3 months on the road from Boston MA to Seaside OR. Two sisters tackle 3,400+ miles.
Overall, we got kudos from just about everyone on our setup. We were lighter than anyone that we met, and bike shop staff told us that we were lighter than anyone that they had seen as well. There are definitely lighter setups out there, but these had sacrifices that we were not prepared to make.
Read MoreIt's cold. Really too cold to be hanging out at our streamside campsite for any longer than we must.
The overnight low was in the 40s, so not terrible, but its not much warmer when we crawl out of the tent at 6am in the morning...
Read MoreI wake up partially, with cold feet. Hmmm, they're wet.
I put a hand down on the tent floor to hold up my weight so that I can shift on my narrow sleeping pad. Splash. Water.
Read MoreTarget for today: see the headwaters of the Mississippi (in Itasca State Park where we are currently camped), then head to the town of Callaway, where the city offers free camping in their local park.
Read MoreThe 'official' Adventure Cycling Association "Northern Tier" route goes through Osceola, Wisconsin before crossing the border to Minnesota. However, we need to reach a bike shop to deal with Heather's broken spoke and rear derailleur adjustment...
Read MoreWe didn't get much sleep. In addition to being a little cold, my bike lock alarm starts malfunctioning, which means that there's a 110dB alarm going off intermittently next to our tent. ...
Read MoreWake up to a pitter patter on the tent. Rain!!
Now I'm fully awake. I sit up. 5.45 am.
"Get up, gotta pack." I'm thinking: get the tent down before it starts really raining. ...
Read MoreOur target today: get to the bike shop in Hayward to get Heather's front wheel trued. There's a very popular (and expensive!) KOA near Hayward which we'll stay at if we can't find anything else.
Read MoreAfter the long hard day yesterday we needed something shorter today. This was reinforced also by not getting out of camp until noon.
Read MoreSo, we didn't get out of the Escanaba Upper Peninsula state fair campgrounds until 10.45. We didn't exactly have a great start for a big day.
And I should mention that our experience thus far is that the winds tend to pick up in the afternoon.
You have the setup now.
Read MoreThis is the day following our epic evening in Yale (see July 7 post) so by the time we've left, its mid-day, and we've even eaten a partial lunch on the porch of the Yale hotel already.
Read More... today we entered A Magical Place: the Yale Hotel. This is a place with real people, crossing ages and social strata, held together by the gifted Yale Hotel bartender Tim and the owner, Shelley, and behind the scenes talents of the chef Angel. ...
Read MoreI'm going to try something different this time and tell today's epic story in pictures.
Read MoreWe woke early to lots of bird activity in port Stanley, and took advantage of that to get an early start today. There was still time to go sit on a rock and watch the sun rise and the bird activity with coffee in hand.
Read MoreStrangely enough, our destination today is the furthest south that we will be since we left Massachusetts, and the furthest south for the rest of the trip ..
Read MoreSomething wakes me up in the night. I hear a snuffling and scratching noise right by my head. I start and say "hey!" and can hear something of moderate size scramble away.
Read MoreThe day starts off at the hotel. We eat breakfast while packing up, decide if we want to go back across to the U.S. to drop off acquired ice wine rather than carry it for 4-5 more days (no), cram bikes and us into crowded elevator (none of the other guests even blinked at this), check out, find route out of town.
Read MoreNo packing. No decisions as to where to stay tonight. Plans for day already made.
You may have figured out that we arrived in Ontario in time to join in on Canada's birthday celebrations - it's Canada Day!
Read MoreEarly rise, head straight to the falls ON FOOT, almost no one is up, the parking lot is completely empty. Heather is still asleep, so I'm on my own.
Read More
