As it happens in life, there is another side to this story. Many of you have seen the movie A Few Good Men when Jack Nicholson screams “You Can’s Handle the Truth!” Well, just imagine Sasa instead of Jack, screaming “You Are Going in the Mud!” That’s what we are dealing with here.

I tried my best to distract him this summer so he gets this crazy trip idea off his mind, including convincing him to come to Hawaii with Olja and spend some relaxing time there during the two weeks originally scheduled for this BDR trip. And, to my full surprise, it worked! Sasa and Olja showed up in Hawaii. Yeah! No mud this year! While enjoying our time on the island, the last thing on my mind was the possibility of still going down to Idaho.

That was the case until a massive truck showed up in front of my house unloading Sasa’s bike. I guess, after all, it’s happening. It took me a few weeks to find all my neglected camping and bike touring gear. And, of course, as an experienced adventurer, I decided to test it all in my back yard.

While anxiously anticipating some interest and good questions from the neighbors walking by, to my disappointment, the most frequent question I got was “Did your wife kick you out?”. But as I write this, both bikes are loaded, tested and ready to go for this year’s adventure.

Talking about this year’s adventure, to Sasa’s credit, he spent many days over the last three years planning every single detail of this trip. The plan he developed is truly impressive. I’ve never seen him this excited about one of our trips. I can’t wait to get going.

Here is one of the trip maps (Idaho portion) that Sasa produced. Just look at that color coding – piece of art!

Z