Today we officially left for the first leg of the trip.  We determined earlier that not everything would fit inside the car and borrowed a soft-shell car top carrier (thanks sis!).  Today, last minute, we realize there are 2 sunroofs and no rack.  Plan B: Farm and Fleet has hitch mounted cargo carriers.  After 90 minutes of shopping, returning and then using what little testosterone I have to put it together, we were ready to get back to the loading process.  Lots of shuffling and Tetris skills gets us loaded, but not with room for the extra bikes.  All is well and there is our first taste of “well, that won’t fit”.

Scheduled departure time: 10am

Actual departure time: 2pm

Not bad.