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Onalaska, WA is the small town where I grew up. It sits about halfway between Seattle and Portland. It is the happy home of hippies, farmers, survivalists and loggers. My mom still lives here and my dad and step-mom live about 15 minutes away. I stopped-in to say some goodbyes to family and friends (and wish my older sister, Elizabeth, a happy birthday) before heading South. The ritual of unpacking and repacking my load continued, helping to pinpoint areas to "cut back"--like my pillow, which I cut in half today, and resewed. I also eliminated my pair of cute shoes, a very heavy Spanish book, a dress and a striped shirt. Goodbye stripes. See you next year. Mom knitted me a pretty sweet wool sweater which needed to be squeezed-in.
The bike was rewarded with a few mods. After one day of riding a fully-loaded "Sparkles," I realized the kickstand was much too high. I needed to lift her up to get a good seat on the stand. I pulled into Centralia Steel and Fabrication, had 1 1/4" chopped from the bottom of my kickstand, a larger plate welded onto the foot, and drove away for only an hour wait and about $30. Then Dad and I added a sparkly name tag to one of the pannier boxes with silver paint and spray-glitter!
My dad and step-mom made a big Thanksgiving dinner for me tonight. We won't be spending the holidays together this year and I'll miss you guys! Thanks for the stuffing-and-pie fix before I head out of The States :)