In the beginning, I was late

I arrived in Seattle on time to see cloudy skies and coolish temps. I was put off by that initially, but as it took longer and longer to assemble the bike (needed a hammer, had to use a bottle jack-- brutally effective) the sky became brighter and brighter. Hot, too. 

There were a few problems on assembly, primarily because (a) both my brother John and I have largish (dare I say "manly?") hands leaving little room to maneuver parts, and (b) some parts weren't fitting. The seat is goobered up good, and the right-side pannier required gentle persuasion to mount to the frame. The final problem was the sun which burned me. My bad. 

My brother John was handy for moving large objects. The shipping weight of the bike, crate, and gear was 928 pounds. 

We finally finished it, and I started find raising for the trip:

No money yet, but I'm hopeful. Especially because I spent three days food budget for breakfast at 13 Coins. 

I'm writing this at a rest stop about 70 miles from Portland. I don't think I will make it to my goal today. 

Once again I brought too much. Looks like I will be helping the postal service out of its deficit. 

The SPOT is on now, so maybe you can see the track.