"Sort-of-Sabbatical" Launch!

"Sort-of-Sabbatical" Day One, Sunday, June 3

Dust. Mop.  Clean out fridge.  Type out sheets of information.  Not exactly how I usually begin a motorcycle camping trip.  But since I'll have sub-letters arriving in my absence, it must be done. I'm guessing I get out of here around 3:00, if I'm lucky.  Which is exactly why I've only planned to ride 100 miles today - a wholly unglamorous first leg from Tucson to a Phoenix suburb. At least it will be good for a test run the new packing set up (I've never carried so much!) and the heat.

Ready, set... Bucket List!
Included on board: What I hope will be a month's worth of my granola recipe, and two enormous calzones, constructed from odds and ends left in my freezer and then frozen.

Miraculously, at 3:05, I hit the starter button and the Ducati awakens.  I've never been so excited just to ride to Phoenix.  I am, actually, for a moment, almost overcome with emotion.  The day I've been wanting for years has arrived and it's almost too much to comprehend.  I'm on my way.

Dinner with good friends who will see me off across the desert in the morning.

Pasta Bowl - Liberty Market