About 30 Days till Departure

The Weather, what will it be?  This same question arrises every time prior to a journey like we have planned.  At the moment we are very much worried that the pattern of too cold for the season is shifting our plans and may delay our move toward the North.  But we really have very little alternatives if we want to explore the East Coast and the West Coast the same summer.  And since the most places on our journey are situated in the West, to make the Northeastern loop first is almost a given.  Besides the point that the iceberg season in Newfoundland and Labrador typically runs from early spring to early summer, peaking in May and June, not necessarily a time when one is treated with warm temperatures and lots of sunshine.

So this is the balancing act we have to master, and with still some good four weeks to go, we hope for the best, and plan for the worst.

In the meantime, having learned from some friends that camping without the right equipment is not worth the effort, we have added to our equipment one very important piece.  Bright red in color so one can find it in the harshest of storms, in the mist of a rainy morning, in the deepest of snow, the very essential stove top espresso maker.

        

       "Espresso Yourself"           Bicycle Cover w/custom made light strip

Last week we tested our bicycle cover, and with some small modifications it worked very well.  No idea how it will stand the test of 10,000 miles or more, but I figure with sufficient duct tape or tarpaulin repair kits we will be in good shape.  So with all the essentials together, just some fine tuning on one or the other thing, we are almost ready to go.  It's just the weather in the Northeast which has to cooperate a little more.

"There is no such thing as good weather, or bad weather.  There is just weather and your attitude toward it." - Louise Hay, American motivational speaker, 1926 - 2017

Just about 50 days till we start again

It is time again, the travel bug has bitten Elke and me again.

Elke and I have been busy the last couple of weeks with getting our ducks in a row as they say here in the US to ready ourselves for another big trip.  Besides some of the bureaucratic stuff which is due at the beginning of the year like renewing the car and motorcycle registration (here in NC we have to have a State Inspection done, not so in CT), getting insurances renewed, tax papers together for filing before the deadline, some doctor visits and much more, we are also occupied in organizing and checking our equipment for the approximately 8 month long trip.  We also will have no restriction anymore on how long we can stay outside the country as we both are since last year US citizen, and of course I’m retired now as well.  This time we will be traveling with our SUV with the comfort of having a rooftop tent to sleep in, and plenty of stow room in the car.  It will be a change going from two wheels to four as we will sit in an enclosure and are not beaten by the elements no more, but it will allow us to go off grid if we want and to stay in remote areas and explore because we should not have the restriction of a very limited food and water storage as we had on the bike.  We will also have the benefit of having an annex for our rooftop tent which we can unzip and leave behind, drive off with the car, come back, zip it on again and have an additional 130 ft2 living space with 90” headspace.  Quiet some luxury.

Small selection of the “stuff” piling up, but this is not yet “filtered”

As we have some unfinished business in the Northeast our plan is to make our way to Cape Breton to set over to Newfoundland, continue to Labrador, return to Quebec and Montreal, then cross over to the West for another visit to Alaska, before turning South to British Columbia, Washington, Oregon, and California, then sliding slightly East - Southeast to Idaho, Wyoming, Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona and who knows where the restless mind will drive us. There is only one set date we need to be back, and that is to catch in time a plane to Germany for my mother’s 90th birthday.

So for now its all getting the equipment checked out, last bits and pieces added, maps sorted out and the usual stuff separating the nice to have from the needed stuff.  More difficult then ever before as we have so much more room now, very tempting to sneak something in just for the comfort of having it with you.  But we still have about 50 days left to figure it out.  Can’t wait to have the car packed and head Northeast.

“We travel not to escape life, but for life not to escape us.” - unknown