Lets do this!!

So I finished up packing. At least I have everything that I am taking as I don't have a single place left to stuff anything.

I talked to P-man earlier today and he is rolling down the road on his way to Memphis with both bikes and will be meeting up with Graham tonight. Wow, this is really happening!!

I decided I would update my google maps file and add in Arkansas because looking at all the milage we are going to do without Arkansas made me scared. Adding more will make me feel much better right? Holy crap we are riding a long way!! Why is this just sinking in as you are 2 hours away from getting on a plane you may be asking. Hmm, good point. Well here is the updated map.

Packing up and getting ready

Well tomorrow is the day the trip begins. I can't believe how fast this day has gotten here. Seems just like yesterday Palmer, Graham and I were riding across Tennessee dreaming of one day doing the whole trail.

Tonight will be filled with last minute packing details and putting the final touches on everything. Palmer should be picking up the Uhaul about now and starting to load up motorcycles. Uhaul, if you are reading this we would never load motorcycles in your vehicles (but we are).

On the right hand side you will see a link to a sub blog. Not to say that it is a lesser version of this spectacular piece of writing and photography but it has a very limited purpose. For this trip I purchase a SPOT device that will allow me to check in with friends and family when I don't have wifi or a cell signal. It is a pretty cool little device (check out www.findmespot.com to learn more). All the blog http://tatprogress.blogspot.com/ will do is have our location posted as I check in.

I will be posting our location periodically, like the one below, as we go but for anyone who really wants to know where we were most recently you should check it out.

Also, Natalie and I went out for a final nice dinner before I hit the road and she gave me the coolest present, a flip-cam!! So with this super cool little video cam I can post video on here as we go across. Airport security is going to hold me forever with all the electronics I am carrying tomorrow.

For now we have a wide open map with nothing but a route. Can't wait to start putting some locations on there as we head across.

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Relaxing weekend

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Natalie and I headed over to Whidbey Island this weekend. We were going to try to stay over on the island but after calling around everywhere Friday and Saturday we found everything was either booked or $350 a night. There was one campground that was first come first serve so I tossed some camping gear in the car just in case.

We made it over to the island around 2:30 and headed straight for the first come first serve campsites. By some crazy miracle we ended up grabbing a campsite. So, with our sleeping plans all taken care of I started to explore Whidbey a little. Natalie explored her eye lids for a while which was well deserved after an 18 mile training run that morning...



and I went out to explore the fort that I had heard was cool. I got up to the fort and instantly felt like I was 7 years old. There were so many cool places to climb around and holes to fall in, soooo cool!!



Anyway, I explored around for quite a while and then went back to camp to check on sleeping beauty. On the way down I ran across this little guy



I got back to camp about the time Natalie was moving again and we setup camp, visited with our neighbors for a while and then headed out to a gallery opening that a co-worker of Natalie's was featured in. We had a great time at the art show; one of those times when you look at your watch and time has flown by. From the gallery we headed to eat what would be hands down the best meal I have ever eaten in the US (The best anywhere is currently held by an Italian place in Victoria, BC). I had a plate of mussels that were pulled out of the water that afternoon for an appetizer, and then Natalie and I both had Halibut that was so fresh. Everything at the restaurant was local which = really fresh and you could taste it.

After such a great dinner we retired to our campsite for the night. The next morning we got up and took a little road trip up Whidbey Island, over deception pass, and back over to I5 which took us back down to Seattle. Such a relaxing weekend and I am very sad to see it end.

Next weekend will be spent doing last minute preparations for the TAT (Trans America Trail) ride with Palmer. Meeting Palmer in Memphis where he will have two motorcycles waiting and then we take three weeks to ride from there to the Oregon coast all off-road. Stay tuned...

It has been a while but I made it out for another trip

I got out last weekend with Dan and Frank for a little east side desert camping. The plan was to hit up some fishing, get some sun, and take it easy for the weekend. We were sucessful in each of our goals. Unfortunately the fish were sunfish only. Actually that is not true, I think Dan did manage to throw a bass over his shoulder and into the weeds while fly fishing.

In the end we all had a great time. We also managed to see a rattlesnake wich was very cool. I think I got a little too much sun if that is possible but it felt great anyway.

Hopefully we can get another trip going before I head out for 3 weeks of motorcycle riding with my brother but time will tell.

Skagit Tulip Festival

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Natalie and I went up to the Skagit Tulip Festival today and all I can say is wow!! It really looked like walking through a painting. The fields looked fake just like I think Mount Rainier looks like a fake backdrop for a movie.

Not too much to say about the trip except we had a great time. I would go back next year in a heartbeat.

Back to the, back to the beach y'all

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Note: Tons of pics (tried to keep it down to 50) due to the good weather. I kind of went nuts on the boardwalk photos but they are cool so there.

Well it was strike 2 in the search for the whales. With the weather promising to be extremely nice I decided to head back out to the peninsula this past weekend for solo hike take 2. It is prime time for whale migration so I thought I might see a few but instead I ended up with another great weekend of backpacking and lots of sun as the icing on the cake.

I went to the same trailhead this week but at the rangers recommendation I headed south instead of doing the loop.

So the wildlife list was; a few seals, several bald eagles, lots of star fish, elk, a few snakes, and some type of heron.

Check out my pics and you can see the super sweet campsite I grabbed too.

It was a great weekend. Dan, Laura, Frank, and I are trying to get another trip together in three weeks so stay tuned for more.

Gortex is great!

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This last weekend I went out to the peninsula to hike the Ozette loop on the coast. The hike is a 9 mile loop on the coastal section of Olympic National Park and is beautiful.

It was misting when I showed up at the trailhead around 2pm Saturday and kept it up until about 30 minutes before I got to my campsite when it really started raining. The hike out is a 3 mile boardwalk through old growth forest and a few bog areas. One description I read about the hike said it was like hiking through Jurassic Park and now I can see why. The trees were massive in places and I have never seen so many huge ferns in my life.

Once I got out to the beach I realized I had picked the tides pretty badly because there was no coast to hike. I got up onto the coastal park of the trail that is washed away in many places. After fighting up and around several washouts I was soaked through from breaking through ferns. After a little while the tide receded and I was able to climb back down to the beach and hike there.

I got into my campsite about 6, quickly setup my tent and tossed everything inside. After changing into head to toe gortex, grabbing my block of cheese and beer I had brought along, I headed out to climb one of the many short sea stacks and watch a seal search for dinner.

Once it started getting dark, and raining harder, I retired to the tent and read until bedtime around 9:30. To many people this sounds like hell but I cannot think of a better place to be.

I got up Sunday morning to more rain but a bone dry tent. I made a little breakfast and tried to explore the tide pools. When I got to the beach I realized the wind had picked up to about 30-40mph and it was nearly impossible to see where I was going. I reluctantly headed back to camp, picked up my pack, and headed to into the wind toward the trailhead that would take me back to the car.

Fighting the wind and rain while stumbling over the rocks on the beach was tough but was over quickly enough. I made a little detour to try to find some indian petroglyphs (sp?) over at wedding rocks but gave up after about 15 minutes. I will wait until the sun is out to find those.

Once I got off the beach it was a short hike back to my car and warm dry clothes. The weather is supposed to be nicer this weekend coming up so I am kicking around the idea of heading back out.