I’m on my 7am flight to Seattle and realize there is no turning back now. Well, maybe that isn’t really accurate because in reality, the first thing I am going to do is turn around and head East. But my adventure has begun.

I have been trying to identify the emotions I am feeling, and it is hard to describe. yesterday I told Sue that I feel like I felt 32 years ago when I headed to Freshmen year in college. You spend years preparing for something that you have no idea what it will be like. You are anxious of whether you will succeed and you can’t wait for it to get going. Everyone is wishing you well and asking you the same repetitive questions. You have spent months buying items you think you will need and you hope you remember to pack the right ones. Bottom line…..you are as ready as you ever will be, and if you are not fully prepared, well you will find a way to make it work!

I did have one “interesting” experience on the plane. I have been saving some of my recent fascinating insurance periodicals to read on this flight. And typically, as I read, I rip out articles that I want to share with people in my office. But as I started to tear out the first piece, I realized, what am I going to do with the paper? I am sure not going to carry it around for two months! So I guess I will just have to remember what I read and share it with my team when I return. I know they will be losing a lot of sleep waiting in anticipation for this information!

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After 4 forms of transportation I have made it to my starting pt.

The route I am taking is called the Northern Tier and it starts in Anacortes WA. This is supposed to be the western most part of the lower 48 in the northern part of the country. Three months ago I googled bike shops in Anacortes and found Skagit Cycle. When I explained to the women on the phone that I was wondering if I could ship my bike to their shop because I was going to attempt to cycle the Northern Tier, her response was ” what do you mean ATTEMPT it, you are going to do it!” I proceeded to spend the next 30 min getting a motivational speech from Bernie and a couple of good pointers. It turns out that I had lucked into the unofficial bike shop for Northern Tier cyclists. They get about 50 requests a year for people heading east in June and July. And in Aug and Sept they pack up bikes to ship home for cyclists that started in Bar Harbor Maine and finish in WA. Here I am with my bike reassembled