Full updates coming later. Just a quick post from our cruise.

Our first day out of New Lisbon. Exciting. Nervous. Wet. Irritated. That about sums it up.

Every great adventure has a first day. You look forward to it with excited anticipation. You think about it as you drift to sleep for months prior. You want it to go perfectly, and you have it planned out in agonizing detail. You step out the door, and it all falls apart. This is what makes it an adventure.

Here is my list; I am finally done packing (about 50 pounds, not counting water). With the trike and the rider, we are talking 275 pounds to haul..... maybe i can leave a pair of socks behind.

I could live without a lot of this. Some is going to get sent home at the first handy post office.....that is how it always goes.

If you have never taken a trip like this, then you have no idea how hard it is to pack. I just spent 30 minutes deciding which shirts to pack. Once you leave the front door, you can't change....you are stuck with your choices through thick and thin.

I even put 3 shirts in 3 stuff-sacks and had Laura pick one blindly based upon weight and compression. Sure enough, she picked the one I don't like wearing. But I don't have room for the others. Here are all the things to consider when packing a single warm shirt to wear.

This list is in order of importance to me.....notice Warmth is last and the entire point is to bring a warm shirt. Style didn't make the list....

Volume
Weight
Quick Drying
Easy cleaning
Pockets (zippered or not)
Warmth

I added pictures and info to day 38 of the NT trip. Sorry for the delay.

Man, it doesn't seem like we missed that many days on the trip, but adding them later reminds me. There were many stretches where we were too tired to stay up late posting, and many stretches without Internet access.

http://benthub.com/node/880

I added pics and more info to day 37. This is the day we entered Idaho and discovered that sour cream pie was good. Well, I liked it.

http://benthub.com/node/879

I added pictures and more information to day 33 and day 34 post. Sorry for the delay on the final day, day 52, it has been tough to post during the car ride. Coverage is tough in the mountains.

Day 33 http://benthub.com/node/843
Day 34 http://benthub.com/node/844
Day 52 http://benthub.com/node/996

We are pushing hard to get home so I can be to work on Monday. Construction and traffic jams and accidents are not helping.

We left the Olympic Suites early, after a quick breakfast of oatmeal. Well, Rog didn't eat oatmeal. Nobody knows what Rog eats.

We left Dee behind, because the map showed an 18 mile ride to the ocean. Dee was giving us a head start then meeting us at the beach.

Pictures to be added later. I will have some time during the drive home, and will add them. Check back later.

We left our hotel after a carb only breakfast, and headed out on our last full day of touring. We had a room booked already in Forks, which is usually a bad idea in the world of unpredictable unsupported bicycle touring. We are out of time however.....it is now or never. I have to head back to work soon. Time is up! One last push.

When we went to bed in our hotel, I joked that I hoped Racoons didn't get my food for the second night in a row. Well, we were awaken by a critter trying to claw its way through the cieling at 6am. I thought it was Roger stealing my food again.

We met with a high school friend of mine for breakfast. Kevin Sink, Laura and I graduated high school together. It was great seeing him again. It is always amazing to find out how life turned out for those you grew up with, and even better when life seems to have treated them well. Thanks for the visit Kevin!

Kevin and his dad used to go on bike tours together, and I have to think his biking stories influenced me in a positive way when we were young.