We threw the bikes on the back of the van and headed out towards Montana today. This is not some strange abandonment of our touring plans, but only our routine commute to go see Avi and Violet, before we get on the bikes to go see Avi and Violet.

This time we had to head North to Nanaimo to get a ferry off the Island, since an oil tanker crash on the Malahat has closed the road South for the past 24 hours.

At the border the officer asked about how much currency and fruits and vegetables we might be smuggling. But he failed to note the dozens of Canadian bagels we were getting ready to flood his country with! So here we are in Sprague, Washington, testing out Dodie's new cycling sleeping bag in the van, and short about 5 pounds of cream cheese!

Earlier, we took the opportunity of checking out the Iron Horse bike trail at Easton Lake and a few other spots. It was super! It made us want to hop on the bikes and go, right now.

Instead, we will spend a week in Montana doing day trips while the twins are at daycare. Adventure Cycling has a little map showing miles of circuits around Missoula. We're on it!

Meanwhile back home the cats are working on their own training. We kicked them out of the house and into the attached large sun room, all fitted out with baskets and other cat hangouts. We can't have them trashing the main house while we are away, so now for a week they will test out the sunroom. We expect to hear about it from them when we get back!

This is being sent from out netbook, on batteries, and using a USB internet stick. See, it works!