Time for a Time Outta here!!
Thoughts before the kickstands go up: We try to take a bike trip every year; it’s a little indulgence we allow ourselves in the busy-ness of life. However in 2020 it was pointless to even think about taking an extended ride because of COVID. We certainly had the freedom to get out and ride but a bike trip requires more than just riding. Where would we stay? Were campgrounds open? Hotels? Where would we eat or buy groceries? But above all else, would whatever we found be a safe situation? Since the answer to that last question was the Big Unknown we stayed home and just dreamed about riding.
2021: I started getting calls for summer/fall wedding alterations before we left for Arizona in February so I had an inkling it could be a busy summer for me. Truly, I had no idea. Weddings postponed in 2020 were added to what I would call the typical busy-ness of a normal summer. A bike trip was becoming more of a necessity than an indulgence for me. I needed to get away in order to take a break.
Kim took a part-time job at
the Castle in May; basically he would do whatever needed to be done, mainly in
the maintenance area. The biggest draw
was that he could determine his schedule…if he wanted time off it was no
problem. Most weeks he worked full time
hours but when I mentioned getting away on the bikes he was all for it. We just had to pick a time so I could adjust
my work schedule accordingly and he could let Abe know.
Came up with a general
time-frame…Labor Day Weekend…and fine-tuned it as we got closer. We wanted to be home by Sept. 9th
so it was just a matter of deciding when to leave.
Our destination wasn’t real
clear either; however because we wanted to see the great-grandkiddos in
Ironwood, MI, we knew we were heading west.
Then we started throwing out options: Colorado, South Dakota, North
Dakota or just riding 4 days out and then turning around to ride back another
route. And somewhere along the line we
decided to camp instead of staying in hotels.
Not only does it save money but it’s much more in line with a Kim n
Karen Adventure. However, it wasn’t
until Kim mentioned taking his fish pole so we could make this an ‘eat only what we catch or forage’ trip
that the seed was planted in my brain for a possible destination.
First of all I nixed the ‘eat
only what we catch or forage’ idea…that leaves too much to chance and we both
like to eat. But his fishing idea was a good one and as we talked it over I
remembered a Google search I had done on another trip. Did another quick search to see if it was
feasible and suddenly our ride had a purpose: Find the headwaters of the Mississippi River. Don’t have a clue where we’ll go from there
but that’s just part of the adventure. 😉
Tuesday, Aug. 31…Getaway
(Earth, Wind & Fire)
It feels like a good start to another Kim n Karen Adventure. 😎
Tuesday's miles: 68
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