ROUTE PLANNING

With a little over two weeks before our departure, we convened for a much needed meeting.  We were successful in finalizing our route with the knowledge that it will change to some degree while we are on the road.  We decided to cross the Rockies via the Lolo Pass (Lewis and Clark in reverse) and then continue south to Yellowstone, Devil's Tower, Mount Rushmore, and into the Badlands.  There appears to be a magical Route 14 which runs along our desired path nearly 1000 miles, across the states of South Dakota, Minnesota and Wisconsin.  We’ve been concerned about navigation in areas without cell service, so we took photographs of the route to store on our phones (see photos).

We still are not sure how we will cross into Ontario, Canada from Michigan as bikes aren't allowed on the bridge at Sarnia, but Dave, who is from Grand Rapids, MI, assured us that a family member could meet us and take us across in a pick-up with our bikes in the back.  We plan to cross into NY at Niagara Falls then take one of the NY State bike routes (#5) along the Erie Canal, departing from it in Schenectady to head to Williamstown.  Williamstown is the only location that we have a scheduled stop.  On Thursday July 24, we have third row tickets to see Chris Pine in Fool for Love at the Williamstown Theatre Festival.  We’ll be 180 miles from the finish which gives us two days to get to Boston, dip our front wheels in the Atlantic near Castle Island, and get ready for our welcome home party at 6 PM Saturday July 26th.