Emotions

Paul P. here again, masquerading as Thom, the friendly burrowing rodent, who normally isn't very emotional, but for today, the first day of the southern tier bike trip, it was hard to escape.

As we begin this long adventure, many emotions flood through my system: Anticipation, trepidation, excitement, adventure, accommodation, preparation, apprehension, .... We've been planning this trip for over a year and it's finally starting.  Who knows what things will happen, what people we'll meet, what mechanical problems we'll have to figure out, how the group will get along, where we'll stay, what physical problems we'll have to endure, or where we'll get lost?  All we can hope for is that we'll be resourceful enough to overcome the obstacles that come our way and in the end be better persons for it.

Who knows what will transpire in the world as we travel through time and space?  What sort of trouble Trump will get our country into, how will the economy do or who will come out ahead in the November election?  Right now all we know is that day one is under our belts and despite a few mechanical adjustments and a long day with lots of climbing, we made it with everything intact and spirits in good shape.

I close with a couple of shots, one of downtown San Diego as we topped the Pacific crest and another of sunset at our first camp, just past Pine Valley, CA.