Let's Go!

It's 10:42 at this moment and there's a roughly 97% likelihood that we'll be on the road in 12 hours. In between there may be some sleep. I can't remember a "night before" as exciting as this. Before college? before grad school? before my first day of my first job? before our wedding? before our children were born?

We're asked all the time, "are you ready?" and each time we deflect. Of course we're not ready. You're never ready. Nothing in the world can prepare you except departing. We met on a bike tour across the United States. Nine weeks, four thousand miles and no amount of riding beforehand could prepare you for riding so many hours on consecutive days and sleeping on the ground, night after night.

Maybe there's a difference between "ready" and "prepared." One thing we are for sure is packed. Each of the four kids has a suitcase and a backpack. Each of us has a duffel with wheels and backpack straps. There's a bag that's almost entirely shoes. Good thing this first phase is in our own minivan.

I have a note in my prep-notebook that says, "if guitar, books and sheets." In human-speak, that means that if there's room in the van tomorrow for my guitar, I should remember to bring the songbooks and looseleaf lyrics/chords to help me entertain the family this summer. I hope there is but I think it's unlikely.

Tonight I installed the bike rack, played a thrilling game of kid-bike-tetris, and applied several locks to ensure that the bikes are still there in the morning. The van is parked in our driveway, nose out and as far back as possible. I also filled six water bottles and put them in the van.

Still, I'm certain that we are not ready and not prepared. Equally, I'm certain that it is time to go. We've been preparing full-time, both of us, for almost a month. We've been focused on preparations for about six months. We've been planning for about a year. We've been plotting for almost two years. We've been contemplating for about five years.

So, let's go.