My blog hates me...

In an effort to make finding my blog easier, I decided to upgrade the blogspot service. Well, little did I know that it may take up to THREE DAYS for the transition to be made. So, if you are having trouble seeing some of the links, don't give up on us! 


You won't miss much the first 3 days we are on the road, since it will be boring stuff. At least, I hope it stays boring. The beginning of any trip is when you find out what you forgot, what you should have done, what that funny noise you ignored meant, etc.


If you can't see the blog at all, you can't read this anyway. Sit tight and I'll beam this post to you using energy-efficient mind power. Just concentrate. Harder. Harder! Now, hold your breath.....

1 day and a wake-up!

We're finally there! The last few hours before we leave. Which means we actually started packing our gear. And bathed the dog. We also fixed up a t-shirt for him in order to mitigate some of his shedding. Yes, I'm a hopeless optimist.


We were originally going to head north, making our first camp at the base in Shreveport. However, in order for YoManBob to

First "oops"

Since there's only about 60 hours left till departure time, Dennis and I decided it was time to finalize our route planning. Mind you, this is something we seldom, if ever, do. Our modus operandi is to just head towards a cardinal point (north, south, east, west) and stop when we reach ocean or border... unless

NOT in San Diego!

Please ignore today's "Where Are We Now" map. Google Latitude seems to be glitchy. It will find me in Louisiana then teleport me to California. If it's not fixed by the time we set off on Tuesday, I will use a different tracking system.

PS. No, I have not been hacked. I did test some things and changed passwords, just to be on the safe side.

Tick, tock

I guess all of us have experienced this. When I first considered this trip, I thought "oh, well, a whole month to plan and pack should be more than enough." And, frankly, if it was just a regular road trip, psh! Noooo problem! We've hit the road with less than 2 hours worth of planning, if the term "ready" even applies to throwing a duffle bag in the trunk and gassing up. This, however, is a beast of a different breed.


Today, I glanced at the countdown clock. Less than 4 days to go (stupid clock!). No sense asking where the time went. I know where. It's hanging out with the missing scissors and left socks. The closer d-day gets, the more

A purpose!

When this trip was first conceived, my intent was to spend some quality time with the family, traipsing across the U.S. and getting to know the country a little better. A worthy purpose, of course. Well, it seems that this trip has a mind of its own!


One of our blog readers suggested a "donations" button for the blog. I gave it some thought, discussed it with the crew, then I thought some more. Judging by the response, many are enjoying reading my blog and that's great, but I kept thinking that more could be done with it. Then, suddenly...

Inspection time!

First off, before I forget again, I must let all know that the background photo on this blog was taken by me with a GoPro camera while riding next to Dennis. Yes, that is him on the right, with Peekaloo riding pillion (passenger). The camera is waterproof, shock proof, has a 170° viewing angle, and can be attached to the bike, helmet, or chest mount and set to take photos or video automatically. It is used a lot in TV shows like "Wipe Out." Methinks that it will come in handy in the next few weeks.


Since we had not used the bulk of our camping equipment for about 3 years (our last hurricane run), we are going through the ever-so-exciting process of