Missy and Shane's All Around US Tour.

Did a ride to Benicia today. Here is the route I took.

We have an offer on the house! We are right on schedule.... it's really amazing that it is all working out so well!. If all goes well we will be moved out by my birthday (March 8th).

Trying some new mapping software to use on the ride to track us and people we meet on the way!

Here is a sample-this is the route I ride between Vallejo and Berkeley:

I've started a new part time job in Vallejo at InterPlay Designs, a company that builds sculptural play structures. I jumped right in helping to build two 10 foot tall dragons that are going into a play area in a neighboring town. It's really a perfect part time job, he knows I'm leaving in April and I have a very flexible schedule.

Check out their work at:

InterPlay

We still have no bites on the house...some small turn outs for out open houses but our realtor Shawn will have another next week. We are starting to get a little nervous about the time frame for departure if we don't get someone interested soon. We'll see.

Well it's official, our house is on the market! Besides making the decision this is the first step of the journey. Our sweet little home has never looked better and we know it will make a good home for someone, if we can just find that right person. We have a really great realtor and he is working hard to have us seen, now all we can do is wait and see!


Here's a link to the our realtors site (it's best viewed with Explorer unfortunately so if you are using the much better firefox or safari- sorry). You can also do a search for 231 Cassady on the SF Craigslist.

Our Listing

And here is a shot of our place with the new paver driveway-

Once we sell we'll stay with Missy's sisters family and we're excited about that. We spent this last weekend with them and it was really great. I think our creative energies and interests should blend together well to make a nice place to act as a springboard for our trip- a supportive and excited atmosphere.

We're looking at April third as our official departure date. Stay tuned for more about that!

We got a house inspection today and it looks like I have a few projects to get the house in shape for another inspection later. Nothing major, just some minor repairs on the siding and windows that had a little rot and then one spot on the kitchen floor to repair. But besides that our pest report looks good. We talked to Sean, our relator about putting the house up at the end of January- so soon!

Still working on a gear list and thinking about trip logistics. I have a rough draft of the list that can be seen at:
Gear List in Progress

Will put it up here when I have it a bit more complete.

Here's a before and during shot of the driveway repair. Stay tuned for an After one!

I'm feeling better and was in Berkeley riding for PedEx again (I've become the popular emergency rider since I always seem to be available!) and lucked out to hit a day between the rains, it was actually pretty sunny.

I had a chance to catch up on some podcasts and after getting a link from my sister about a Slate article on cycling I subscribed to the Slate podcast to see how it was. I found a story and thought it was a nice perspective on cycling in LA from a non-cyclist so I'm including it below. Seems I've been seeing a bit more in the mainstream media about non-cyclists trying out commuting. Bicycling magazine, which can be a little flashy and race bike-centric had one of it's best editions last month with a whole "utility cycling" feel to it. And though the gas prices are down again and we are not near the 70's crisis that brought about a big cycling boom then, I can't help but have this feeling that something small is happening. Granted I've been in this arena for more than 10 years now and have been seeing (dreaming of?) that change coming. Granted much too slow. But coming.

So here's the 7 min clip from Slate (oh yeah, I cut out the horrible car ad in it and pasted an old timey radio one instead... hehe):



Link Description Slate Bike Piece Remixed

I've come down with a cold and have been fighting it by drinking tea, resting, and watching the rain come down outside. I think some of it is from the energy drain (and stress) of having a third job fall through.

Our sites are so set on April and the idea of traveling around the US that it's clouding my mind as well. But the search continues and I got a promising call from a restaurant in Berkeley. At this point it may be Jan. by the time anything pans out. We'll see. House work and PedEx on-call jobs keep me occupied until then.

We've sold some of our camping gear on craigslist and will wait until after the holidays (after our loot check and the sales come) to complete our inventory for the trip. One of the next entries will include the gear we are going to use for those interested in WHAT you would take on a year long tour of the US.


One thing I have accomplished in the last couple days is registering my first domain name (www.macdonaldrhodes.com) and figuring out how to use that with my .mac account. Turns out you can "Forward" and "Mask" a site to lead you to another. Fun to figure it all out. And that's how you are here.

The next couple weeks will find us celebrating with friends and family for the holidays and I'm REALLY looking forward to that!
Until next time- The Holidays are All Around US. Enjoy.

Shane (and Missy)

So Missy and I did our first "on the road" recording. Granted it wasn't during a ride but during a lunch in Napa (Alegria...very good!).




Click here to listen to our first audio recording- it's rough but workable
We may be getting close to dialing in photos, audio, and maybe even a podcast to keep things updated on our travels!

And that trial worked great so stay tuned for more!

So we are trying out the blogging software we might use for the All Around US tour.

Here is a shot of the Xtracycle I took today... just something to test the camera phone and this programs capabilities...














So that seemed to work.

Wow this could be fun!


A bit of Audio