Bill and Gerri

On or about May 15, 2013 Gerri and I will cross into Canada at the Sumas, Washington border crossing and bicycle east thru British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, New York, and Pennsylvania to ultimately arrive in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. The route is a combination of existing bicycle routes and Google suggested bicycle routes. From Lake Stevens, WA (By the way, we picked Lake Stevens as the start because we have a friend who lives there.) to Abottsford, British Columbia, the route is a Google suggested route. Most of the route from Abottsford to Owen Sound, Ontario is the Canadian Bicycling Association suggested route across Canada. Along the way there will be deviations to visit some of our Canadian friends. From Owen Sound, Ontario, we will follow the Adventure Cycling Association Underground Railroad Bicycle Tour south to ... read more

Well, these are the last two days of our adventure. Lady and the Tramp are tired and in need of cleaning and maintenance. They have served us well. Other than the broken shifter on Lady and the broken front rack bolt on Tramp, the bicycles held up well. Both are Cannondale touring bikes; Lady a T1 and Tramp a T2. They rest inside tonight in a little pavilion next to our tent. Tomorrow it is just a 45 km ride to Langen, Germany, where we will once again spend a few days with Manfred and Maria Haase, our hosts in Grimentz, Switzerland, and now at their home in Langen. The final day will be bittersweet! We so enjoyed the trip, but we are ready to go home. I think you can probably understand that feeling of ... read more

Bill and I have decided that Robbi is our good luck mascot -- it hasn't rained for two days and we haven't been lost since Linde gave him to us. Guess we had better keep him on the back of the bike for the next few days. It did indeed get cold last night; no clouds equals low temps. But we were packed and ready to go by 7:30 this morning. We had traveled this part of France in 2006 so decided to go a slightly different route this time, cycling through some small villages on our beloved back roads of France and along the canal via a bike path. Arrived in Strasbourg before 1:00, ate a good meal at a restaurant in front of the cathedral (with its beautiful stained glass windows dating back to ... read more

Let me begin by saying that we had the best spaghetti sauce ever last night for dinner. Now . . . here are the details. Yesterday blue skies greeted us as we awoke. By the time we had packed up the tent, the skies had turned cloudy with a bit of mist, a pattern of sun and clouds that persisted throughout the day, but it never quite rained, so we had no complaints. The bike path also vacillated throughout the day -- from gravel-packed to paved and back again -- as did the terrain -- from flat to hilly and back again. All in all, not a bad cycling day. While we were still on the German side of the river, we stopped at a bakery and enjoyed a snack before we crossed the river at ... read more

Though Switzerland is a land-locked country, we sure could not tell that yesterday as we were camped right on the Bodensee in Konstanz, Germany, across from Kreuzlingen , Switzerland. We watched people wind surfing, fishing, and sailing in the lake as we walked along the shore. As planned, we took the day off from bike touring. Instead, we biked just five kms. into Konstanz where we spent several pleasant hours wandering the streets, purchasing a few small articles and a donerbox (a shaved meat with french fries, smothered in a cucumber sauce) for lunch. Then we biked back to the campground, took a nap, did some bike maintenance, and played cards. Just as we were ready to hit the sack, the thunder and lightening began. I ran back from restroom, after brushing my teeth, reaching the ... read more