my last few hours in Scotland...

Well that's me almost off. I've said my goodbyes, opened my Christmas presents and got lots of lovely emails and texts wishing me well.

And I'm slightly less nervous about it all now, though I'll be much happier when I've arrived in San Diego and got all the travelling over with. Except for the 3000 mile ride obviously.

But people keep saying things to make me more nervous: Duncan "Have you written your will yet?"; Nicky "My dad's friend, one of those Iron Men guys, did that route in the same time that you're planning to do it in". Cheers guys.

Packing's been a struggle. I bought a holdall to put my panniers, tent and presents in for the flight, but unfortunately it did not 'hold all' as I'd intended. But I've abandoned a few things - my one vaguelly fashionable item of clothing (a t-shirt) and my wash bag (I'm sure a plastic bag will work just as well) , so it now all fits... I'm just going to have to wear nothing but cycling gear for the next 42 days. The other difficulty was that I couldn't get my pedals off my bike, so the box that it's packed in bulges in a rather nasty way, I hope nothing gets damaged.

If you're interested here's my route:

California:

San Diego, Alpine, Jacumba, Seeley, Brawley,

Arizona:

Blythe, Phoenix, Tempe, Globe, Geronimo, Safford

New Mexico:

Buckhorn, Silver City, Hatch, Las Cruces

Texas:

El Paso, Fort Hancock, Van Horn, Kent, Fort Davis, Apine, Marathon, Del Rio, Hunt, Austin, LaGrange, Navasota, New Waverly, Kountze, Kirbyville

Louisisana:

Merryville, De Ridder, Simmesport, St Francisville, Baton Rouge, Bogalusa (though might skip most of this and divert to New Orleans)

Mississippi:

Poplarville, Vancleave

Alabama:

Mobile

Florida:

Pensacola, DeFuniak Springs, Marianna, Chattahoochee, Tallahassee, Madison, High Springs, Archer, Palatka, St. Augustine, then bus to Miami


So In 3 and a half hours I've got to get up and get the bus to the airport, fly to Heathrow, then on to LA, get a bus down to San Diego, where I'll be met by Jimmy - a great friend who I met last time I was cycling in the States down the West Coast. He's really kindly invited me to spend Christmas with him and his family, so at least I won't be spending Christmas in a tent, or having to find a soup kitchen as one friend suggested.

But I'm really looking forward to this, the food will be brilliant, I'm going through some areas with amazing music, cycling through the desert will be incredible and best of all the weather will be better than Edinburgh. California's looking like at least 17 degrees C during the day at the moment.

Bye for now....

T x