Danneaux's Tour de Yerrup

[brummie]

Maybe you should have a second mask stating: " Just Eaten" & " Do not Disturb" ?

[Danneaux]

Maybe you should have a second mask stating: " Just Eaten" & " Do not Disturb" ?

I like that one even better, Brummie!

'Should've asked first; you guys have the *best* ideas!  

Interesting design, that mask. The dome leaves room for eyelashes and blinking eyes and feels like looking 'round in a darkened room, but I wasn't prepared for all the "Eye Bra" jokes.  

All the best,

Dan.

[jags]

  you'll be fine dan just dont ware it beside an irishman.

[Danneaux]

Yikes!  

Just discovered I had the micro-SDXC card for *domestic* journeys mounted in the GPS instead of the one with my Euro maps.

Wouldn't do to fire it up in Croatia only to find directions to Vya, Nevada, human population ~3-9 depending on how many are visiting at the time, sage grouse population 501,247, and home to the Old Yella Dog Ranch: http://www.oldyelladogranch.com/index.html ...and... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vya,_Nevada

Checking everything one last time to make sure I didn't pull a similar stunt elsewhere in my packing. I remembered the phone-charging cord and transformer/plug adapter, so things are looking good!

Best,

Dan. (...who thinks it would be easier to check now than fix later)

[jags]

Best of luck Buddy i'll be there in spirit along side ya.


 Anto

[Donerol]

Maybe you should have a second mask stating: " Just Eaten" & " Do not Disturb" ?

Na, it should say "Cyclist - keep feeding" 

Have a great trip, Dan - look forward to hearing all about it sometime.

[macspud]

Safe trip Dan,
I am excited for you, I'll be eagerly awaiting the trip reports. All the hard work and planning are done now all that's left is to enjoy the experience.

Iain.

[JimK]

Safe travels, Dan! Take the time to smell the roses!

[Andre Jute]

We're with you in spirit, Dan. (We know you don't drink. We'll be taking the toasts on your behalf.) Have fun. It is permitted, even in Germany.

[Slammin Sammy]

+1 for our best wishes to you Dan for a safe journey and Godspeed! Wish I could ride "wing man" with you on this one!

Take care, and stay in touch.

Sam

[Danneaux]

Thanks for the well-wishes, everyone!  

Flight leaves at 8AM local time (PDST) tomorrow (Friday), lands 16:15PM Saturday in Sofia, so it is getting close now! Exciting! My airlines app says to see a counterperson for personal check-in, but that has happened to me before when checking in for international flights at my small local airport. They want to see the bags and screen them on behalf of their partner carriers. Fingers crossed this won't be a snag. Just a bit left to do on the packing -- I've left my summer-season down bag out to fluff as long as possible before stuffing it, for example. Lots of sticky note reminders to check so I won't leave things like that behind.  

Take the time to smell the roses!

Sage advice, Jim, and I thank you and the others who have kindly offered it and plan to take it to heart. Yes, the whole point of the trip is to see things. The itinerary is a framework to lend structure to the time, but isn't set in stone. If I choose to see something or some place along the way in greater depth at the expense of total distance...it will all be good.

Now, I need to remember that. Going alone in remote areas as I often do, there's not a lot else to do except ride, so I've acquired the habit. On those tours, the journey is the primary focus due in part to necessity; delays could force me past my carried stores of foodstuffs and water. Here, it will be different. There'll be stores for reprovisioning, people to meet along the way, sights to explore in greater depth, and the chance to *experience* it as well as ride through new places. Luxury! I keep reminding myself this will be Europe and not the trackless forests of the Cascades, Calapooyas, and Coast Range or the deserts of the Great Basin. There's even whole rivers (the Danube, for example!) to navigate by. What a treat! The GPS and compass may relax a bit on this tour.

I'll do my best to check in beyond basic administration with occasional periodic brief reports. I'll be using my smartphone exclusively for all comms; it is proving a superb alternative to my usual compact laptop/netbook. I'll miss participating so much as a member, but I'll still monitor the Forum and will drop in for the occasional quick skim-read as well.

All the best and many thanks,

Dan. (...who used to lead tour groups professionally and would take you all along on this one if he could)

[jags]

Enjoy Dan

anto.

[Matt2matt2002]

I'll be looking up for your plane Saturday afternoon.
If you want to share your flight number I can track it on an app and give you a wave?

Matt

[Relayer]

Have a great time Dan, wishing you lots of sunshine, tail winds, good food, and interesting / friendly people.

Jim

[Danneaux]

If you want to share your flight number I can track it

That sounds fun, Matt; maybe I can get the pilot to blink the lights or something.

Here's the schedule. Dates and times are local to the departing/arriving airports:

OUTBOUND
Friday, 9May-Saturday, 10May:
• Eugene, OR (EUG) to Portland, OR (PDX) via Alaska/HorizonAir Flt. 2036, 8AM-8:40AM
• Portland, OR (PDX) to Atlanta, GA (ATL) via AlaskaAir Flt. 752, 10:05AM-5:50PM
• Atlanta, GA (ATL) to Paris-Charles de Gaulle (CDG) via AirFrance Flt. 689, 8:45PM-11:10AM
• Paris-Charles de gaulle (CDG) to Sofia, Bulgaria (SOF) via AirFrance Flt. 1788, 12:35PM-4:15PM

RETURN
Thursday, 11Sept-Friday, 12 Sept:
• Bucharest, Romania (OTP) to Paris-Charles de Gaulle (CDG) via AirFrance Flt. 1889, 3:10PM-5:20PM
• Paris-Charles de Gaulle (CDG) to Los Angeles, CA (LAX) via AirFrance Flt. 76, 7:10PM-9:40PM
• Los Angeles, CA (LAX) to Portland, OR (PDX) via AlaskaAir Flt. 563, 8:35AM-10:54AM <-- 14-hour nighttime layover @ LAX before leaving for Portland next morning. Everything else is pretty reasonable or borderline tight wrt layovers/transfers. Not bad for the USD$149 round-trip ticket cost.
• Portland, OR (PDX) to Eugene, OR (EUG) via Alaska/HorizonAir Flt. 2643, 2:50PM-3:30PM

All this can be entered into various online flight trackers and some show an animation (a really, really s-l-o-w animation) of the plane in flight over a map to show progress. A similar graphic will show as a choice on the screen in the seatback ahead or me or on the bulkhead, depending on how the overseas planes are configured.

Last flight I took to the NL six years ago, the plane was stuck at the Portland departure gate with mechanical problems. 13.5 hours in the boiling 36°C sun without A/C didn't help tempers, and the port authorities were called to bar the exit doors after people tried to leave when the toilets overflowed. Lots of Adventure there. The Linux-based onboard entertainment system kept rebooting in flight and with it, the animated plane would jump or reset on the map. Despite this, the view looked okay out the window but I saw Ironman (or parts of it) four times. It wasn't that good. I itched to get out of my seat, open the service panel and *fix* it, but I don't think my assistance would have been welcomed mid-flight. Just glad the problem wasn't tied into the actual navigation systems and we arrived safely.

Oh! Last time, I (everybody else, as well) spent what seemed a lot of time in-flight filling out little green customs forms and doing brain exercises to see if we could remember details and values of what we'd stored in the cargo hold. The purpose was to match against a similar form filled out on the return flight for customs. I still remember the elderly gentleman sitting next to me, writing, "I dunno, a bunch of stuff. I'll sort it out when I return". I'll bet he did! Either that, or no one looks at the forms and they were intended to keep us quiet and occupied for awhile.

All the best,

Dan. (...who will indeed be looking for some waving hands or messages spelled out below)