A little packing and a little jamba juice

First Aid, tooth brushes, toothpaste, lotion, sunscreen, spare tubes, pump, bikes, cycling apparel, slippers for the showers, cycling shoes, running shoes, nutrition, sunglasses, diapers, wipes, socks for cold weather, socks for cycling, a pair of jeans, pajamas, dental floss, shampoo + conditioner, finger nail clippers, deodorant (although our stink after a few days may not be able to hide), patch kit, pump, panier bags, chariot, Whistler's toys, Whistler's National Park Passport, chapstick, shower stuff, money, Id's, cell phones, and yes the list continues on and on and on....

However; we have to limit all that we take to keep our load as light as we can. Yes I would like to think I can bring everything I own, but then again I know I do not want to travel with more than I truly need. Planning for our trip is truly teaching me to downsize. I realize that I have more than I need and need less than I would like to have. 

For the past week Whistler has been living with a limited amount of toys and still I have not seen any sign of boredom. He continues to amaze me at all the creativity he comes up with. With only his tractors and trash trucks, and a load of blocks left in his room, he still leads me to think he has more than he needs. 

He has found adventure through the boxes in our almost, somewhat, kind of empty apartment. He has found adventure in driving to our storage unit to drop off another load for the second time of the day. 

And today I have to say we said good bye to his crib. I wasn't really attached to it anyways considering he never really slept in it. He decided that jumping up and down was more fun than sleeping in the crib and a nice hit to the face with blood all over led us to take it down. 

Memories come and memories go... it's time for our family to venture off and create a whole new world of memories. I can not believe that we leave in less than 10 days.

Even through the business of Nick at work and me and Whistler cleaning out our place, we managed to find some time for Jamba Juice with Barbara. One thing Whistler and I love to do is make smoothies, but Nick decided to pack the blender...to make up for it he brought us home a nice jamba juice card.... thanks...

Jamba Juice, chit chatting, and smiles were a nice way to end the day......

 

Little does he know....

Never would I have imagined, at 30 years old I would be preparing for a bike trip cross the country with my partner and my son. When teachers, professors, parents ask what do you want to do with your life, where do you think you will be in ten years from now, never would I have imagined this is where I would be.
Today I look at all that I have accomplished in my life and the many different roads I have traveled and yet never have I traveled such a road or roads that I am about to bike across for 3 months. 

Nick on the other had an opportunity as a young fourteen year old to bike from California to Virginia with a bunch of college students. 
Little did he know that at the age of 34 he would be preparing for a bike ride with not a bunch of college kids, but his partner and his son.

Little does our son (a bright adventurous 2yr. old) realize what lies only a couple weeks away. 
From the time Whistler was a newbie he has been venturing into the world from what we refer to as his space ship. With mommy running him all over the streets of Kailua Kona, and daddy biking him from beach to beach, he has spent many hours growing up in his chariot.

I know some have asked why are we biking with a two year old on such a long trip and others like to say that he won't remember the trip, why not wait until he is older.
Honestly, Nick and I feel there is no better time than now to take this trip. Somewhere in our son's heart and mind he will remember riding in his chariot behind his daddy all over the United States. He may not understand which state we are in, but he will be able to see new elements he has not had the opportunity to see living on an island.  


What a better way for Whistler to experience the parts of the world, but to experience them first hand. He will have the opportunity to see new parks to play on, new foods to eat, different campsites to spend his nights sleeping, and many many more excitements. 

We have already been talking about the yummy apples we get to eat when we get into Washington, the bears we may encounter through the Rocky Mountains, the off beaten trails through Wyoming to get to Yellow Stone, an Amtrak ride from Denver-to Chicago-to-Winona, Mn. (just to get Nick his cheese curds), an Amtrak ride out of Milwaukee-to-Kentucky, reaching the Smokey Mountains, making our way down to Georgia and hopefully not being greeted by the Florida Gators as we get near my parents house..........

 
 

My parents left Sunday and now it is time to refocus. It's time to pack, it's time to take loads to storage, it's time to plan for this upcoming bike trip. It's time....it's time.... it's time... 
We are only getting closer to our time to leave, with 16 days left and so much to do.


I couldn't thank my parents enough for all their help while they were in town. Not only watching Whistler and playing with him as much as possible, but thanks for helping us with packing and cleaning out the condo. Having an extra set of hands sure helps get a whole lot more accomplished, we truly felt like we accomplished a great deal in a short amount of time. So thank you to my parents.

Poppy & Grammie

Now that the parents are back home safe and sound, the check list is a must:

Anatomy of a First Aid Kit

• 2 absorbent compress dressings (5 x 9 inches)
• 25 adhesive bandages (assorted sizes)
• 1 adhesive cloth tape (10 yards x 1 inch)
• 5 antibiotic ointment packets (approximately 1 gram)
• 5 antiseptic wipe packets
• 2 packets of aspirin (81 mg each)
• 1 blanket (space blanket)
• 1 breathing barrier (with one-way valve)
• 1 instant cold compress
• 2 pair of nonlatex gloves (size: large)
• 2 hydrocortisone ointment packets (approximately 1 gram each)
• Scissors
• 1 roller bandage (3 inches wide)
• 1 roller bandage (4 inches wide)
• 5 sterile gauze pads (3 x 3 inches)
• 5 sterile gauze pads (4 x 4 inches)
• Oral thermometer (non-mercury/nonglass)
• 2 triangular bandages
• Tweezers
• First aid instruction booklet

Plus a few more things we added on our own...

Appropriate clothing for Higher Elevation 

The Ogre

The Troll

Test riding the Surly (our bikes are definitely important) with weight from the panier bags

Dialing into the rode map with Whistler's help of course

Okay so maybe Whistler wasn't really helping daddy with the mapping; he and I were taking turns drawing. My fish is the upper left and Whistler's fish is the bottom right (no help from me...all by himself)...

And the list will go on and on and on and on......................................

4 weeks... Touchdown Washington...

We blink our eyes only to wake up and realize how time seems to pass by so quickly. It's as if just yesterday Nick and I began chatting about biking cross country; however, yesterday was really months and months and months ago. 

Time sure does go by quickly and now we are down to the last few weeks before we say goodbye Hawaii and hello to the mainland, where all of our adventures and new paths will begin. We have been in the process of preparing for this bike trip, making sure we have all the necessary materials to help us along the way. Never would I have imagined how much planning and preparation goes into such an adventure. I suppose it helps a great deal to have a partner who knows where we are going and how to read a road map for that matter. I on the other hand can manage the packing, the putting together of materials, and making sure we have all the right stuff for our little man Whistler. You ask me to read a rode map and I am good for pretty much nothing!
It still seems as though we have quite a bit left to do before we actually board the plane and take off to our first destination, which will begin in Bellingham, Wa, where our great family friend (a.k.a the other mother Carol) will be waiting for us at the airport.
Until then, we have the last details of the trip to route (or should I say Nick will be doing the routing) and we have to make sure we save some special time for my parents while they are in town visiting us.

View Washington in a larger map

...Still Training....

Bike Park...all about my training

PATH...Productions

This is me at my play group... Last week we had special bike helpers (path) there teaching us all kinds of things. They taught me about fitting my helmet, bike safety, and how to be safe while riding my bike.

  This is me just playing around, not considered bike safety; however...