Missy and Shane's All Around US Tour.

Leaving Lompoc- Some of the sunshine & rolling hills of mustard that have been with us the last couple days.


Missy here! We stayed at El Capitan State Beach Campground last night (about 20 miles North of Santa Barbara). Our site had a beautiful, ocean view but highway 101 traffic was too loud and we both had a hard time sleeping. We woke to hear we both had dreams of our chickens. Shane's dream included a large butterfly migration through our campsite. The butterflies were flying into our tent as we tried to sleep and then transforming into our chickens, of all things! Anyway, hello to our friend, Roya, who is chicken sitting for us in Berkeley. We give Roya and those funny birds a big long distance hug.

We saw another amazing experience at El Capitan State Beach- the northern migration of whales yesterday and dolphins this morning. This being said, Shane and I adopt a "pet for the day" on our travels. Yesterday's "pet for the day" was a group of gray whales that we "walked" up the beach. They swam about the same speed as Shane and I as we strolled up the beach with them. Other pets of the day include a rolly-polly bug trekking through our tent, a gopher, and an elephant seal (named Sandy).

We are in Santa Barbara for the day and will eat lunch, get dinner groceries, maybe catch a matinee, then head on to Carpenteria's State Beach Campground (about 10 miles South) for the night.

On this trip I started reading a book called "Following the Sun"by John Hanson Mitchell. It's a bicycle pilgrimage from Andalucia to the Hebrides following the sun. It's a really interesting and well written book. I was reading a part in the book last night that reminded me of that days ride and he writes it better than I:

" The land here rose into long slow hills, flattened into plateaus, and then rolled down again on the otherside, with straight roads running through pastures dotted with cows and yellow mustard and isolated small stone churches. Cuckoos called incessantly from the forests; at the verges the twittering of a thousand sparrows filled the air, and the larks above the mustard fields were ascending and trilling and then cascading down to earth again. Friendly country workers in rubber boots and baggy blue trousers shouted encouragements to me as I winged past on my loyal bicycle horse. As I rode through this gentle green land I was flooded yet again with affection for the apparent good spirit and good work of the enduring European peasant and his long-suffering, timeless relationship with the sustainable earth."

Of course he was in France and we are outside of San Luis Obispo, but the scenery, sounds, and sights he talked about were almost exactly what we experienced two days ago. The mustard is blooming and making the hills glow, the cows continue to keep us company and be amazed at our presence, the hills are slow and gentle, and "peasants" in these fields are the migrant farm workers on their rolling processing plants picking, cleaning, and boxing cabbage. Instead of Cuckoos and larks the air is filled with the call of the red winged black birds that surround us on both sides and swoop back and forth from bushes on one side of the road to the other.
We'll be in Santa Barbara tomorrow and will put up some pictures of the last few days. It is so sunny and warm, we are both feeling in much better shape, and we're rolling along happily.
One technical problem has come up. I can't seem to get the solar panel to charge the laptop so I'm typing this in the bathroom right now since we've used up all the juice already =). That problem will have to be remedied soon. Okay, down to the beach to enjoy some of this beautiful sunshine!!

Here are some numbers from April 8 - 16. We cycled 5 of the 9 days.
Total elevation gain= 8770 feet.
Cost per day= $94
Total distance cycled= 158 miles.
Average miles per day= 32.
Average miles per hour= 9.
Total number of baths before we got to Quacky's house for our entire trip so far= 4 (yes, we don't shower much!)


Missy here!! We are finishing up our stay here in San Luis Obispo and the sun has finally come out. Yahoo! We spent Saturday running around town, getting errands done. These errands were done in a car, of course, as I have a strict "no pedaling" policy on my days off. I had to update Shane on "our" policy for this weekend off as he was ready to jump back on the bikes and cycle all over town. I had to ask him "Now, how is that a day off?"


My mom sent our mail to us and we received our official welcome letter for new health insurance coverage. Our Kaiser coverage from my former job ran out on April 1st so until now, we've been riding without insurance. Now we can stop wearing our helmets! I kid you!

We spent Easter with my grandma and her friend, Earline. Shane and I made a ham, potato, asparagus dinner for the 4 of us. Quacky made her strawberry pie for dessert and we had 2 games of the card game "May I?" I don't want to brag but I did win both games because I'm a genius. Plus, I sat next to Earline who didn't know the game well and kept accidently feeding me the cards I needed. It really helps you out to it sit next to Earline. Keep that in mind, everyone, next time your in a smokey saloon playing cards and Earline saddles up to the table wanting to get in on the action! "Sure, you can play. Here sit next to me!"

On a more worriesome note, Quacky has been having some nosebleeds. After hours of watching her dab at her bleeding nose and then looking at the tissue for blood, despite my telling her to stop looking to see if it has stopped, "Just hold it there!" I finally called her doctor. I was able to flex my nursing muscles and hold her nose for her (the right way) saying her doctor told me I had to hold it myself. It worked and there hasn't been any problems for almost 2 days now. Interestingly, Quacky (who is 92 years old) tells me she wants us to buy her an exercise bike so she wouldn't have to walk so much to stay in shape. She may have cycling fever too although she declined our offer to come with us!

Shane and I are back on the road today. The sun is shining and the wind is moderate and chilly but seems to be heading South. I'll take it happily. We have a short day today- just riding to Oceano about 16 miles away. The next camping after that was about 60 some miles away and I'm not ready for that long of a day with all this weight I'm carrying. Onward toward San Diego!

Yahoo! The first part of our ride comes to an end and we're at Quacky's. We had a really awesome day of riding a couple days ago riding from the Ragged Point Inn to Cambria. The sun was shining and there were hardly any clouds in the sky. We had very little wind, sometimes even a tailwind. We started off with a huge curving downhill on dry pavement that ended in a nice long straightaway. Smoooooth. We made a few sightseeing stops, including checking out the Elephant Seals outside of San Simeon.
We blew through San Simeon to Cambria where we were going to check out the hostel. It didn't open until 5pm and so we had a great lunch at Indigo Moon (Great sandwiches!) and did some window shopping in the cute little downtown before taking a nice nap in the sunshine in a park. We decided that with the nice weather and all the time we had we would head back to the San Simeon campground and pitch it. The hiker/biker sights were so soggy (seems to be a theme... they always seem wetter and closer to the road- what's up with THAT?!) we pitched it in a regular sight (for $4.00- yeah) and had an ocean view again.
We had a great steak & potato dinner with our first amazing West Coast Sunset of the trip- fire orange. I also finished my first knitting project (Thanks Jennifer for getting me started!) with a needle I bought in Cambria. Here's a shot of dinner & my hat:

You can find more PICTURES HERE


The rain arrived that night but by morning it was done and we packed up and rode off without our rain gear for another day. We decided to make the full 40 mile push to San Luis instead of splitting it up by stopping for awhile in Morro Bay. We dealt with some traffic after Morro Bay but then we had a great 9 mile spin on rolling green hills with lot's of cows as company. The sun poked through the clouds a couple times and it was an easy ride to make it to Quackys.

We're running errands and getting a couple supplies in town (Trader Joe's awesome trail mixes for one). We're also adding another camp stove to our gear list. Cooking with two burners is such a luxury but that's what we're all about- luxury bike touring. Hey at least I didn't pack my cast iron pan this time!

We'll post once more before we head out and give our numbers updates for the last week.

Another Day of battling headwinds. Though we didn't actually have to use the granny gear for the downhills, we did still have to pedal on some of them. It was also a little wetter than yesterday. The ride was shorter than most but we had our highest climb so far, from sea level to 1,000 ft. in about 4 miles. The first part of the day was nice enough that we actually stopped once and awhile but once the hills started so did the rain and we didn't really stop until we reached Ragged Point. It was another great accomplishment of a day and I'm more and more amazed at what Missy can do (and I know she is too).

When we rolled into the Ragged Point Inn at around 4:30 we were ready to shed the layers, string up the clothesline in the room, and take a hot bath. They were having a "weekday wet weather" special so that was a nice surprise and with no camping area for another 20 miles there was really no question. We have a room with a little patio that has an amazing view of the ocean and cliffs. We cooked a little Indian "Tasty Bites" & couscous out on the patio last night and are planning the next two to three days ride into San Luis Obispo to visit Missy's Grandma, Quacky. There is something great about looking at our map every morning and evening, checking the weather, seeing how we are feeling and then trying to decide where we might make it next. Each day is an adventure that we can try and plan out but in the end it's all open to change and the smallest thing could alter everything. We really do have to live much more in the moment and accept whatever happens. Today is sunnier but still blowing, maybe we'll make it farther down the road to the campground or maybe the wind will put us at the hostel in Cambria....

PS- we made it all the way to Cambria! It was a beautiful, sunny, warm day with a very mellow wind (and sometimes a tailwind) and no big climbs. One of the best days yet! More later.

I'm writing from the cozy room of the Lucia Lodge, about 25 miles south of Big Sur. Yesterday was one of the most difficult days of riding I've had touring and certainly the most difficult for Missy. We had serious headwinds the whole way here. We had hoped to make a campsite another 10 miles down the road but after battling the wind for about four hours, the cozy little Lucia Lodge was just too inviting. The winds were so intense that we were pedaling hard downhill (in our granny gear!) and almost got knocked over a couple times coming around some corners. We met a couple other bike tourers the day before in Big Sur; they were of the minimalist, sleep under a tarp, we can do anything ilk and we ran into them having dinner at the lodge. They decided to stay here too.
We had been so lucky with the weather that it was bound to catch up with us.
We left Monterey with nice weather but it clouded up and misted on us most of the way to Big Sur. We had some good climbs and were tired when we got there but overall it was a good day. We found a great hiker/biker campsite (for only $3.00/each), set up our home, and went to the lodge to dry off and recharge a little. The heavier rains came that night and in the morning we got up early, had a cup of coffee, and then decided it looked like a good day to rest and enjoy the peace and quiet of Big Sur. It was our first day of do nothing and we caught up on our knitting and needlework and I got some bike maintenance done. I had been getting a flat a day on the rear wheel and I figured out it was my rimstrip while I was in Monterey. I changed it out (from cheap rubber to cloth for those in the know) but still had a slow leak on the ride into Big Sur. All three tubes that I had been rotating into that wheel had small little marks about a spoke hole length apart. I switched the tube from the front tire into the back and put the one with the least marks in the front and so far so good. The sun came out later that day (but too late to get on the road) and we dried some things in the sunshine and enjoyed the natural beauty of the area.

The next day we woke up in Big Sur it was cloudy and raining again but we both felt energized and ready to get on the road. We did our highest climb so far, up to 1,000ft. It was really gorgeous up in the mountains; misty, foggy, and a very lush green. As soon as we rolled down to the coastline the wind hit and hasn't left us yet. It was really too bad because the coastline was amazingly beautiful but we were so focused on staying upright and squinting into the blowing rain that we couldn't really enjoy it unless we stopped and we didn't stop much because it was so cold and windy! Here's one shot I got though:

So now, we'll try to push on some more today. It's still blowing a bit but doesn't look as wet. We'll see how far we get and whether a campsite or another night in a cozy hotel room is in the cards.

MISSY NOW- Well hello all! Even though Shane gave his 2 cents on the last day, I had to add mine. We cycled out of Big Sur yesterday, starting with a big hill and rain right off the bat. My screaming muscles made it up the hill ok but then the wind started. This wasn't a "breeze" that playfully moves your hair around, this felt like a gale force wind that seems to be telling you to turn around and go back to where you came from. At certain points along the coast, it was all I could do to just stay upright, stop the bike and bend over the front so i didn't end up on the ground. Cycling in this wind seemed crazy! Headwind up hills and even stronger winds going downhill to the point where I was in my "granny gear" struggling to pedal forward downhill. There is almost no shoulder on this stretch of highway 1 and the entire day we were negotiating our bikes along the several feet between traffic and cliffs- a 2 foot error on either side seemed a sure tragedy (or at least a nasty abrasion of sorts). (As I just wrote this I remembered our mom's are going to be reading this and I hope I'm not scaring them- we're actually fine, really! and Shane, who has much more experience with all this, did not feel like it was so dangerous). However, I was continually thinking if the risk was worth it and I kept coming up with "yes." And we're going to do it again today!! Anyway, we made it to the Lucia Lodge last night and very gratefully used the money my former coworkers gave us as a send off on our journey to put us up for the night. Thanks to all the Kaiser Vallejo Hospice folks for the warm room and comfy bed. Love to you all and thanks for your comments. It is very fun to hear from you as we cycle farther and farther away!

We're off to the Aquarium. Here are some numbers to ponder and a link to our route so far:

Average Miles per Day: 33
Average Miles per Hour: 10
Average Cost per Day: $50.00
Total Elevation Climbed: 4,000 ft. (for three of the five days... still getting this calibrated)
Missy's Gear & Bike Weight Total: 88 lbs
Shane's Gear & Bike Weight Total: 138 lbs


Our Gear List can be found here!

And our map. Zoom into one of "Waypoints" for a closer look and follow our "routes" for where we went...

Friday night in Monterey- Pizza and Wine in the tent. The rain finally caught up to us after a couple days of wonderful sunshine! When we woke up in Half Moon Bay the rain that had poured all night stopped just in time for breakfast. We didn't get rained on again until this afternoon, about 2 miles out of Monterey. We've had some great days of riding with today's being the toughest. After Half Moon Bay we rode to Ano Nuevo State Park. We ended up staying at Costanoa- a "luxury" camping and lodging spot. Though the area was beautiful the camping area was pretty well flooded and our wood deck saved us from the swamp. We enjoyed being able to Hot Tub our sore muscles, have a nice breakfast cooked for us, a fire in the evening, and nice hot showers. And the view was great too!
The next day we got a late start, around 1pm, but luckily the 30 plus miles flew by. We had a nice tail wind, the hills seemed to slip by us, the views of the Pacific were GREAT. We blew through Santa Cruz, stopping off at the Food Bin for some great natural food store goodies. When we got to our camping destination of New Brighton Beach we found the hiker/biker sights to be some of the muddiest we've seen. We decided that with all the other empty sights we would just find one we liked and pay the hiker/biker fee for that one. And so we found the most incredible one in the whole campground... just waiting for us. It was an incredible view of the Pacific, dry, open, private, under the canopy of many trees, and with some nice Canadian neighbors, eh.
Today's ride wasn't such a breeze. We had some great views of the Pacific again, but this time mixed in with strawberry fields and then artichoke fields as far as the eye could see. The first 30 miles were great but the last 10 had a real good headwind. Then the rain started. Then as we searched for our campground (Veteran's Memorial Park) we started to climb up into the hills of Monterey. Then we continued to climb. And climb. We went from sea level to about 500ft very quickly. Always a rough way to end the day. But we found a nice spot in the hiker/biker area, set up our tarp & tent and got settled. Unfortunately we hadn't gotten dinner supplies so I rolled back down (empty this time), picked up the pizza and some other supplies and now we are dry, refreshed, and stuffed.
We're going to take a day break in Monterey to go to the Aquarium (which neither Missy or I have been to) and just relax.
Day five of this long journey and it's interesting to see how we are starting to get into the sync of it already. We are just taking it day by day still and are both just happy when we make it another little bit down the road. There are lot's of little joys in each day, whether it is the great little store, the amazing view you didn't expect around a turn, the smile on someone's face as you pass, or just the sunshine through the clouds. We're just trying to enjoy those moments as much as we can.
We wanted to do a weekly numbers update but I'm running out of battery so we'll have to do it tomorrow. Just to let you know some mileage, elevation gain, and all that. I'm also planning to update our gear list with what we finally went with and will post that soon too.

We posted a couple photo's too ---> CLICK HERE for photos

Here's hoping you're enjoying all the small joys in your life.

Wow, it's really happening. After several months of planning and dreaming about this trip we are really here... doing it! It's our second night and we are in Half Moon Bay State Park. There is so much we want to tell about just a few days of traveling.

We'll start off at the beginning. And this beginning isn't when we got on our bikes and pedaled off on Monday but on Sunday when we fueled up for the ride. For our final send-off meal for our trip Linda and Rock took us to Auberge du Soleil. It was one of the most incredible meals I have ever eaten in my life! Here's a little sample:

Pan Seared Foie Gras, Poached Rhubarb, Baby Fennel, Red Wine Vanilla Au Jus.
Sauteed John Dory, Fingerling Potatoes, White Asparagus Puree, Glazed Pork Belly.
Roasted Lamb, Potato Gnocchi, Nicoise Olives, Green Garlic Red Wine Jus.
and
Roasted Comice Pears, Pecan Streusel Cake, Bourbon Ice Cream, Vanilla Carmel.
And that's just what I ate! There were a lot of other great things ordered (that I also got to try) and we walked out of there satisfied and happy. I have never had so many courses of so many incredible foods. I mean I've had some great dishes, but four in a row. Totally amazing.

Here's a shot from that night:

That was Sunday night and Monday morning we got up and said goodbye to Jennifer and Justin. It was sad, we've had so much fun staying there, cooking, playing, and enjoying being in their home... which felt like ours too. After that we packed everything up and headed over to say goodbye to Linda and Rock. Linda made us a great BLT and Tomato Soup Brunch- I think good food is going to be a theme of this trip! We also hung some Tibetan Prayer Flags and said a little blessing for our trip. It was the perfect send-off. Though it was sad to say goodbye it was certainly easier knowing we would be back in one month (rather than in a year or so).

Our first day of riding was a route we know pretty well. Napa to Vallejo. We rode into Vallejo and saw a ferry leaving but when I went to buy our tickets I found out there was another in 10 minutes. Perfect timing. It had rained most of the way but stopped by the time we got on the ferry. We had a great ride over, seemed to fly by. I really love that ferry ride. Once in S.F. we rode under partly sunny skies to Chad & Kara's place, our first spot to crash on our trip. They gave us a cozy bed and we hung out with them and talked for awhile and then they took us up to Tank Hill near Sutro Tower. It was an incredible view of the city and it wasn't windy or cold at all, always a pleasant surprise in the City.
Today we got up and had a little breakfast with Chad at a nice "euro" style local bakery, packed up and hit the road for our second day of adventure. It felt more exciting since we were actually leaving the city. Plus we had heard that Devil's Slide (outside of Pacifica) was closed and we had no idea what that was going to mean.

OK-Now it's Missy speaking because I really wanted to write about our incredible day! So we cycled from SF and into Pacifica where the talk of the town was that Devil's Slide was closed. The first thing most people said to us was "you know Devil's Slide is closed, don't you?" Shane and I decided after a few hours of research trying to find an alternate route and not getting anywhere that we were would just cycle right up to the road closure and play dumb to whom ever was guarding the road closure area. Well, there was no guard so we thought let's just keep going as far as they let us, "What's the worst they can do?" We thought the worst to happen was to get fined-maybe thrown in jail for a night but that sounds kind of fun too. Plus, a local man reminded us the sign says "road closed" not "keep out," so we regarded this as an invitation to attempt Devil's Slide. Indeed, we walked our bikes around the very conspicuous road closure signs and began up the hill. We passed a few CalTrans crews and an Engineer who told us to be careful and we probably shouldn't be there but no one kicked us out. We kept cycling past sink holes, giant boulders in the road, and foot long wide cracks in the pavement. The sun came out as Shane and I made it to the summit, the ocean cliffs below us and NO CARS- just us and this most beautiful scene. We cycled into Montara, past the CHP who barely noticed us as we maneuvered past the road closure signs. It was amazing and made Day 2 of our journey something we will always remember.

We then stopped at a local organic produce stand along the roadside for a snack. Shane busted out the Byerly Bike Blender for the 1st time this trip and we made fruit smoothies. The smoothies gave us the fuel to keep cycling for another 7 miles or so. We made it to Half Moon Bay where we camped at the Half Moon Bay State Beach Campground. We set up camp, made dinner and had just gotten settled into the tent when it started raining- not a drop on us. It truly feels as though the angels have taken good care of us so far this trip- showing us the rare beauties of the area and keeping us comfortable. All that being said, my thigh muscles are very sore and I need a good night's sleep. Good night to you all and check back as we will post some photos from today soon.

We have been very focused on getting ready for our trip. We leave tomorrow. It still feels pretty unreal that it is finally here and the enormity of this attempt to cycle so far has not sunk in. As a send off, my mom and Richard are taking us to Auberge de Soleil for dinner tonight. Very fancy!
Last night was Richard's retirement party and 60th birthday. It was a great time and he got to play the drums all night with the band- his dream come true. The wine being served was awesome, of course, with the friends he has. We had Far Niente, Paradigm, and Snowden among the favorites. And this morning's lethargy is a reminder of how many delicious glasses of wine I helped myself to. Oh, Good times!
Friday, Shane and I had a goodbye party at the bus stop co-op. So many goodbye's has been hard and a little overwhelming, I must say. After we cycle to San Diego, we plan on Amtraking back up to Napa and spending my birthday with my family here. Then we will Amtrack up to Eugene and spend a week there so I can get to know it a little better. We should be there by May 9th or so.

ps this was a note Missy wrote to my parents but I thought it was a nice update. It has been a very busy weekend. It has been an amazing week and I hope to have a second to write about some of it in more detail soon! We leave tomorrow!! Shane

We're headed to Wilbur for the weekend! But before we go I wanted to put a couple links up.

First, to the photos from our Trial Run and then second to a journal of a family doing an across the country bike ride on a triple bike with a six year old girl. Pretty amazing! Check it out HERE.

We watched Justin's play last night at the Dreamweavers Theatre. It was his sixth grade class performing a play that Justin wrote. It was HILARIOUS. He is such an amazing teacher and inspiring person.

When we get back on Sunday we will only have one week till departure!!

What an amazing way to get our journey started! We just got back from an amazing flight over the Napa Valley! One of our wedding gifts from Missy's co-workers at Kaiser Hospice (thanks Alicia, Sandy, & Tom) was a hot air balloon ride with Napa Valley Balloons. We've had it planned for the last few weeks but we weren't sure if we would be able to go because of recent rainy weather. It wasn't until we called in to check at 5am that we knew we would be meeting at 6:15 this morning.

It was such an incredible feeling. Pulling up to the balloon already inflated we jumped right in and after just a couple minutes took off. We rose up very fast and at a few hundred feet he was blowing south and he wanted to head north so we went higher. He didn't find the wind he liked until about 2,500 feet. Then we kept on going. We reached 3,000 and hung out there for awhile. Cloud cover was at 3,000 ft. We popped up to 3,200 ft. once too. The view up and down the valley was great, with clouds lingering around some hillsides, traffic cruising down 29, beautiful wineries, lots and lots of vineyards, and a peaceful silence between the flame of the balloon. We flew with some folks from Iowa, Minnesota, and Puerto Rico. The photographer mistook us for Europeans (he said it was the way we dressed, especially the fingerless gloves Jennifer knit for me) and he was surprised that Missy was born & raised in Napa. The landing was really smooth, right where the pilot wanted to land. We topped it off with a nice champagne brunch and are now back in Yountville getting ready for the second leg of our "dry run". Couldn't get all the photos up but here's one:

We had a great dinner at the Napa Valley Grill last night. Lot's of amazing food. We did a lot of sampling and one of our dishes was a "harvest platter" with about four meats, a couple cheeses, salmon tartare, raisins on the vine, and a honeycomb. One of our favorites was a pork rilette stuffed pepperoncinii. Our pan seared-mustard rubbed Hokkaido Scallops were great too!
Great wine and chocolate Cannoli too!
We'll ride about 20 more miles up valley to Bothe State Park campground (before Calistoga) and camp there tonight before riding back to Napa tomorrow. So far the bike and gear are working well. I realized that in our move I packed my rain pants, rain booties, tights, one pair of bike shorts and bike gloves into storage!! It was bound to happen. Seems like those are the only things though and that we have everything else with us and it all fits on our bikes. Missy is still trying to get everything dialed in and to figure out how she is going to fit everything she needs for one year in four bike panniers. We're both pretty out of shape, nothing cycling a few thousand miles won't fix. Starting off with a nice slow ride to San Diego will be a good start. Less than two weeks now!

Getting ready to head to San Luis Obispo tomorrow for Quacky's 92nd b-day celebration. We've been having a great time at Jen & Justin's- it is a wonderful home filled with a lot of love. We have been making dinners and enjoying each others company a lot. I did a final packing test before our first "test run" which is on Monday when we get back from SLO. Everything seems to fit! I've had to reorder a different solar set-up for charging our "gear" along the way. Hope to get that dialed in next week.

Here's our first travelling podcast. It's still pretty rough, as I'm still trying to find "our sound".

It's REALLY close to being official now! We have been home-free and all packed up for a week now. I also finished work last week and last night Missy finished her last night of work! It won't feel totally official until we are on the road leaving the Bay Area but the next couple weeks still hold a lot of great adventures.

Next week we are headed to San Luis Obispo to celebrate Missy's Grandma's 92nd B-Day on St. Patricks Day. Then when we get back we are going to do a "test run" ride up the Napa Valley with ALL of our gear on the bikes to make sure it is "dialed in". Also on that ride we are hoping to do a hot air balloon ride that was given to us for our wedding (weather dependent). Then we are going to a great weekend at Wilbur Hot Springs for their Chef's Weekend. It was Missy's gift to me for my b-day and I'm really looking forward to it! I've always loved spending time at Wilbur and have enjoyed cooking in their great kitchen but to have a whole weekend there with people cooking every meal for us will be like a dream!
Then the final weekend we have a big send-off party planned at the Bus Stop Coop on the 31st and another great party for Richard's retirement/bday on Saturday April 1st. Our final departure day is the 3rd.

We had a nice few days in Berkeley at the beginning of this week. Missy attended a conference for Hospice care and we celebrated my birthday at the Bus Stop Coop with a nice dinner. It was nice to be in a place that felt like home, especially in this time of not actually having a home of our own. Missy was inspired and touched by some of the speakers (especially this one) at the conference and I think it was a nice a way to end this part of her time with Hospice. Energized and excited about it still. I saw a really great movie the first night called "The End" about five families in the L.A. Kaiser Hospice program. They were given cameras to film their experiences and it was a really interesting inside look at hospice care.

Tonight we're having a dinner party here at Jen & Justin's so we're off to do some shopping!

Well we did it! We've moved out of our home. We are now Home Free.

We did the final clean-up of the place and handed the keys over to the new owner of the house today. We've moved in with the Medaris Clan into a sweet little guest house in their backyard in Napa. It's very cozy and is a great jumping off platform for the big trip. One month from now we will be on the road. In the meantime we have a few trips planned around the area, Missy finishes work next week, and we have some time to get comfortable with the idea of having no homes, no jobs, and MUCH less stuff.

Tonight we are going to Jen & Justin's school (Stone Bridge) Mardi-Gras Celebration:

Stone Bridge School Extravaganza 2006 is a Mardi Gras celebration and fundraiser for this Waldorf Methods charter school, which suffered flood damage last winter. 6 p.m. March 4. St. John's Hall, 960 Napa St., Napa. $45 (advance); $60 (at door). (707) 252-5522. .

Should be a great party and a nice kick-off to letting everything go- getting down on the dancefloor!

On the way back from our trip up to Oregon. It has been a great week of visiting Mom, Larry, and Kristin in Bend, relaxing, enjoying good food and family time, skiing, and relaxing with Jennifer, Justin, India, and Fiona. It has been great being away for awhile, not thinking much about the next couple weeks that lay ahead. We have a solid week of packing and we move out Saturday. There's only a week of work left for me and two weeks for Missy. The next part of the adventure, the really letting go, begins now. Scary and exciting at the same time.

We made a quick trip to my Grandparents cabin at Crescent Meadows in the Cascades. It had snowed a lot in the past month and it was pretty buried. It was also really cold, down into the single digits even during the daytime. We did a little bit of snowshoeing and made sure the cabin was in good shape and then headed back to Sunriver.


Missy and I skied a few days and one day India and Fiona had their first day of skiing ever. They took lessons at Mt. Bachelor and the next day Fiona skied half day with us. It reminded me of my first days of skiing, though she picked it up about twice as fast as I did at that age. By the end she was rocketing down the hill on blue runs.


It was a great trip, though of course it felt too short. Which makes us glad that we've decided to take a whole year (at least) for our journey. With all the months of preparation and dreaming we are ready for it to begin! But first, one last push of work.

We are in Sunriver, OR right now (near Bend). Plan on doing some skiing and playing in the snow with family. Will be my last visit with my family before we head off on the big journey. It's pretty cold here right now, highs in the 20s and lows in the single digits! It's the coldest weather Missy has been in. We're hoping to get up to my grandparents cabin sometime during this week but it may be too cold for them to go up, but we'll at least stop by. That cabin holds so many wonderful memories of childhood that I'm excited to share it with Missy.

Our friends Ryan and Amy had their baby last week:

It's with tremendous joy and excitement that we introduce you to our new baby daughter, Natalie Ava Warren! Natalie was born on Saturday, February 11 at 5:50 AM, weighing 8 lbs. 2 ozs., and measuring 21 inches long. Everyone is now home, healthy and happy, and all loving our new life together. For pictures of Natalie's first days, visit our family photo site at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/warrenpics/

and here is a picture of the sweetest little thing:

The Tour of California is happening in a little over a week. Ironically we will be in Oregon for most of it!

It looks like it will be a great race. Some of the top teams and right near home. Missy and I will be riding a lot of the same route on our trip south. If you want to see a map of the routes check out the map I made at Wayfaring

There was one part on their website (besides the free bike give-away) that I thought was pretty interesting. The whole idea of bike races is a little crazy- people DRIVING all around to watch people bike and all the helicopters, support vehicles, and craziness. But if it is going to go on at least this event is doing something thoughtful- This will be the first "climate neutral" bike event in the US. Here's some quotes from their website:

An event of this size requires the use of a lot of energy in a number of areas including the necessary race support vehicles, aerial television crews, participant travel, athlete and sponsor accommodations etc. - all of which will produce greenhouse gas emissions in the process. By working with NativeEnergy's Windbuilders program, Clif Bar & Co. will fund the purchase of enough renewable energy credits to offset the estimated 518 tons of carbon dioxide (CO2 is the main contributor to global warming) produced in association with the event. These energy credits will help finance the construction of new, clean-energy wind farms on Native American land. That's providing an environmental equivalent to taking more than 1,000 cars off the roads of California for a month! As a result, the event itself will be certified Climate Neutral - having a zero net impact on global warming.

Every day along the course, race fans and visitors to the Healthy Lifestyle Festivals will be able to learn more about reducing their impact on the environment. The Clif Bar & Co. on-site recycling and composting stations will reduce the amount of waste being sent to our landfills. At the Clif Bar & Co. booth, spectators can purchase "Cool TagsTM" through a partnership with NativeEnergy to offset the amount of carbon dioxide they generate by driving to and from the event-each $2.00 Cool Tag offsets approximately 300 miles of car travel. To encourage alternate forms of transportation, there will be a bike valet on-site to encourage everyone to leave their cars at home. The Clif Bar & Co. biodiesel-powered van will be along for the entire race to raise awareness about cleaner burning alternative fuels that reduce the impact on global climate change. Vendors and others associated with the event will be encouraged to source environmentally friendly materials for their operations as well.

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Though we were married almost 5 months ago we finally got an announcement into the Napa paper. I think we were less motivated to do so since we made the front page news when we rode out there. Here's the link to the announcement

And here's a link to the original article in the Napa paper

We went to the future home of our beloved birds today. Roya, a friend and ex-coworker at PedEx will be watching our chickens while we are gone and we are so happy about the home we are leaving them at and especially with the person who will be caring for them.
They make the move next Sunday. Each day we are that much closer to all of this becoming real.