It's a week ago now that our bikes first put in an appearance in the sunroom, decked out with their loaded panniers and even attached to the Wee Hoo recumbents that Avi and Violet will use in Idaho. (Idaho? see our other blog "Grampies Grand Adventure" that is developing at the same time as this one.)

So there are the bikes, apparently packed and ready to go. It should be a simple matter to actually go. Not! It's our own fault, of course. We are trying to run three trips more or less simultaneously, and they are on either side of North America for two, and then in Europe for the other. Each trip needs its own special variant of the gear. Are we cooking in Idaho? What camping gear do we need for the kids? How about entertainment stuff - for 67 year olds? for 7 year olds? for a 4 year old? for a 2 year old?

Then there are quaint facts like when we fly Seattle to Montreal the Fridays need to be in their suitcases. But we can leave the cases in Montreal, and then the bikes can fly to Brussels in plastic bags. Still, since we will leave Europe from a different city than where we arrived, we will need to carry duffel bags to hold our panniers on the return flight. How many bags? Of what shape? When we get back, it could be winter weather in Montreal. Should we bring our closed toe shoes there and leave them? And so on and so forth!

Only Dodie has the mental power to deal with all these variants and complications. Still, she likes to run through it with me. All I can say is "Yes, yes, no, and Oh, oh" and fervently hope that I have put the right answers in the right slots. One miscue, and she will say 'You're not listening!" (Which in fairness, I'm not!).

On the other hand, she had a frustrating hour last night in which I explained how she is to use a new smart phone. All dead simple to me, and I got my chance to say "You'd understand it if you would just listen!". Our team clearly, and fortunately, has its strengths in different areas.

Dodie just announced that all the gear for Idaho is now organized. That has to be good. And anyway, we still have lots of days before we actually go. Oh, oh, the "List" says we are not done mapping the routes either!

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