Tuesday, April 4, 2006

Day 0: Tuesday, April 4

This trip got off to an exhausting start. Since my flight to Portland, Oregon flew out in the early morning, I left Flagstaff, Arizona at about 1:30 am on a Greyhound bus headed to Sky Harbor Airport in Phoenix. I met Shayne in Portland and we got a hotel room near the airport. Loading all of the gear unto my bike was a scary experience. It quickly became apparent that I brought too much stuff. I was able to send some items back in the bike case. As I attempted to lift the bike now, I knew that I should have prepared better for this trip of a lifetime. While I had gone for a couple of rides, my bike was less than two months old... and I had never ridden when it was loaded down with all the gear! On top of that, I am still suffering the repercussions of the flu that I just got over. Unfortunately, I left my jacket hanging in my sister's closet. I called her, and she was kind enough to sent it to the Post Office in Walterville, a small town I expected we would be passing through in about a week. We grabbed some dinner at a Chinese restaurant near the hotel. As I lay in bed tonight, it is weird to think that I don't know the next time I will be sleeping with a roof over my head.