On the Road

60% chance of showers - thundershowers at the destination.

-the odds were against us
-with that forecast, 6 out of 10 days will rain, or perhaps 6 out of 10 hours?

And the forecast had gotten steadily worse as I had watched it over the past week or so. OK, who am I trying to fool? I had been watching it from the minute it showed up on the ten day forecast. I sort of thought about fins & goggles. I did more than think about rain gear. When we headed out this morning, we had waterproof jackets and hoods and pants and plastic bags for our feet and all our lttle stuff in zip-loc bags. And it didn't rain a single drop all day!



It was a perfect day. We saw good birds, beautiful views, baylands, rivers, little waterfalls. We hardly ever had to shift out of the big rings, but there was nothing dull about the route. We saw a bald eagle and a coyote. We met lots of very friendly people, many of them at the nice little cafe where we had lunch in Sedro Woolley.

And I had my first chance to tell someone how far we plan to ride. We had stopped at a gas station for a snack & a weathered looking guy in a uniform with a broom in his hand asked how far I was going. Connecticut, I said. Mind you, I was all of 20 miles into the 4000 we plan to cover; it still sounds pretty huge to me. He took a minute to look the bike over. Stayin' in motels? he asked. We'd left Aline all our stuff, so we were traveling a bit too light for cross-country campers. Yes, motels, I confirmed. He thought a bit more. Why'd you want to ride a bike that far?!

I hope we never decide he was the smarter one. Based on today, I can't imagine ever feeling that way.