On our way to Washington State

We’re finally on our way to the starting point for our transcontinental bike trip.  Rich, his wife Linda and I loaded up their SUV, stacked our bikes on the rear bike rack and left Phoenix on Friday morning.  We drove to Patterson, CA where we played two rounds of golf on Saturday. This morning we drove another 650 miles to Salem, Oregon, where we’re spending the night. The expected boredom of some 18 hours of driving has been easily banished by such things as breakfasts at IHOP, playing “Name That Tune” with the satellite radio, enjoying the awesome scenery of northern California and Oregon and trying to come to terms with the fact that we’re really about to spend three months on bicycles.

Our state of preparedness continuously comes into question as we encounter cold and rainy conditions on the drive, prompting many discussions on whether we have the right clothing and rain gear in our panniers. In a bit of irony belying the amazing amount of detail we’ve put in our “baseline reference plan,” we have yet to decide whether we’ll start the trip by going clockwise or counterclockwise around the Olympic National Park area in Washington.  Not to worry, we’ll be ready.

Unfortunately, my camera is in my handlebar bag, which is buried at the bottom of all the gear we have stuffed into Rich’s SUV.  So I have no pictures to share yet. Try going to Rich’s blog if you want to see a few pics.