You will remember at the end of our Climbs, Castles, and Cobblestones Tour, I was determined to return to Europe. What happened? Ah, life. That's what happened. That, and the price of airfares. Jacinto took a fall on the cobblestones in Portugal, and had shoulder surgery this fall. Which led him to decide his other shoulder was also bad, and he should have surgery on that shoulder in the summer. This decision would nix a summer tour. We had already settled on a Frankfurt to Lisbon route, carefully noting where to cross the Pyrenees.  Airfares had gone up quite a bit. We talked more about the surgery. Then Jacinto decided he wanted at least one strong shoulder at a time, he would wait for the healing shoulder to get even better. Let's do something local-ish for 2024, and save Europe for his 60th birthday. I was surprised at this suggestion. We both loved Spain and Portugal, and were looking forward to going back. 

Jacinto came up with this route. I think it was partially inspired by Jim Fitch's planned 2024 tour (link to come). A highlight of Jim's tour is riding up the Going to the Sun Road in Glacier National Park before cars are allowed. Janice Branham's excellent write up was catalyst for his decision, and ours to join his group of four riders for the outing. Janice even gave me permission to use one of her snowy day photos for a journal title until I get my own!