Today is the end of June and one year ago I was packing my bags to fly to Fairbanks Alaska the next day. A year has gone quickly as they seem to do as I age.

So much has been done, covered, experienced, seen, and discovered, that I can’t believe I actually planned this just to celebrate my 80th birthday. Now I am in Cartagena, Colombia about to start on part two of my Octogenarian Odyssey.

I left home on June 4th and drove to Panama City, Panama in order to put my van in a container and ship it to Colombia. You have to do this as there is no road that connects North and South America. The Darien Gap separates the two continents.

The act of organizing and carrying out the shipping of the van was somewhat stressful as most of the organization was out of my hands and I had to depend on other people to find a ship and get the van to Cartagena in order to meet my friends Rachel and Mike who are going to ride with me for part of the odyssey.

Now we have to organize the van with its roof rack and rear cargo basket to take all our luggage, bikes, and gear and still give us room to sit four people. It will be a tough job.

It has taken me one month to the day from leaving home to start pedaling.

During that month I spent two weeks in Panama, and two and a half weeks in Cartagena. I haven’t been on my bike since June 3rd. Both cities are wonderful places to spend time, with Cartagena being my favorite. However, I am bored and want to get going.