Looking forward to the maps!

On another note, as fellow residents of the Pacific time zone, we’ve been using melatonin to help adjust to the 9-hour time change. It helps.

Wow, I really appreciate your insight! It makes me feel even more grateful for our good fortune.

Just looked at the map of your proposed route. What an incredible trip you have planned. Italy is magical and the people are so welcoming. In Bologna you really should stop in at Caffe Terzi for some mind blowing coffee and Il Gelatauro for your daily gelato.

On occasion I drive a Sound Transit route that will take me through the airport multiple times. Other than the expected Friday night and other crush times, The amount of traffic going into SeaTac seems totally unpredictable. I can take a bus through and be 20-30 minutes late just because of the crush of cars, then go back through maybe 90 minutes later and everything is smooth sailing. Lucky you that you hit on a light period of the day.

Yeah, I know, right? This is a wakeup call for us to follow your lead and be more careful about such things. There was luck involved, but the driver's kindness made all the difference. Let's all be kind whenever we can.

Thanks! Glad you're tuning in. We had such a fabulous time in Paris with you! Hope we can meet again soon.

Off to a good start! Buon Viaggio!

That’s a wonderful story about the taxi. We’ve been so close doing that ourselves, and always religiously take an item count when we leave a plane, train or taxi. It restores your faith to have the driver find it and return.

How wonderful that your taxi driver was such a good soul to return with your bag! Hopefully a good omen for things to come. Enjoy

I agree with your title—in both senses!

When we went to Sicily earlier this year, we checked that our cases were below Air Canada’s weigh limit for bikes: 32 kg. Al’s was right on the limit and mine a bit below. We paid AC’s standard fee of $50 but were surprised that they wouldn’t be checked right through to Palermo. We would have to collect and recheck them at our layover in Zurich. Imagine our shock to discover that when we rechecked them for the final leg, they were now overweight because the new airline had different rules. Maximum weight was now 23 kg!

Researching for next year’s trip, it seems most airlines have a 23 kg limit for bikes so we too will be using a third bag.

I've got a Topeak Mini Morph, which does the job, but is clumsy to use and takes forever to inflate a tire. I prefer the frame pump.

Al and I have tubeless tires, hydraulic brakes, and thru axles on our newest bikes and love them! These bikes have been (so far) to Spain and twice to Italy, a total of 19 weeks of overseas touring, plus plenty of day rides and short local trips. My older (2014) Co-Motion tourer has brifters and they have never caused any issues. The only caveat is that the derailleur cables are much easier to replace *before* they break.

I carry a Lezyne Micro floor pump in it's little holder that attaches between the frame and a bottle cage. Fits even my tiny bike with straight downtube (but not my carbon road bike with its molded frame). Bonus: it's much much easier to use than any frame pump I've ever tried.

You’re right! Another personal vignette from that era is that I used to walk three miles each way to junior high and high school. A part of the walk was along what’s now the Burke-Gilman Trail. It was still a rail line then though, and I’d challenge myself by trying to balance myself on the rails for a quarter of a mile until the next intersection. The first sections of the trail wouldn’t open for another 15-20 years.

But enough about me. Have a splendid time in Italy!

Wow, that was before even the Burke Gilman trail existed! The Lake Washington Loop is now 80% on trails or bike lanes. The remaining 20% is low-speed 2-lane road. I'm grateful for all the hard work that bicycle advocacy groups have put in over the years to spur local governments to bring these projects to fruition.