August 4, 2017
Warriors into the Wild
This will be our first "tour" that sort of does not go anywhere. That is, it's a series of out and backs from where our car will be. It means we do not have to transport gear on the bikes from place to place to place. It took a while for that to sink in. We are so used to packing our panniers with stuff that is needed over a period of days or months.
Some other things are a little different. Although Avi and Violet's bikes were fairly carefully selected at a local bike shop, we paid no attention to how one might mount lights, or panniers, or fenders, on them. These bikes would spend their careers close to the safety of the home garage. But now, they would need to negotiate the pitch black Taft Tunnel, carry water bottles in the current heat wave, have a place to stash sunscreen, etc.
So Dodie spent a fun morning figuring how to outfit these little bikes with most of that stuff. They did not end up as tough touring machines, but now they do look at least a little more capable.
Our VW van, which can swallow any amount of gear, decided to die just before we left for Seattle. Well, it did not totally die, it's just that the mechanic said he would not bet on it making it all the way to Idaho and back. The route out there has two main parts: mountains and desert. We did not fancy being stranded with kids out there. So we commandeered Laurie's Honda Odyssey. It's big, but not that big. Somehow, though, it did eat all four bikes. We are glad ours are little Bike Fridays!
There were other critical necessities to attend to as well. For example, Violet is reading the "Warriors" series by Erin Hunter. There are more than two dozen books in the series. Violet has read the first two and was eager to bring the third on the trip. But it could not be found in neighbourhood stores. Laurie took Violet way out to a big shopping centre, and they came back with it. Whew! It is fittingly called "Warriers into the Wild". That is not quite us, but suitably geared up, tomorrow we will head out to the Eastern wilderness.
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