Worries

1) Snow. There's still a lot of snow on Highway 20, where we are supposed to spend our first week. A lot. They are hoping to be able to open it by Memorial Day weekend, and we are hoping to be able to ride it a few days later.

2) A lot of riding days in a row, early in the trip. Assuming that we can get going at all (see #1).

3) Snow. Cold.

4) Do I have the right shorts? I should know by now, but things seem to be changing. I've just ordered a couple of pairs with minimal chamois. I used to like the really cushy ones.

5) Snow. There's a place we're scheduled to pass in mid-June that AVERAGES 6" of snow in June. Of course, the guy there says it shouldn't be a problem, but he chooses to live in a place that regularly has 6" of snow in June. He probably thinks that's a warm month.

6) Reservations. We've made most of them, but there are a couple of big questions. There's a town in North Dakota with two motels. One is full. The other sees no reason to make reservations so far in advance. They're reserving all the way out to the first week of June right now. They think we could just go on to the next town. Yeah, if we were in a car, the extra 60 miles would be nothing.

7) See 1, 3 & 5.

8) Food. We are so spoiled by the variety available in a coastal urban area like San Francisco. Fresh? No problem. Seafood? Beef? Chicken? Vegan? Vegetarian? Chinese (of any region)? Mexican? Vietnamese? Tapas? Korean? French? Italian? Organic? Cheese? All the variations are out there. We'll sometimes be traveling a lot of miles to find any food at all, and when we arrive, we may have to settle for the convenience store. We'll always carry peanut butter.

9) Maybe I should let go of the cold thing & worry about heat & humidity. I'm reading an account of a very similar ride that happened just a few years ago. It was over 100 for days on end.

10) The biggest one - missing my family, especially the grandchildren who are changing so fast!