One week out.

Well, it looks like this wild adventure is really happening: Bar Harbor or bust! On Saturday I am Seattle-bound on Amtrak, having indulged in a sleeper car for the 46-hour ride. I’m taking Jajah’s advice and bringing along fairy lights for ambience (“it’s beautiful! we should get married here!”) so I can make the magical most of the rail experience. I’ll spend a couple of days in Seattle with friends and then head out on June 9.

This is likely the longest post I’ll make, because I’m drafting it on the computer, a luxury my clumsy little fingers are forgoing this summer. I expect mostly to post photos, with whatever commentary I have the energy and wit for and that phone keypads and auto-correct don’t enrage me into abandoning. I have more tech than I’ve ever carried before: my customary Kindle and phone (books and a flip phone on first tour in 2010!) are supplemented with a Garmin satellite tracker and a Wahoo ELEMNT. No, I don’t know why they spell it that silly way. It’s all astonishingly small and clever, but it requires some patience, and that is–to employ an obnoxious bit of corporate buzzspeak–my growing edge.

Speaking of things I am bringing. A pleasant surprise is that even going solo and through colder weather, I didn’t have to add any bags to my usual pack.

That’s it: rear panniers, a trunk rack bag, and a bear vault (to be sent home once I hit the plains), plus my top-tube bag and a bar-top feed bag that’s mostly for my phone and a map. I added a stove because Joyce usually carries it; rain pants and booties and a lightweight down jacket because I’ll be in the Northern Cascades in early summer; a bear vault and bear spray because same; a notebook; a pair of off-bike pants-shorts conversions; and a hand pump. I eliminated a few items of clothing, including all but one pair of padded shorts and my fire-starter kit because who am I kidding I never make fires on bike tour. I’ve been practicing padding-free after Joyce recommended it last summer, and so far so good. Somehow it all fits. WHAT AM I FORGETTING?!

I’m going to miss a lot of people and things, the top three being Andrew, Max, and my shower. The first two are pictured below.

I’ll miss friends and events, visits with family, the brief and glorious Chicago summer, my backyard honeysuckle and Concord grapes and yellow roses, air conditioning. My stomach does a slow flip every time I think about the 13 states (Washington, Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine!), two mountain ranges, and 4,200 miles between beginning and end. But I’m also very excited to see and smell and hear the country at bicycle speed; to see what my body and brain can do when challenged; to eat every snack; to wake up outside; to lose the rhythm of the workweek; to take no shower for granted; to take pictures and write postcards and feel lonely and content and free.

Several people have asked if I’ll be listening to music and podcasts, and so far the plan is no. I don’t generally listen to things on my bike, and I feel fairly confident I won’t get bored with the inside of my head. But there’ll be lots of hours and days, and I have been wrong before (I am told), so please drop recommendations for books and podcasts in the comments, and send me any up-tempo playlists on Spotify via text, email, or below.

Thanks for following along, and please comment liberally. I won’t be getting a lot of social input, so a little will go a long way! And thank you to Andrew for making this lovely space for me to share the trip with y’all.

Ever eastward, friends.