NOTE: Pictures are in no specific order.  Still learning.

Began three hours early to avoid rain.  Failed to avoid driving through clouds, but not too bad. Had apple pie in Julian. All journeys should begin with apple pie. Then rainbow in mirror! Strong winds. Became hot. Met an old cyclist pedaling to Florida: caused me to reflect that there are degrees of insanity. North Algodones Dunes Wilderness, Museum of History in Granite in Felicity, Yuma Territorial Penitentiary tour. Then STRONG WINDS. Gale force, with blowing sand. Erected tent on concrete walkway on the leeward side of the campsite’s showers. Sand is in everything. I mentally prepared for cold (layers of warmth) and rain (hotel). Didn’t think of wind and sand.

Yuma Territorial Prison. The Yuma High School team name is “Criminals”. (1914)

A piece of the original spiral staircase of the Eiffel Tower

The more things change. . .

Washed and ready!  Got the GoPro, Spot Tracker and solar charger mounted.  I’ve installed a skid plate, fog lights with shields, headlight shields and front cover to protect the investment.  I even have some unused space in the trunks.

Sunday, March 6th is it.  Rain is forecast, but not much.  It’ll be wet/cold in Julian, but dry in Yuma.  Arizona looks to be hot next week.

My test drive to Santa Barbara was useful, but caused a few extra trips to REI.  I’ve given up on the hope that I can depart with a completely empty bag on top of the trunk, but it’ll still be empty enough to pack my MC jacket for extended walks about towns.  Theft is a concern, but not a big one.

I received the 2016 edition of “The Milepost”, an absolutely exhaustive tome about traveling towards Alaska through Canada.  Over 700 pages.  I’ve begun to rip out pages that don’t apply to my intended route.

I am 95% packed.  I’ve hopefully gone to REI for the last time.  Really, the only things left to sort out are the electronics and their paraphernalia.  I’ve spent a lot of time deciding whether to wear a headset that lets me use my iPhone or one that connects to the bike’s navigational system and Sirius Radio.  My final decision was to use neither.  But there are a mess of cables I must take with me, which take up space and require some form of organization.

I’ll be leaving the house with a new kitchen with new microwave, refrigerator, and dishwasher.  The house’s outside is being painted as I write.  I have a cover for my car, so Yoriko’s SUV can sit in the garage.  She should be pleased.

I’m a week away from beginning my Motorcycle Adventure.  (Assuming the kitchen remodel is completed, which looks very likely.)

To recap: I have seven legs in mind:

• Home to Key West, FL;
• To Fairbanks, AK;
• To Seattle, WA;
• To Prince Edward Island, Canada (Perhaps Newfoundland);
• To Glasgow, Scotland (Explanation below);
• To Apex, NC;
• To Home

My VERY tentative completion date is in August, though I may fly home a few times along the way.  I’m reserving the right to adjust or cease the Adventure at anytime.  I have completed a detailed itinerary for only the first leg.  This is emphatically not a race to the finish line.  The goal is to camp five out of seven nights, focusing on natural wonders, not cities.

In early July I’ll fly to England and, at the least, spend 8 days walking across Scotland with my sister Connie.  It’s certainly the first item I placed on my bucket list (1973).  This probably preceded the concept of a bucket list, but I clearly remember the time and place when I thought “I have got to go there!!”

My estimated Go Date is now Friday, March 4th.  I’ve delayed the date due to a discovery that it doesn’t warm up in Canada as soon as I assumed.  Nighttime temperatures average below 32 degrees until late April.  I’m not eager to wake up in a sub freezing environment. I’d also like it to be above 40 when I start riding at 8 AM.

In spite of this delay I’ll still be able to attend a Spurs game and two Spring Training baseball games in  Florida.  It may cause the back end of the trip to be hotter than I’d like, but I’ve been planning to follow a northerly route towards home, so it shouldn’t be too bad.

There is also a possibility that I’ll interrupt the trip in July to fly to Scotland and walk across the country.  It’s long been a bucket list item and my sister has expressed a similar interest.  I’m waiting for her availability before setting dates.

(I have 8 things that will need to be charged!!  I haven’t yet bought a solar charger, but I am considering one.)

Today I found places to stay on the trip, though I can’t make reservations yet.  Our kitchen is on the pathway to remodeling and its progress may impact my Go date. I’m almost sure it won’t, but I don’t want to risk it.

Amazingly I initially made a SWAG for hotel/camp costs at $50 per night.  My much more accurate estimate is $47.  I also planned to stay in hotels 2 out of 7 nights.  Excluding two nights at a timeshare, that is exactly the ratio I’m looking at based on campsite availability.  I’m impressed.

Okay.  Feb 20th, or thereabouts, I will depart on an open-ended adventure.  The end of the first leg will be Key West, Florida.  I have a sketch of an idea to follow this up with legs to Alaska, Nova Scotia, then home.  The trip will be done slowly, with each day having one or more “destinations”.  My goal is to see things along the way.  From past experience it is sometimes difficult to stop and look while tooling along the road on a bike.  It’s the primary challenge of this adventure.

I am prepared to have this adventure take five months.  Interest and funding will be the two limiting factors.