Trying to get all my ducks in a row...whatever that means

That's right...a few days back I registered to take the NCLEX on JUNE 15! No joke.....8am start time down in Richmond, Virginia. Time is of the essence. Been spending the hours studying nursing information, trip planning, piling gear in Shane's old room...and biking seein how summer like the spring has been feeling, with the exclusion of today (rain, overcast, mid 50's, etc).

Anyways...........

June 15th --> NCLEX exam

June 18th/19th --> flying from Dulles airport out to Portland, Oregon (just waiting on sister to confirm the flight date since that was my graduation gift from her...thanks Elizabeth!)

June 20th (?) --> start biking


I've been disecting the maps looking for major attractions/parks/rivers/forests where i might want to log a "zero" mileage day and soak things in. It's overwhelming, to say the least, how much there is to see...how many rivers there are to fish.

Tomorrow (Saturday) I"m biking from Harrisonburg, Va to Charlottesville, Va to do a 'trial' ride...it's only gonna be 65 miles or so...but i figure it'd be a good tril to see what it's like to bike with a full load of gear strapped on. It has a good climb up Afton Mountain so i can see how the balance/weight feels going up...and then down the mountain.

I'll just sleep over at Loretta's palce for the night, play some tunes with the Vitts and then bike back to the 'burg on Sunday to carry on with my studying antics.

Coagulation of gear

Well, hopefully within a month's time I'll be in the saddle pushing the pedal towards the ground. Hopefully this time next month (give or take a few weeks, naturally) I'll be somewhere on some secondary road out in Oregon. Things are up in the air regarding branding a specific date on the airplane ticket to fly out to Oregon. I blame this, as I do all of my problems, on nursing school. Yup...gotta take nursing boards, which, once behind my back, will only catapult me towards as many winding, small-town-American roads my rump can tolerate. So, in summary, an itineray..

Route: Transamerica Bike Route (Route 76) -- Astoria, Oregon --> Yorktown, Virginia
Total Trip Miles: 4,200 miles

Early to mid-June = take nursing boards
A few days after = fly to Portland, Oregon
Following day (mid June?) = start to pedal from Astoria, Oregon
July 19th = Boulder, Colorado for a few days to hang out with the Vitts
Early August = arrive in Yorktown, Virginia

Idea is to bike anywhere from 100-150 miles/day...it all depends on the exact start date and in gettin out to Boulder.
Have been buying supplies and fixing necessary parts on me velo over past couple months. Tomorrow gonna pick up the racks and saddlebags....been mulling over the Transamerica maps for past couple months, but alas, they fail to accelerate time to the time of departure...