The Journey Begins

After several days of hard work packing, cleaning and tuning up the bikes, and double checking our lists, we finally set out in the RV toward Oregon.  We had a great "Call Us Crazy" party last Friday night to celebrate the adventure.  Then on Saturday afternoon we road the tandem to the train station  and went to Santa Fe to met up with Stacy Ohlsson  for dinner. We met Stacy on our bike tour of Italy and she joined us on our last trip to Chile.  We rode part of the Santa Fe Century ride with her and then we rode home.... a very windy 85 mile ride.

At the party on Friday night, Jay Stanke, commented on how much play there was in our bike
rack on the back of the RV, so I spent a good part of Monday improving the fit of the hitch couplings and modifying the tie-down system to make the whole thing more stable.  That seems to have worked well.  We spent all afternoon driving in heavy head and cross winds.  And we learned another important lesson with the RV... the last quarter on the gas gauge goes down fast when climbing a mountain into a heavy head wind! We were on fumes when we pulled into a gas station outside Flagstaff, AZ.

We have added a 4th bike to mix, Beth's road bike, so we had to find a place for it since our bike rack only holds 3 bikes.  So we have rigged a spot for it inside the RV that keeps it pretty much out of the way... at least we can get to the essential areas of the RV (fridge and bathroom) without moving it.

We pulled into Las Vegas, NV about 8PM and are staying in an RV park.  We plan to get up early and do a 30 mile bike ride along the Lake Meade Parkway Trail, then head on to the Reno, NV area tomorrow (Thurday, 5/23).