T minus one week and counting . . .

It is hard to believe that we are so close to our launch date!  Roger and I have been trying to get everything ready, and lately we arise in the morning and ask each other, "how long have you been lying awake?" Ah, if only we could just turn our brains off when it's time for sleep!

Roger has been creating routes for us - some in the early stages are more structured and will likely prove to be mostly what we do . . . others are so far out on the horizon that he's just asking Google maps to craft a path so we have some rough idea of the number of miles we'll need to cover.  We've purchased a handful of detailed guides from Adventure Cycling, and have the loan of others from friends. We will have a computer with us, so I foresee that we'll stop from time to time to do some research and update our routes for the coming leg of the journey in a coffee shop somewhere. Because surely there will be many coffee shops along the way!

Of particular concern to me in my preparations is getting things squared away with my volunteer duties at Redlands Conservancy. I've been keeping track of member data and contributions for some years, and so I had to figure out how to pass that task along to someone else while I am gone. As part of that job, I worked with several students at the University to fashion a new database that will most certainly work better and give us easier access to information. But the conversion required I clean up my decade-old spreadsheet. Roger has wondered what on Earth I am doing up here for so many hours! At last I see the light at the end of the tunnel.

We have also had to think through how to handle financial dealings while we are away. Roger will keep up with payments and such on our little laptop. This requires that he move our records (Quicken) and install that application on the new computer. (Another reason to hit the coffee shop!)

We are both pretty healthy, but we thought it prudent to get check-ups before heading out.  Roger's taken a statin for a while to moderate his cholesterol - so getting a six month stash of that was a bit of a process as well.  My trigger finger (long finger, left hand) was acting up again, and clearly there was no time for another operation before we left. So I had another injection, and I am now prepared with a script for Naprosyn should the inflammation and swelling return (which I am sure it will!) This particular ailment might not seem all that critical, but I have found in the past that getting up and out of the tent requires that I place my weight on my hands, and when they are inflamed, it's truly difficult to manage.

Ah, what does it take to get away from it all?  Turns out you have to take a fair amount of "it" with you!