Well guys; the countdown begins. One week to go. ONE WEEK!!

This is crazy, we’ve been planning for months and months and now it’s nearly time to leave.
I’m virtually all packed, everything’s falling into place and I really couldn’t be more organized. However, you know the old saying “best laid plans…?” Yeah, well the first few days have already been changed and to top it all, the bike STILL hasn’t left the U.S.!!

We originally planned to spend the first couple of days in the UK with our good pals Jac & Jase while we made sure all was well with the bike and we had all we needed as well as a couple quick visits with the kids. Then the real adventure would begin on the 20th when we have a ferry crossing from Portsmouth (UK) to St Malo (France) booked.

That’s changed now! My dad (in France) has surgery scheduled the day after we arrive back in the UK and so I will now fly on ahead of Iain to be with my mum a bit earlier than planned. It’s not serious surgery.  A small procedure to prevent another stroke – he scared the pants off of us back in January but he’s doing well now and just needs his neck artery cleaning up a bit!
He’ll be fine but it’ll make me feel happier to be with mum while he’s in the hospital and it means I don’t have to try and be sympathetic about Iain’s seasickness!

…and the bike saga continues!
After all the drama from my last post, we thought it was sorted. She would be taken to JFK and would fly over. Ta da, problem solved. Although, to be honest, Iain wasn’t going to believe it until she was there. The first date range we had for the flight was 1st to the 5th of May.

Hmmm, that didn’t happen.

Then we were assured May 8th. Email sent yesterday to confirm all was on schedule…oh no, still waiting on customs clearance. WTF people? Can we actually get this done already?! And they are so blasé about it all. I swear, Iain is going to have a coronary before this is all over! As I type, he is on the phone to the UK end and trying (very hard) to remain calm!

It’s not so much the bike arriving on time. We know it only takes a day to leave/arrive but then there is all the uncrating and customs procedures that need to happen on that end before she can be released to us. It’s looking dicey that she’ll be ready to go when we arrive frown

In addition to this, wouldn’t you think that the shippers would have discussed items that would be prohibited for travel by air. Oh no, not our “super helpful” carriers! It was Iain who raised the subject with them. Ultimately, they had to break into the box and remove a couple small items which, thankfully, were stored in the crash bar pouches and not the locked panniers (they had declined to keep a key when we dropped her off!)

Apparently, he’s just been reassured that it will “definitely” be ready…hmmm, we’ll see!

I have to tell you though, I continue to impress myself with my packing skills!

Nine weeks of clothing, footwear and toiletries in one pannier bag. Including clothing for a range of temps; projected 40F in the Alps (plus wind chill factor) to 90F in Italy.

Thank God for washing facilities in AirBnBs, that’s all I can say!

……..why am I such a ‘techno fud’?!?!

Techno fud; tec-no fud, adjective One who hasn't a damn clue about what he/she is doing on a computer So I decided to start a blog. How hard can it be? I thought to my sweet delusional little self! I have the idea, I have a plan for subject content, I have the...

…….by golly folks, I think I’m getting it!

Fantabuloso; fan-tab-you-low-sow, adjective Describes something that is both fantastic and fabulous. With a Spanish twist to it so the speaker sounds smarter than he or she actually is. It is said with a rhythm to it i.e. fantabu-lo-so, or with a posh accent i.e....

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……..I’m back!!

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………we do things differently!

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……I got a new ride!

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…..back to Falling Waters State Park

  .....I got freedom and upgraded my wheels! Have you ever watched 'Grace and Frankie'? Hilarious Netflix original series with Lily Tomlin and Jane Fonda. If you haven't seen it you need to! Channeling my inner Grace, (you need to watch Season 4, Episode 6 to...

…..13 is not a bad number!

.....today is a great day; after 4 weeks of being restricted to using my (admittedly wonderful) soaker tub, I was finally able to stand unassisted and enjoy a good shower! One more week of the pins in and then I should be getting back on track and ready to ride and...

….I’m getting so organized!

...shit’s getting real folks! The bike is now booked on the transport ship – along with a fun night out in Savannah – and that makes it feel like this is really happening now! I have spent hours and hours, very literally (being immobile after surgery paid off),...

ATV fun; side blog…!

Marcus is here! Hip hip hooray! Marcus, aka "the boy", is our 26yr old son who is currrently living in the UK with his girlfriend Charly. They arrived a week ago and we've just been enjoying our time together, relaxing, catching up and doing some fun things. One of...

Europe 2018

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Follow our posts as we prepare for our 13 week tour of Europe that starts in May 2018!

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