Here we go

This will be short(er than usual. I think.). We’re pulling away from Chicago sometime in the next hour or so. We’re not the best with early starts, so we’re waiting out the early-morning rush hour and soon heading to I-80 for the LONG drive to San Francisco.

We loaded the car last night ..

I can say, with some surprise, that all of this — and MORE — fits into a 2012 Nissan Altima. Who knew?

Melody will post more pics today, which I’m sure will end up on various social media channels, including her instagram page.

I’ll load up my NEW bike (well, new frame anyway — a good picture of the broken frame is below) … If you read previous entries, you’ll understand. But the new frame was great, took it out for a long ride on Sunday and it’s tip-top. So good to go.

We’ve got about 32 hours of driving until we reach San Francisco, where Melody is screening “The Summer Help” on Saturday and Sunday (send your SF friends!).

So, Nebraska tonight. Salt Lake City, perhaps, on Wednesday. Lake Tahoe, maybe, on Thursday. And San Fran on Friday. We spend the weekend there and head up to Oregon. The bike ride starts Monday with the ceremonial dipping of the rear tire in the Pacific Ocean. Then off we go.

You can keep following the ride here. But we’ve also started a website that will house all aspects of the journey, the ride, the people we meet along the way, words, photos, video. Check it out and follow along.

And one final note. Our dear friend Ken Carpenter started this “gofundme” site for us. We had no idea he was planning this, but we are grateful for the support and will do our best to spend some of the money wisely — and the rest on beer. (JK) Please, too, send Ken good thoughts (and prayers if you’ve got ’em) as he battles cancer. He’s one tough SOB with a heart of gold.

See you on the road!

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