Departure Minus 8 1/2 hours and counting

The time has come. All the preparations are about done. The final packing and stowing of all the equipment needed for a trip like this is almost done. I have been scrambling all day to replace my SPOT sattelite device, as the one I have stopped working over the weekend. Thankfully, the SPOT help desk was working today and was able to switch my service account over to a new device that I got from REI. The game plan is to pull out of here at 4:30 a.m. tomorrow morning. I have heard nothing from the TV stations that were asked to do a human interest story about the ride and the Compassion Corner. It is kind of frustrating, but there is nothing I can do about it so I am not going to let it bother me. We were hoping to spread the word about the needs of the people served to a much broader audience, but no such luck. David Flaherty spent hours working on press releases etc and sent numerous advance notices out, so we did all we could. Hopefully, the North Penn Reporter will run something tomorrow. They were here to get information and take pictures last week, but nothing has been the paper to date. Initially, there were going to possibly be 5 of us going for the first day, but the weather predition of heavy rain, has that down to two. Dan Li from our church will be joining me for the first day. Gerry Guidice and Joe Badecki, two former collegues from my Commerce/TD Bank days plan to meet me in Silver Lake, NY on Wednesday and ride for a day or so as I head west. My next post to the blog should be from the road. Hopefully, from the home of a friend and former riding buddy Mike Ormont. Mike and his wife are surgeons and live in Keene, NH. By the time we reach them tomorrow night we will have logged 8 states and be headed west. As Willie Nelson says.... "On the Road Again" ! Rain!.. YUK I am expecting scenes like this tomorrow.