Yeay, so glad to see you back, @mininthecity! Last year around this time you gave me tons of inspiration, and now, reading your post about cycling, reminded me of my trip down the west coast last Fall.
While I was apprehensive of hills at first, I fell in love with them. Elevations, bring it on! As for the weather, that's a different issue. Fortunately we had gorgeous weather for most of the trip, except for the obligatory rain on the Olympic Peninsula, and some high winds in Southern Cali , which I had to ride into for days. So picturing your Minnesotan thunder-snow gives me the shivers, and raises the respect for hard-core riders from the Mid West, like yourself.
Charging my phone was of course a major issue, so I got myself a solar charger / power pack. After three months on the road with it I can say, it would have been much better to get a separate battery and a decent solar array, as simply being in motion would diminish the charging capacity of the small solar panel.
Looking forward to many more awesome bike-posts! Btw, I LOVE your wearable pizza bag! ;-)