The night before

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Fred and his wife Lois dreamt up, organized and will lead our version of the Corps of Discovery. Fred and Lois are our Lewis and Clark. I guess that makes my parents Sacagawea and Charbonneau. I just hope I'm not Sgt. Floyd. But we are going backwards, so maybe Sgt. Floyd would have the opposite fate -- whatever the opposite of appendicitis may be.

Fred has biked all over everywhere and his experience will be a valuable asset in leading the riders on a reverse course of Lewis and Clark's trip to winter quarters. My father tells me Fred gets lost sometimes, but it's common knowledge that he has difficulty reading, let alone following maps.

I found out I was wrong about a number of trip details. My parents corrected me about the starting point of the journey. They pointed out that we will not begin in Billings, but Great Falls. We should reach Billings tomorrow and then continue on to Great Falls Thursday. And after that? We go backwards; the senior generation on bikes, me in Fred's truck. Fred has never been a passenger in car driven by me, and I wonder if he would recosider entrusting me with his vehicle if he had this singular experience.

If all goes well, my mother and Lois will leave the company not at some undefined point in the vastness of the Great Plains, but at Bismark, ND. From there, they will head back to Park Rapids in a truck. The men will soldier on, biking through the Dakotas, into Iowa and not end "somewhere" in that state, but specifically in Council Bluffs. I like to think the end will come outside of one of those casinos. We could count our lucky stars there.

I have been preparing for the journey by alternating between states of violent illness and comfortable rest. Also, I found my glasses. Without them I can't see too well and would be a dangerous "sag" driver. I don't know what the sag of sag driver means, but such mysteries will become clear as we move forward.

I've had the pleasure of running around with my brother, Peter -- recently returned from Kenya by way of Dubai. I regret that I couldn't beat, physically and spiritually, Peter at badminton. Seeing Peter dive into the dirt time and time again straining with every ounce of energy to unsuccessfully return a deftly struck birdie remain some of the most pleasant childhood memories. Oh well. These days, Peter works out more or less all the time and never changes his jeans. These are his choices and we have all learned to accomodate them.

I've included some photos of Fred and my Dad biking in Ireland.

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Photos

Fred riding
Our leader Fred in Ireland.

Riding
Here's my dad on the road in Ireland.

Comments

[anonymous]

Great blog, Chris!

[Cheryl]

so happy to hear from you. Glad you got off to a good start.

[Diana Carter]

Great Fun to read!
I am looking forward to hearing about their adventures along the way.