The Beatles song "Good Morning" keeps rolling through my head. Of course Kari is up slightly before the alarm, rubbing my arm in that friendly way that says "Good morning" or perhaps it's "get up! bum!" :) Adrenaline kicks in as I think about the day ahead. Okay, I'm up!

It's currently 5:08AM, and I just had some protein powder pancakes, which taste much better than they sound. (Ingredients courtesy of my Kari's body-building-esqe diet.) Weather calls for scattered showers possible across my route, today. Hopefully I'll get enough advance warning to don the Frogg Toggs before getting anything too bad.

I ad the bags packed night before last. Wow, they feel heavy. I'd be worried about them snapping off the rails, except that during my last trip I discovered that their pretty-plastic looks were belied by some toughness which can ony be appreciated after something regrettable happens. Among the late additions, despite my comments in the previous post, is a 3.5 pound Hewlett-Packard "notebook." It's a bit like a "netbook" but just a tad bigger and heavier. Certainly lighter than a full laptop. HP, if you're reading this, perhaps you can do a "torture test" commercial (assuming it makes it). If not, it's still within the 90 day Costco return period....Love that return policy. Hopefully this will allow me to post some pictures as I go. The one advantage of making this trek solo is that I can pull over for pictures whenever I choose.

Dave sent me the URL for my "northern counterpart," Scott's trip http://www.sandback-roadtrip.blogspot.com/. This will give you some appreciation for our tour planner.

Scott and his wife will be doing a similar crazy-long drive (thanks Dave!) :), but from Alaska. You S.E.A.T. guys will appreciate that he's on a BMW, whereas I'll be making it on a humble FJR. At least if I break down, I'm not likely to get eaten by a bear, or carried off by mosquitoes. I should have arranged for him to bring me some souvenir to swap mid way at the meeting point.