Departure

Sorry, no major mishaps yet.

Packing was a real bear. One month of stuff for two people, plus bikes and gear, all crammed into a Toyota Echo. We pretty much spent all of yesterday packing.

Here are the final checklists, all completed:

It all fit, and and off we went.



An uneventful eight hours later we arrived in the Bay Area. The most important thing was that the napinator worked great. I'd patent it, but then I'd have to deal with the whiplash liability claims.

We arrived at our good friends' house (Tom, Berit, Nathaniel, Sam, and Sven), and Berit cooked a fantastic dinner. Then we went to a rave.

Napinator

We don't want this trip to interfere with our afternoon naps, so it's time for one of Al's wacky inventions: The Napinator.

The Napinator will keep our respective heads from rolling from side to side while sleeping in the car. Slip out the normal headrest, and slip in this torture-device, and it's nap time.

Shakedown Cruise

To check that we had everything we'd need, and especially to check the air mattress that I'd gotten for $4 at a garage sale, we went on a quick one-night camping trip.

(Note that we won't take the truck across the country -- we used it for this trip because the route to the campsite includes several miles of dirt road.)



The mattress is in like-new condition (it's just like this one). It's as comfortable as our mattress at home and fits perfectly in the tent. The pump inflates it or deflates it in about one minute using four rechargeable AA cells (in D cell adapters).

By 3:30 AM it had deflated completely, and we were on the ground. Since it fit perfectly in the tent, we pretty much had to get out of the tent to blow it up again. I've since found the leak and repaired it with PVC cement and duct tape.

But we had a good time in general, and a great breakfast.

Introduction

Welcome to Al and Lena's blog for our car/bike trip from California to St. Louis and back. I'll warn you that this is going to be deadly boring and annoying to read unless we have some major mishaps. So keep your fingers crossed!

We have of course planned the trip in minute detail. I have written down this plan, and here it is:

1. Drive to St. Louis
2. Attend Jenny's Graduation Ceremony
3. Drive back

The plan also includes numerous charts and maps. Well, one map:

Note that due to a computer malfunction, it appears that we are headed for Cincinnati, but trust me, we're going to stop in St. Louis.

Before we begin I'd like to thank Bob and Marilyn and their 100% housebroken dog for housesitting while we're gone. Here's a picture of us handing over the keys, which will be done in the sky: