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More Preparations

Hank: We spent much of the morning at the clinic on Fairchild AFB getting checked out. Everything looks good but we both had to get a shingles vaccination. The second shot can be had any time after June 26. We’ll take care of that when we’re near another military installation. Kathy loaded her panniers with clothing, etc., today and we took a short evening ride. I removed a few items from my bags but had to add a few more, including strapping my ukulele to the back. The bike still weighs in at 107 pounds. As a friend we ran into said this evening, Kathy and I are going to be so strong. Probably, but I bet we’ll be short a few items, too.

Kathy:  It looks like we are going to be heavier than we planned.  We were hoping that I maxed out at 70 pounds and Hank maxed out at 90 pounds.  That is not going to happen, Hank will probably be at 110 pounds and me at 90 pounds.  My bike (Sadie) weighs 42 pounds without any bags attached.  Once I packed the bags and loaded up, my current total weight is 83 pounds.  The only thing we still need to add to our bikes are a few snack items.  It is tough to pack up for 16 months and keep the weight down.  There is so much we need to take  such as camping gear, food/utensils, bike repair and maintenance items, on-bike and off-bike clothes, warm clothing items, personal products, medical supplies, and a few electronics.  With all of the needed items it leaves very little room for any nice to have items.  We both picked one “luxury” item, Hank chose his ukulele and I picked my jean jacket.  That jacket may weigh a bit, but I’m gonna be warm and look good it it! 😉

A couple of notes…

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Breakfast and a free paper.
Ready to roll.
The license plates make sure we don't get our bikes mixed up.
Short break.
Finishing up Fish Lake Trail.
Cheney-Spokane Road.
Adopted dogs for a day.
Mike and Patty Gaines.

A Great Day To Begin Our Adventure

Hank – I woke up this morning to a bright, sunny day. When I opened the blinds I saw a newspaper sitting on my sidewalk. I don’t subscribe so I don’t know why it showed up, but it sure was nice to have a paper to read during breakfast. Kathy and I spent the morning with Steph, which was great because with her working nights we haven’t seen much of her lately. I repacked by panniers, removing a few items but not enough to make a huge different in the weight. The bags weigh a total of 58 pounds. The bike, toolkit and water in the frame bag, the tent, the collapsible chair, and the ukulele come to 53 pounds. That’s 111 total.
We didn’t leave the house until 3:00pm because our first day is a short day–only about 15 miles to our friends house near Cheney. I must admit there was some trepidation on my part. This will be a huge lifestyle change for us. But I told Kathy we just need to focus on one day at a time. Otherwise we’ll feel so overwhelmed.
Saying goodbye to Step, we cut through West Central, crossed the Monroe Street Bridge and headed to Browne’s Addition. From there we took the Fish Lake Trail and then Cheney-Spokane Road to Spotted Road. We were treated to a great pasta dinner and the fine company of Mike and Patty Gaines whom we’ve known for over 20 years.
My brother-in-law, Gunnar, told us we were so close. All we needed was a Burley trailer carrying a dog to guarantee a best selling book about our adventure. Not being very keen on that, I thought we could adopt a dog for a day everywhere we could and post a picture of them. Today we feature Duchess and Brandy.
Tomorrow we tour Turnbull National Wildlife Refuge and then move on to Rosalia. So far we have overnight arrangements set up for the next four nights at city parks, Warmshowers hosts, and maybe one hotel night.

Kathy – It was simply wonderful to spend the morning with Steph. I miss her already, but know she will do fantastic while we are away. It was a bit harder than I thought leaving Spokane and realizing we will be on our bikes for the next 16 months touring the U.S. Our ride out to Cheney, Wa. was relatively easy and only 18 miles. I thought I would be very excited for our adventures to begin and was surprised to see myself a bit tearful and overwhelmed with thoughts about the trip. I will be fine, just an adjustment in lifestyles. My bike weighs 95 pounds (50 pounds is the bike itself and the water bottles). It is really difficult to go from having everything you ever wanted or needed at your fingertips to limiting all your possessions for the next 16 months into 4 pannier bags while trying to keep the weight down. For now we will ride on and maybe drop a bit more weight from the bags as we learn to live with much less than we are used to. Day 1 done! Overall it was a good day, I am thankful for Hank’s support and our wonderful friends Patty & Mike. <3

A couple of notes…

  1. If you would like to comment on a blog post, please click on the post title (or header), scroll to the bottom and you will then see the comments section where you can add your thoughts. We look forward to your comment and encouraging words. Thank you!
  2. If you would like to “follow” our blog, please go to the “Home” page and look in the bottom right corner where you will see a “+Follow” link. Just enter your email address there (only we can see it). Then, anytime we write a new blog post you will automatically get an email letting you know so you can read it at your leisure.