Finally on the road, plan for 2005 (whats left of it!)

Finally on the road!

The new shocks finally arrived and got installed on the motor home (rides like new!), we finally got on the road around 1pm on Wednesday the 5th. After 8 months of planning, we are finally full-time RVers.

Here is the plan for the remainder of 2005. First, we are heading to Wellsboro, PA. A place they call the ‘Grand Canyon of the east’. (We’ll let you know if it lives up to that). There is supposed to be some quality mountain biking and horseback riding there. From Wellsboro, on to Hershey, PA. (CHOCOLATE!!) Yeah, I know, not the greatest when it comes to chocolate, but looking for a plant tour and free samples!

From Hershey, we will turn to the South, heading for Asheville, NC and Tsali for some more mountain biking. It’s been about 3 years since we last visited here. We both loved the riding here and are looking forward to the return trip. From Asheville, we are headed to Canton, GA just a little North of Atlanta. We are going to check out a place called MTB Tandems (www.mtbtandems.com) this is a bike shop that specializes in tandem bicycles. They have tons of demos to try out. We are looking at getting a Ventana El Conquistador full-suspension tandem (www.ventanausa.com)

After Georgia, It’s pretty much I-40 across the country. The goal is to meet up with Laura’s dad in Santa Barbara, CA for Thanksgiving. We are anticipating short stops in the following cities: Nashville, Little Rock, Oklahoma City, Amarillo, Albuquerque, Flagstaff, Barstow, Los Angeles and finally Santa Barbara! We plan on a bit of an extended stay (4 or 5 days) in the Flagstaff/Sedona area to get in some more biking. This is absolutely the best place we have ever biked!

After Thanksgiving in Santa Barbara, we will spend some time with Laura’s aunt, who owns an olive farm in Santa Ynez. I’m sure she has plans to put us to work pressing oil and making jam (www.cookandladder.com)! From there we will head down to Santa Monica to visit with some more of Laura’s relatives. Of course, if you’re in Santa Monica, you have to stop at Supergo and Wheelworld; both are Supermarket sized bike shops!

To close out the year, we will head toward Las Vegas. We plan on storing the motor home there and catching a flight back to Michigan for Christmas. We will be home from December 21 to January 3rd. We will be back in Vegas just in time to celebrate my birthday on Jan 4th (remember, what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas!!) We are just now starting to put together plans for 2006. To be posted soon!

Rich