots available so if you have the burning desire to catch a flight to Ortley South Dakota, I would love to have you join us!  We'll cover all expenses once you get there.  Think of it as an all inclusive resort on wheels.  

Where would you sleep you might ask?  Well that is a story onto itself.  As most of you know, Cheryl and I are avid RVs and when we returned from our European experience (see below in previous posts) we purchased a new RV.  It is our dream RV.  A diesel pusher with slides and the whole deal.  When we started planning this new adventure we decided to downsize.  One reason is maneuverability in cities and  the other, more important reason is that Cheryl has PTSD from a previous trip (Final SF Leg) and since I am too big of a wimp to do this ride I my own and I can't imagine being away from Cheryl for 90 days, I agreed to get a 24 foot class C with no slides (yes NO SLIDES).  It will be cozy.  So, if you want to join us, there is a comfy bed over the cab just waiting for you!

There is so much background to over and we can cover that in the coming days.  Heaven knows I'll have the time as I sit each night in an ice bath recovering from the days ride.  So let's get up to date....

Last night, we had the family over for the final send off with Ranch Pizza (our favorite) salad and of course beers and wine.  We needed to clear the fridge so we drank all the stuff in the back that nobody wanted but hey, I'm not one to waste beer!

The kids gave us 7 packages.  One to open after completing a certain stage of the route (250, 500, 1000, 2000, 3000 and 4000).  Those numbers look awfully big but it will be fun to have something to look forward to as we approach the milestones other than the ice bath.  

We had a wonderful night.  As much as we are looking forward to this trip and the memories we will create, I am going to miss the family terribly.  They are an amazing bunch and we love them tons.  Thank goodness for technology because seeing them is one zoom call I will actually look forward to. 
 

So much more to say and fill you in on, but I have not even finished packing yet and we leave in a few hours!  Of course that's no surprise but still I need to get moving.  As I mentioned, I'll have time along the way to catch you up.  So until then......

 

2 comments:

  1. Wow, you are already done with the second longest ride of the trip. Way to go! I was surprised to see that Greg is not wearing his "Go Devs" shirt. What's up with that? JVB

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  2. Hey John! Of course Deavs made the trip! Greg wore it on the first day.

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