Day 40 – What a cool City

Charleston is a pretty cool place to visit from what I was able to see in a day.  There were a lot of tourists here, probably because of a cruise ship that was docked, but they have some really neat houses and tours inside those homes, which I was not able to take because of the limited time.  Carey has told me before that this is one City that she would like to visit and I am sure that she would enjoy it.  We will have to make it a goal to come back.  They have great restaurants and many tourist attractions based upon the history of this city.

The tours that the city offers are carriage rides.  There are plenty of companies doing them, but the city must have limited the types of tours to these exclusively because you either walk or you ride the carriages.  I took one of these tours and it was pretty good but it was very slow and because of that, I am sure you don’t see very much.  In fact the city gives the carriages a lottery number and that determines where the driver can take you.  I guess they do this to limit the carriages that are blocking traffic all over the city.  It was interesting though and gave you some places that you wanted to go back and spend more time.  They do have some great southern mansions like you see in Gone With the Wind.

I also went out to visit Fort Sumter.  You are all probably up on your American History, but that is where the first shots of the Civil War were fired.  It was a pretty small place, but the history behind it all was very interesting.  There really is not much of it left because when the Union took it back in 1865, they did it after firing on the Confederates in the Fort for 22 months.  The Confederates never did surrender the Fort, they just abandoned it.

The day went too quickly today and we are back to riding tomorrow.  To see this city, we took a spur route into here and will have to back track that route tomorrow to get back on the designated route.  Because of that, it will be another pretty big day of 75 miles.

Fort Sumter

A shell still imbedded in the wall

Some homes

Day 39 - Charleston!!

Today was a great day of riding.  The humidity seemed to be a lot less today and of course the miles were less as well. We did ride 65 miles today, but compared to 90, it is a lot different.  Those miles above 60 – 65 miles are pretty much agony.  At this point in the ride, it is not the strength that seems to be lacking, it is the ability to sit on that seat for more time.  My tail end was complaining pretty loudly about the 90 mile ride today but it was happy that we only rode 65.

We stopped at this small grocery store/café in a little place called Bathera, SC.  I was riding with my roomie John and a few others and John always stops somewhere for a second breakfast to fuel him along.  This place didn’t serve breakfast and they had this lone lady in working cooking stuff up for lunch, so we had only a few things to choose from to eat.  I had black-eyed peas and cabbage and some cornbread.  Man, that was so good!  I don’t know if I was particularly hungry or what, but man that tasted good.  Maybe it is just that good ole southern cooking. The black-eyed peas were cooked with bacon and I don’t know what they had in the cabbage, but it really hit the spot.

We rode into Charleston, SC about 3:30 this afternoon.  We are staying in the southern part of the city in the “Not So Hostel”.  It is the older part of town and I guess has some great old homes to see.  We have two rooms.  One room has 8 beds in it and the women and the men are all sleeping in the same room.  The other room has four beds in it and the snorers are banished to that room.  I hope I don’t wake tomorrow and someone accuse me of not fessing up to be a snorer.  The hostel is clean, but they have these plastic mattresses on the beds that you know have been slept on tons because they are pretty much worn out and they give you clean sheets for your stay.  I think I have mentioned that I have never done the hostel thing before. It seems a younger, more foreign crowd that stay at places like this.

We had dinner at this cool place called, “Fuel”.  It was a restaurant in an old gas station and they served Caribbean food. I had Mahi Mahi tacos and black beans and it was delicious. I was just thinking while I was there eating that it will be sad to leave all these people in a few weeks.  We have really gotten to be good friends in the time we have ridden together.  It is a little weird, but I think going through the process of riding difficult stuff together really has bonded us together.  Everyone in our group is accepted by the others and I have seen no problems in people getting along and we just have a good time together.

Tomorrow it will be six weeks since I left home.  My odometer went over 2,000 miles today and we have three weeks until we arrive in Key West.  That seems a little unreal to me.  I am looking forward to seeing the City of Charleston tomorrow.  This looks like a City rich in history. Did you know Charleston is a short name for Charles Town? The City had its beginning in 1670.

This is a some pictures of us crossing the Cooper River into Charleston.

Day 38 - South Carolina

This is going to be a difficult post to write. I don't want to sound like I am always complaining, but it is the negative things that are the easiest to write about.

Last night was miserable. It was so hot and humid, I felt like I was suffocating. That might sound extreme, but it is the truth. I don't think I have ever been so warm during a night. I am most likely forgetting nights that I went through in Korea on my mission. I definitely remember the bed being wet there when we would lay down to sleep. Last night I actually took the rain cover off the tent to see if that would cool things down and it did. I fell asleep for a few hours and when I woke, my bedding was getting wet from the dew rather quickly so I put the cover back on. I did sleep because of plain exhaustion.

Today we rode close to 90 miles. I had a plan that I would stop every 20 miles and be off the bike for about 15 minutes. That actually worked well. It gave me something to look forward to. I did have two chocolate milk breaks today. I seem to crave chocolate milk when I am riding. Maybe the dairy industry will want to make a commercial about me. It was a warm day. It was 91 degrees at a store I stopped at. We were warned that the wind generally blows from the south here and sure enough today it did. It wasn't a big wind, but probably about 10 mph. I have to admit, it was getting a bit annoying after riding the miles we did today. The scenery was much the same today so that didn't help much on breaking the day up. See, I told you that all I do is complain. I did make it and we are staying in a motel, so I should have a good sleep tonight.

Tomorrow we ride into Charleston and we have a day off to tour. That will be good.

This is a view from my bike saddle. My map of where I am going.

This is a pretty neat shot of boats that were in a port we went by.

Day 37 - SUN!

When we awoke today, it was raining. That really is no surprise, is it? We only had 52 miles to ride today, so we waited until 10:30 to start riding in hopes that the rain would stop and it did. We had a ferry ride the first thing this morning and by the time we arrived at the dock, we had clear skies and sun. It was a wonderful day of riding.

We rode many times today along the beach and you could smell the ocean. I have always liked that smell and have always enjoyed the water. I think the love of the water comes from my Dad and Grandpa Brownell. My dad loves to fish and every chance he got while I was growing up, he would take us fishing. Since we were dairy farmers, those trips were the main trips that we took. My Grandpa Brownell is my Mom's Dad and was an emigrant from England. He joined the merchant marines and came over to the US as a young man and after being here knew where he wanted to end up. He and my grandma were from Liverpool and he always missed the sea after they emigrated to Idaho Falls. They lived a short time in Portland and loved that place because it was next to the ocean. My grandfather never did drive a car. He rode a bicycle. Maybe that is where I also received my love of bikes??

We are in Calabash, NC. We are about one mile from the South Carolina border so tomorrow we are down to three states. We also have 89 miles to rode tomorrow. It will be our longest day on the trip.

Day 36 - Wilmington, NC

We had a nice ride today. It has been cloudy all day, but for the most part, we were able to ride in the dry. I do say for the most part. I was riding with Bill and we were about 10 miles from our destination and we could see that it was about to rain so we put the rain covers on the bags and got ourselves ready. Well, I am telling you it started to rain. It was just coming down in sheets and we couldn't see where we were going and worried that the vehicles behind us couldn't see us so we just pulled into a driveway to wait things out. There was a gate on the driveway so we just stood there in the rain until things got better. It was an hour of waiting and it just poured. I kind of thought someone might stop to see if we needed help, but no one stopped. It finally quit and as we rode there were streets with six or so inches of water flowing.

All in all it was a good day. We are in Carolina Beach, NC. We.rode 70 miles today and spent some time touring the city of Wilmington. It is an old city that was quite important in civil war days. As we were riding through town, there was a sign to the USS North Carolina and I thought I would like to tour the ship so we rode out to it. It really was pretty cool. We were able to look in the gun turrets, engine rooms, clear down in the ship. The sixteen inch guns were amazing. I really enjoyed it.

Because of the storm, we are again in a hotel. We have spent about 20 days in hotels on this trip. More days than we have camped. We were only supposed to have 10 days in hotels on the entire trip. I guess that is the bright side of all the rain.

I did get my 5th flat today. I think I am leading the pack in the number of flats. I pulled out a roofing nail out of the tire that went straight into the tire. I can't understand how that nail went straight in. I am getting good at fixing the tires.

I tried to take picture of the rain, but I don't know if of will do the storm justice.

Day 36 - Thankful for the rain

Today was another rainy day.  We started off in the dry.  We rode for about an hour with no rain, but looking at the skies, we knew that it wouldn’t last.  It started raining and rained pretty steady after that.  However, I quite enjoyed the ride today.  There wasn’t anything of significance that took place, but I was just thinking on the bike how much I enjoy showering first thing in the morning and I thought, “This riding in the rain is much like a shower that just keeps going and going”.  I also have this waterproof container for my cell phone and found that I could attach it to my brake cables on the handlebars and that I could turn on music and listen to it.  I actually started some conference talks and listened to those.  It did a lot for me to have a little religion in my day.

We are just outside of Surf City, NC.  We rode about 65 miles today and are again holed up in a motel.  I think I have mentioned that due to our budget, these motels are the kind that you would normally not stay at.  This one is a little on the trashy side.  I do think that I would give up the bed and sleep in my tent in return for some dryer weather.

You all might be wondering if I am glad I made the decision to come, considering all the weather related things that have been going on.  I am happy that I came on this trip.  It has given me the experience of long-term touring that I wanted and I have met some great people and made some good friendships.  I have learned a lot about bicycle touring and I have had fun learning.  I am seeing a part of this country that I have not visited before and to tell you the truth, I am learning much about myself.  Being away from friends and family helps one realize how important things and people are in your life.  I miss foremost, my sweetheart Carey.  I really wish that she could be here with me.  I miss my family and I miss the people that I work with.  I miss going to church and all the friends that I have there.  I miss my clients and being involved with them in their businesses.  I miss my own home.  I even miss Yoda, our cat.  I am very blessed though, because I will be back with these things soon.  This  world is a beautiful place and I thank my Heavenly Father for it and all the blessings He has given me in life.

Day 35 - Rain, Rain go away!

Wow, what a day. It was so humid last night. Looking back, I am sure it was the heavens just wanting to get rid of all the moisture and get rid of it, it did. About 5:00 this morning it started to just pour. When I set my tent up last night, I looked for a high spot because I could see that rain was in the forcast. About 6:30 most of our group was in about 4" of water. I actually survived pretty well, but it really was putting my little tent to the test. We needed to be on the ferry at 7:30, so needless to say, we all had to pack up in the rain. That ended up making quite a mess. It was impossible to keep the bedding completely dry and of course the tent was just sopping wet.

It has rained non-stop, pretty heavy all day long. There was not a moment in our 55 miles today that it wasn't raining. It was still pretty warm. I rode with my jacket on and was fairly warm, but I walked in a convenience store and the ac in the store just about froze me. It was a little difficult to get warm after that.

We changed plans midday as well. We were supposed to be in a campground tonight as well, but with the continued rain and everything being so wet, we found a motel that we are staying in and trying to get everything dry again. With the humidity in the air, it will be interesting to see if things dry out. One good thing is I am dry again. That feels so good.

The ride was just on the coast of North Carolina. It was really pretty coastal scenery. I wasn't able to get any pictures because of the rain. One sad thing we ran across was all this furniture, carpet, wall board and other items from houses stacked out on the street from homes along the coast. I am sure it is damage from Irene. Man, I bet it was a mess here.

You know, I am really tired of all the moisture we are getting. This is day 35 and we have gotten some moisture 20 of those days. Maybe it is just the east coast, but it seems we have had plenty of storms and we have it in our forcast for the next few days.

We are in Newport, NC. They were having the state championship "Pig Pull" here today. That is pig barbecue for us from the west. We stopped and had us a little sample (it wasn't so little). North Carolina barbecue is a little different from what I am used to. No barbecue sauce as I knew it at all. They use vinegar. It really was good. It was served with Coleslaw and baked beans and we had many people interested in what we were doing. They are some truly kind people and I love to listen to thier accents.

Day 34 - Ocracoke

It's been a nice day. We had to get up early this morning so that we could get breakfast (which was a welcome hot breakfast cooked by the hotel owners) and get to the ferry by 9:30. It had stopped raining by the time we rode and it was a nice 25 miles. The ferry ride was two and a half hours and gave some time to read a book and take a little nap.

Ocracoke is pretty much a tourist trap. It is a nice little island.with a lot of beach on the Atlantic side. We had lunch at a fish place and I had fried flounder, which was delicious. I spent a little time touring the town and then it started raining at about 4. It has rained pretty hard and steady all night. I just went to brush teeth etc before bed and there were clear skies, so maybe things are cleared up. It is super humid in the tent though. I am getting used to sleeping in warm humid weather.

We have to get up pretty early tomorrow to catch the 7:30 ferry back to the mainland. We are going to a different place than we sailed from this morning and we have about 65 miles to ride once we get there.

Day 33 - Still in the Swamp

 We left the Outer Banks today and will be heading to a ferry in the morning to go back.  Hurricane Irene washed out some of the roads and bridges, so you cannot travel the entire distance on roads.  It was quite interesting, because to get back on the mainland from Kitty Hawk, we traveled a 5 mile bridge over Pamlico Sound.  Bridges are a little scary to ride because there is no where to go. Traffic is zooming by and it just feels like you are confined.  Also the trash from the road has no where to go.  A few days ago when we crossed a similar bridge into Kitty Hawk, there where two flats on that bridge from the junk that comes from traffic and doesn't have any place to go and riding on the side, it is easy to run over the stuff.

After the bridge, it was miles and miles of swamp land again. I needed to stop and just rest a bit and you would not believe the mosquitoes.  They swarmed in that swamp like I have never seen before.  I was riding with a couple others and we just jumped right back on our bikes and kept moving.  It was hard because we needed to stop for a rest but couldn't.

We are in Engelhard, NC, which is this very small town.  We will be riding to the ferry tomorrow and heading to Ocracoke, NC, back on the Outer Banks.  It is supposed to be this great little tourist town, so I am excited to see it.

The great swamps of North Carolina

I took this picture a while back, but thought it kind of funny

Day 32 - A much needed rest

I think everyone was in need of this day off from riding. We were able to sleep in a bit this morning, but you know how camping goes. It was difficult to sleep in much because of the noise and nature calling.

I spent the morning logging into the office and taking care of some work. I had put things off for days and was waiting for WiFi. This place still didn't have any, but I was able to connect through the phone, which worked out well. About noon, we went to the Kitty Hawk museum that goes through the story of the Wright brothers and the first powered flight. It was quite interesting, especially to see how little distance the plane flew on the first try. It was like 120 feet. The 4th flight that day it flew 800 feet and they said that after that, the wind blew the plane over and damaged it to the point that that particular plane never flew again.

I did get my wish from yesterday. It didn't rain today. It really was a nice day. After the visit to the museum, I went to the beach for a bit and at least got my feet wet. I have never enjoyed getting too wet at a beach. The salt water and sand drive me a little crazy. After that, we all met at a restaurant and enjoyed shrimp and delicious crab soup.

We had another of our group give up today. I wrote of Eli earlier. He has cochlear implants amd because of the rain, one of them quite working. It was real difficult for him to communicate with the group. He was also riding a recumbant bike and that has been difficult as well. I think between the two issues, he had had enough. I hate to see him go. He was a very kind man and I enjoyed him.

Day 31 - Outer Banks

Another big day. We traveled 85 miles today. It is amazing how flat things are now. If you look at the horizon, you can't see any hills. You can see as far as the next grove of trees and that's it. No hills or mountains behind for as far as you can see. Another funny thing is I hear some of the riders complaining that the rides are too monotonous and that they like the hills rather than this flat stuff. I want to say, "Lets put you back in Maine and see how long you like that." It is a little different that you just pedal and pedal. Kind of like on the snake river plain. My mileage average did increase to 13. I do have to admit that my tail end and my wrists are complaining loudly. After sitting on that bike so long, those things bother me the most.

We are staying at this hostel tonight. We were just supposed to camp but because of the rain, some are paying to stay inside. I think I prefer to be outside. A group of sleeping men makes sleep pretty much impossible. Especially some foreigners etiquette is a little to be desired.

We had "bangers and mash" tonight for dinner. John from London cooked and that is sausage and potatoes for the rest of us. We also had salad and peas and it really was pretty good.

We passed through the Great Dismal Swamp in getting here. It is this huge swamp and they dug a canal through the middle of it so they could use it as transportation in 1805. The canal is still being used. Pretty amazing.

We are in Kitty Hawk, NC tonight. We have a day off tomorrow to go see the museum and ocean. It has actually been quite awhile since we have been close to the ocean. It has been raining some tonight and we are supposed to have some rain tomorrow, but I'm hoping for none so that we can tour.

We are officially half done with the trip today. I have logged 1,533 miles and traveled in 11 states and the District of Columbia. The next states are going to take a little longer to get across and there are only four left.

Here is a picture of how many bicyclists it takes to fix a broken spoke and a picture of one of our favorite hang outs.

Day 30 - North Carolina

We are in a new state tonight. We have really been traveling the miles these last few days. We did about 78 again today and are staying in a state park just across the state border. Riding
does seem to be getting better because of the terrain. It is pretty flat now, but the miles still get to the hands and the hind end after riding that far. It sure was a nice day today.

We had a fun experience for lunch today. We were in this small.town in Vermont and pulled over to ask this man if there were.any restaurants in town. He said there weren't but said to go to the grade school cafeteria and have some lunch. We kind of looked like, "No Way" and he said that people do it all the time so we (me and Tim and Nancy) decided to do it. The kids were wondering who we were and the head master (principal) came up to me and asked if I went to BYU. I was wearing me BYU shirt. He turned out to be a Mormon who attended BYU as well. It was a fun experience and I had a nice piece of lunch room pizza. As we left, the kids left as well and they were asking us all sorts of questions about the bikes and the trip and all. You could just see their minds working about the adventure that they might have someday.

We will be in Kitty Hawk, NC tomorrow. We have another big day to ride (85 miles), but will have the following day as a rest day. We will be riding the outer banks for the next few days. The weather was beautiful today. Not real hot and the sun was shining most of the day.  Just a nice day to ride.

I hope this blog will post. The reception here is terrible, so I can't send any pictures. Goodnight all.

Day 29 - Jamestown and early America

We had another big riding day today. We ended up riding 78 miles, but the terrain was pretty flat. However, my tail end was doing some pretty major complaining about sitting on that seat so much.

Chip, who we stayed with last night, took us on a tour of Richmond, VA this morning. It was very interesting in that the city was the capital of the Confederacy. They have this lane with memorials to all the confederate generals and presidents. It is just a little wierd to me that they honor these people to the extreme that they do. It was all very interesting.

We ended up riding through Jamestown, VA, which of course was one of the first settlements in our history. There isn't much there from the past, but they do know that it was there. We also went to this plantation that was settled in 1619 and has been continuously used as a plantation since then. It was called the Berkeley Plantation and they believe the place was the location of the first documented Thanksgiving Day.

After going through Jamestown, we had to cross the James River on the ferry.  All in all, it was a really nice day. Again I missed going to church and have done a little study on my own, but because of the miles we had to go today, it wasn't much. Most of us pulled into camp only an hour or so before it got dark.

However, here is Sunday School lesson #3. This last week, I gathered a bunch of stuff that I was carrying and not using and decided I didn't want to keep pulling that stuff up all these hills and sent it home. Later, a good friend, Chris Patterson, gave me a call and we were talking about that and he mentioned that that is what we do in our personal lives quite often. We have baggage we carry that is just weighing us down. Sometimes we need to figure out what that extra weight is and get it packaged up and give it to God so that He can help us get rid of it. I can feel the difference just a little weight has made on my bike all throughout the day and we will feel the difference when our extra "Life Baggage" is taken care of with God's help as well.

The Berkeley Plantation. I am carrying the bread for tomorrow's lunches in my pot. Hope you are all well.

Day 28 - Richmond VA

What a wonderful day of riding. It is still a little cool in this part of the world. We pretty much rode with our jackets all day. In fact, later in the day we rode through a few showers. We rode 65 miles, but it was just nice. We were able to take some good breaks while riding and the roads we traveled had few cars on them (probably because it was Saturday morning) and I just felt good all day. We are staying at an Adventure Cycling tour leader's home this evening. He lives just outside of Richmond and seems really excited to have us here. He is inviting us to stay in his home and just sleep on the floor if we want. I haven't decided if it will be better in or out. Eli in our group is originally from Mexico and is cooking authentic chicken enchiladas for dinner. It should be good.

I did have a chance before I left Fredericksburg to visit the battlefields. It was quite interesting. There is a prominent hill in town that the confederate soldiers were on top and the union soldiers were trying to take the hill. In the initial battle the north lost badly and suffered 12,000 casualties in the attempt. A year later they were back and took the hill and the city. We rode out on a road named Lee's Drive, I am sure named after Robert E. Lee, and there were trenches still very apparent made by the confederate troops. That is amazing that they are still there.

Dinner turned out to be pretty good. Eli had this stuff called Mole that we put on the enchiladas that is supposed to be a chocolate salsa or something. I don't know if I thought it was any good or not.

Fredericksburg Battle - Now a Union Soldier Cemetery.  They did not allow Confederate Soldiers to be buried here.

Map meeting in our host's house.  Pretty comfy lodging tonight!!

Day 27 - Beginning of Civil War

We are in Fredericksburg, VA tonight.  We traveled 70 miles and the traveling seemed much better.  There were hills, but they are much shorter and it made a big difference.  After the ride today, I still felt good instead of beat.  It wasn't a great ride for scenery. It was pretty, but much the same as we've seen over the last weeks.  Tomorrow, we ride into Richmond, VA, which will be close to 70 again, so I hope I have the same outlook then.

Fredericksburg was the sight of Civil War battles in 1862 and again in 1863.  Just the way the day turned out, I wasn't able to get to the visitor's center before it closed today.  I am hoping that I can make it tomorrow morning, but if it doesn't open early enough, I have too many miles to ride to wait around.

We are in a motel again tonight.  There were just no available campgrounds that remained open in the area.  We are having a bit of a problem finding campgrounds because many of them just closed after Irene.  It is ok with me.  The lodging is included in the price of the trip and a motel is much more comfortable to me than the tent.  Dave, our leader mentioned today that we have spent just as many nights in rooms than we have camped after tonight.  We were to spend about 10 nights in hotels the whole trip as was planned, but have spent 14 to date and we aren't even half done.  I am sure we are going to have to make up for it somewhere. Well it is late.  I had to go help shop for lunch tomorrow and I need to get some sleep. Chris comes home tonight.  I wish that I was there to help welcome him home.  I sure am thankful he is back.

Cemetery here in Fredericksburg.

Day 26 - Last of Washington

A day like today can spoil a bike tourist. It was so nice to ride a lot less miles and see sights along the way. The ride was 35 miles, but I had to cook today so we had to ride 5 miles in and out to get groceries. It was hamburgers and salad this evening and if I have to say so myself, it was pretty good.

We are just outside of Washington tonight. We rode a bike trail for 20 miles getting out of Washington and it was a nice ride. It extended all the way to Mt. Vernon which we were able to tour today. Before getting there, we stopped at Arlington National Cemetery and watched the changing of the guard. I don't know how many of you have seen that, but it is very impressive and very humbling. They do it at the tomb of the unknown soldier and it happens at least every hour, day and night, 365 days a year. It makes me sad to be in that cemetery. It just makes me sad that we as humans go to war to settle our differences. I know it has to happen, but there are too many lives that didn't get lived in that cemetery and that cemetery is just a small part.

We also visited the new memorial at the pentagon. That was quite a sight as well. There is a seperate memorial for each person that died at the Pentagon and in the plane and the memorial is set up starting with the youngest to the oldest. The youngest was a three year old girl on the plane. Each memorial Is a bench and the bench points toward the Pentagon if they were on the plane and away from it if they were in the building. Again, kind of makes you sad.

We stopped at Mt. Vernon as I mentioned. That is George Washington's home. It is a beautiful home on the Potomac river and it was interesting to learn of his life.

Well my battery on the phone is running out and no other connection to the outside at the camp we are in so I better quite. Goodnight!

Day 25 - So much to see

This city has so much to see, you could spend weeks here. I was wondering how to spend the day, when Chris, who took us on a short bicycle tour the night before, mentioned a second air and space museum out by the Dulles Airport that housed the Endeavor space shuttle and Enola Gay and a bunch of historic air and space stuff. I decided to go out there since it has been pretty recent that Carey and I were here and saw most of the Memorials. It took most of the day to get out there and back, but I sure did enjoy the visit. I spent about 3 hours out there and had to get back to do some preventative stuff to the bike.

The bike does take a little care to keep the thing running ok. Probably the most obvious is the chain. After rain and wet weather, it needs a good rag to clean off the grime and grit that comes with the water and another good oiling. Also after the banging that the bike took on that trail, I just checked all the bolts and such and made sure they were still tight. I am carrying two extra tubes and after yesterday's flat, they both needed patching, so I did that today as well.

My legs have been doing a little complaining today because of the ride yesterday, but I think the day off has helped tremendously. We were scheduled to travel another 80 miles tomorrow, but I think Dave, our leader could feel a possible mutiny coming and so the day has been split up and we are only going 30. We had one extra day to play with and I guess this is it. It will be good because there is a new Memorial at the Pentagon and we will stop as a group as we ride by tomorrow.

We sure have been having good weather. I sure feel the difference in humidity, but the temperature has been pretty nice. After all the days of rain, we are enjoying it.

Day 25 - Washington DC

Today was a HARD day of riding.  We totaled nearly 90 miles and I average about 11 mph, so you can do the math on how many pedalling hours it took to get here.  Most of the day was quite pleasant riding and seemed to go quickly.  The last 25 miles was mainly a bike trail coming into DC and I was quite looking forward to that because trails are usually pretty nice to get off the road and just enjoy the ride a bit more, but this trail was very rough.  It followed a creek pretty much the whole way and was many times in very wooded areas.  The tree roots had caused bumps in the asphalt and that made the trail so bumpy I thought it was going to shake the bike to pieces.  It did hold together.  I did get another flat tire today.  That is 3.

I figure on a day like today that I burn 6,000 calories.  You would think that I would be losing weight, but I am eating a tremendous amount as well.  We started riding today at 7:00 and finished at 6:00 this evening and I ate cereal for breakfast, stopped and got a chocolate milk and pop tarts, ate my sandwich and cookies that I packed this morning and then went to an Asian restaurant this evening and ate a ton more.  It will actually be interesting if I have lost anything.

Well, I am beat this evening.  We are here and we all made it.  There were two in our group that had to be rescued.  There is this guy here in DC that works with adventure cycling and he used his car to go round up a couple that didn't make it to the motel before dark set in. I'm going to turn in. We do have a day off from riding tomorrow.

Day 24 - Maryland

We had a great day of riding today. There were still way too many hills, but the mileage made up for it a bit. I need.to quite complaining about hills.  It is just the way it is, right? We are just to the west of Baltimore, MA tonight and rode a total of 45 miles today. The day was very nice for riding today. We were to stay at this boy scout camp, but when we got here, there was no power. The owner met us there and during the storms he had a tree fall on his power lines and the power company had told him that is was fixed but it wasn't and he had not been back to check on it. I guess it turned out to be fortunate for us because he knew the people who owned the camp next to theirs and he gave them a call and they said we could stay at the same price. This camp has cabins and is very nice. I think it is a boys camp as well, but it must be for boys that are not quite as rugged as boy scouts. We will enjoy the night here.

We have a big day tomorrow. We travel into DC and have a little over 80 miles to go. Some of it is on bike trail, so that will help with the ups and downs, but that is still a big day.

Thought I might introduce you to some of the people I am riding  with. The first picture is Tim & Nancy Love from Tacoma WA. The second is Merge from Australia & Bill Goshorn from Michigan. Bill is the oldest on the trip at 71. The 3rd is John from London. John and I are roommates when we stay at hotels. He is great and is actually turning into my mentor. Bill from Florida and Bonnie from Port Byron, MI. The next is Riba from Texas. She is a pretty firery woman. The next is Selwyn from New Zealand. He is such a fun man, always joking around. I do a lot of riding with Bill from Michigan. He is the oldest, but he is tough and consistant. There are more but and I will introduce later.

The last picture is my meal tonight (spaghetti). I eat all my meals with that little bowl and utensils and pack my sandwich for the day unit as well.

Day 23 - Missing Home

Today was a pretty tough day. We had such a big day yesterday that I think my body was wanting to take it a bit easy today and it didn't get what it wanted. We only rode 55 miles, but again it was a lot of hills. By the way the group is acting, I think that I am not alone.

We rode much of the day through Lancaster County PA. It was so pretty. I went by many Mennonite churches and they were having meeting and it made me miss home. I am really missing attending church on Sundays. Sundays seem to give me a lift that I need.

We had a member of our group get into an accident today. It happened first thing this morning and I didn't find out until this evening. He was just leaving camp this morning and was going down a big hill and hit some gravel and I guess the bike slid from underneath him. He just had road rash and a few stitches, but will not be riding the next few days and will hopefully rejoin us in DC.

We had beautiful weather for riding today. It was a little overcast and no rain, which makes.things cool for riding. We did have a pretty big thunderstorm come through this evening. I think we have some pretty good days forecast for the next few days.

I have been feeling a bit homesick today. I guess in a way I have been feeling like, ok, I think I  have had enough and would just like to see Carey again.  We are starting out 4th week out here. Carey and I have never been apart this long and I think that is the hardest part of being here.

Day 22 – Amish-Mennonite Territory

What a nice day of riding today.  My legs are very tired.  We rode 70 miles and there was a fair bit of climbing.  My bike computer logged right at 4,000 feet for the day, which I think ties for the most climbing in one day.  We were able to ride out of Philly on the bike path.  It extended for 16 miles and was being used by a lot of bikers, but it was fairly flat and away from traffic and that is always good.  It was good to see a bike path being so heavily used.  It sure is a good thing for bikers and I think if there were more around, you would see that people would use them for recreation and commuting to work.

We rode through Valley Forge National Park.  That is the place that Washington's continental army spent the winter of 1777-78.  That was real interesting.  I hate to admit it, but I have never realized the years of war and the things that took place during the revolutionary war.  I really enjoyed reading the history and realizing how much effort was put into the war for so many years.

We are in a place called Reamstown, PA and it looks to be an Amish or Mennonite community, or it looked to me like a little bit of both.  They have such nice looking farms.  I was able to see a horse drawn wagon out in a field and they were cutting tobacco and taking it to their barn to hang.  I also saw this young boy and, I would imagine, his sister in a dress herding the cows in from the pasture to be milked.  I wanted to take a picture, but the Amish actually don’t want you to take pictures of them so I respected that.

I really am dead tired tonight, so I am going to leave this as it is.  Hope all is well with each of you.

Day 21- Dedicated to Chris, Jane & Grace

We had a day off in Philly today.  We were able to sleep in, but really was not able. The way it works with this group and meals and such on days off is that we get an allowance to buy our meals and pay for transportation on the bus etc.  It isn’t a big allowance.  We received $30 for the day and I had to have a Philly Cheesesteak Sandwich for lunch, of course, and we went to Olive Garden for dinner, so that alone pretty much used all my allowance for the day.

We had a good visit to all the sites.  We toured the place that the Liberty Bell is located and the story behind it and Independence Hall, which is the place that the Declaration of Independence was signed.  There is also an American Jewish Museum here that we toured that goes through the history of Jews in America, which was very interesting.

There is a park next to Independence Hall that has the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier for the Revolutionary War.  The park was used as a burial ground that many soldiers were buried in while England occupied this town and used Independence Hall as a hospital for revolutionary soldiers.  As we talked about independence today and the freedoms that we enjoy and often take for granted and seeing a tomb of a person that fought for General Washington and lost his life in fighting for something that I enjoy each day, I just wanted to thank all those who put their lives in harms way so that I can enjoy the freedoms that I have.  My son Chris just returned from Iraq.  He is now in Fort Louis in Washington getting trained on how to come home and get back into everyday life.  Jane, his wife has had to do without Chris for a year now and keep a home and raise a child.  Grace, their baby girl has had to grow up much of her life so far without Daddy.  They as well need to be thanked for their sacrifice.  Not only them, but about 1,500 other people and their families from Idaho that have sacrificed these same things to keep us free and I know at least two from that group have given their lives.  Our tour guide put it very appropriately when he said, “the price of freedom is anything but free”.  Thank you Chris, Jane and Grace and thank you to our great Idaho National Guard for a job well done.  I am thankful for all those who have served in all our conflicts.  I truly have a blessed life because of them.

Chris, Jane & Grace on day he left in September 2010 and Chris and fellow soldiers in Iraq.

 Indepence Hall

 This says, "Beneath this stone rests a soldier of Washington's Army who died to give you Liberty"

Day 20 - 20 Days??

In a way the time seems to be going pretty quickly and then I think about it and it seems like I am caught just like Bill Murray in Groundhog Day.  We had a very interesting ride today.  I don’t know what you are hearing on the news, but they have had some serious flooding going on in this area.  Irene dumped so much water that it saturated the ground and then the tropical storm from Lee came through and then they have been having some serious thunderstorms.  About 4:30 this morning we heard some serious thunder going on and it rained like you can’t believe.  Luckily we were in a hotel instead of in the tents.  When we got up and got ready to ride, we hit some areas that had had some heavy flooding earlier.  Many of the roads were closed, but we usually try them anyway and usually get through on the bikes.  We went through one area that a creek was over the road and it was about a foot deep. I was the one to test that the road was solid underneath.  The water wasn’t moving too fast, I just didn’t want to hit an area with the bike that the asphalt was broken up and end up going over the handlebars on the bike so I walked the bike across and after finding the road was good, the rest road across.

We rode into Philadelphia today.  That was a little scary.  The traffic is quite heavy and there is not much room on the streets and the streets at times are very steep.  We went down one pretty long road that had a 12% grade.  I was braking all the way and just hoping that those brakes would hold.  We had one guy riding with us that is pulling a trailer and his brakes weren’t holding and he was actually braking dragging his feet like Fred Flintstone in addition to his bike brakes.  When we passed a bike shop, we insisted that he turn in and have them take a look.  They did replace all his brake pads and adjusted them.

Tomorrow is a day off from riding.  We will be able to go into the city and see independence hall and the liberty bell and such.  It should be good. I am mainly looking forward to getting a Philly Sandwich uptown.

We rode about 45 miles today and will have to retrace our tracks getting back out of here.  I am not looking forward to going back up that street that was the 12%.  We rode about half the day in rain again. I think we have ridden every day this week in the rain and the forecast shows it continuing somewhat through Sunday.

Some of the flood damage.

Crossing the Delaware.  This is my roommate, John from London on the left and Nancy from Tacoma on the right.

Day 19 - Crossing the Delaware

We had a big day today. We rode 70 miles mostly along the Delaware river. With all the rain that has been falling, the Delaware is just raging. The river is now 8 feet above flood stage. We ran into four detours today that we had to navigate around, which causes a little extra time to figure things out.

Putting all the rain and detours aside, it was beautiful along the river. We had rain for all the morning, but it did let up and the afternoon was cloudy, but mostly dry. We went through some great little communities that had some old architecture and character. The rain was so heavy in the morning that we were traveling through streams flowing across the road. There were waterfalls coming off the sides of the hills.

We are on New Hope, PA and will be riding into Conshohocken, PA today. This town is just outside Philadelphia. We have a day off from riding tomorrow (I am writing this Thursday morning). It is a difficult process to keep things dry. The motel room is just strung with pannier covers and riding cloths etc trying to dry it all out. It looks as though we may have some heavy rain at times again today.

Day 18 - Riding in the Rain

As we thought it would do, we woke to rain and rode in the rain all day. You know, after you are wet, it really is not that bad. It really wasn't poring all day but it was a nice consistent rain.  You get so wet, it is just running down your face and your arms.  I wore my jacket, but it really isn’t rain resistant, so it just gets wets and keeps you warm.  I did stay warm while I was riding, but as soon as you stop, the cold starts to set in.  I think this moisture is the remnants of the hurricane (or tropical storm, I don’t know what it was) that hit the gulf states a few days ago.  We are supposed to have rain for the next three days.  I am hoping that it doesn’t turn out that way.

I did do quite a bit of research on the type of panniers I was going to carry so that they could take the wet and keep things dry.  I went with Arkel panniers.  They are made of this canvas stuff and will get wet, but they have an inner liner that will keep the insides dry.  I also bought the outer liners to go on them when it is wet just to help things have a better chance of staying dry.  It all seemed to work as none of the items in the bags got wet.  I was a little worried about it today and knew it was the testing day.

We rode through the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area.  It would have been nice to ride through in better weather, but it was still very beautiful.  There were mountains on one side and river going through the middle and it was very green and with the rain clouds hanging on the side of the hills, very pretty.

We are staying in a motel again tonight because of the rain.  The way this trip is handled, Dave our leader has a certain budget that is to pay for all our lodging and meals from the amounts that each of us paid for the trip.  We do not stay in “Hiltons” when we stay in a motel.  It is probably a little more like the “Rupert Motel” so I don’t think it costs a tremendous amount more than camping, but I know that we cannot keep this up every night, but it is sure nice after a day riding in the rain.

We are in Delaware Water Gap, PA.  We have said goodbye to New York and New Jersey today and will be in Pennsylvania for a few days. I have logged about 725 miles on my bike since the first day. We are spending a lot of time together.  I think at times I am carrying on conversations with that bike.

I have to be honest.  I was thinking while I was riding today, “You actually paid money to do this (riding all day in the cold rain)!”  We ran across a lady that was hiking the Appalachian Trail and had been on it since Memorial Day and was taking refuge from the rain as well.  I think I would rather be on the bike.

A picture of the rain clouds and the hills.

Day 17

We had a nice ride today. There were not many climbs and it was beautiful country. We were passing some horse farms that were so pretty. It was just so green and the fences and horses. It was a cloudy day this morning and the clouds were hanging up on the mountain. I wish I could send a picture but the internet here is just not working. We are at a KOA near Godeffroy, NY. We had to ride in the rain for half the day and man did it rain. It was just poring. It was really hard to see with my glasses on and had to take them off, sacraficing seeing the map. Even though the rain I really enjoyed the ride today.

Our group did vote to spend a little more money and stay in the cabins at the KOA. We are a little cramped, but we are dry. We have 6 per cabin and I made sure that I have my ear plugs close.

My phone is going crazy. I don't know if is the humidity or what. Hope I can figure it out. It has taken quite awhile just to do this.

Day 16 – A day of rest

We had an easy day today and I think we all needed it.  We rode a total of 18 miles and traveled to a place called Poughkeepsie, NY.  I spent the day taking it easy mostly, but rode by and looked at the Vanderbilt Mansion National Historic Site and the F.D. Roosevelt Library that are located in Hyde Park, NY.  I pretty much just walked around and read the information and quite enjoyed the things that I learned.  It was interesting how the Vanderbilt’s accumulated all their money through the railroad industry and how the third generation of Vanderbilt’s pretty much squandered the money.  They were saying that at their peak, in today’s money, they were worth about 4 times what Bill Gates has.  After the Vanderbilt that built the mansion here died in 1938, having no children, he gave all his money to his servants and left the estate to his favorite niece.   He didn’t want to leave any money to his family because they already squandered what they were given.  The niece tried to sell the estate, which cost $2.25 million to build for $350,000, but because of the depression, couldn’t get it sold.  She lowered the price to $250,000 and still couldn’t and FDR talked to her and talked her into selling the estate to the government for $1 and that is how it became a National Park.

We are staying in a motel again tonight because no campgrounds could be found around here.  I had to help cook tonight.  We made tacos, which I must say, tasted pretty good.

A beutiful reservoir in Conneticut

 Tobacco hanging to dry

Vanderbilt mansion above
Me cooking dinner tonight

Day 15 - A new way to do laundry.

Well we all made it. Actually we did lose someone today.  There is a man named Bill from Boston that took ill a few days after we started and he was gone for like a week and then came back.  Today he started feeling ill again and had his son come and get him in the middle of the ride. He has been having a pretty hard time making the rides and I wonder if its the stress that causing his illness. We started at 7:30 this morning and we finished between 5:30 and 7:30. The first 20 miles were absolutely brutal. The last half of the ride was really beautiful. We rode by some dairies that were so pretty. They had these red barns and green pastures and corn fields and the smell of silage. It reminded me of home. Tomorrow we will be staying in a hotel so I should have internet to send a few pictures. Tonight I am just too tired to get things hooked up to send them.

We rode 74 miles today and are now in Hyde Park, NY. We are staying in a state park and I imagine because of labor day, this park is packed. I am laying in my tent writing this on the phone and it is super hot in here and humid. I don't know how I am going to sleep.

I have to tell you about something I learned from John, my friend from London. We stayed in the last motel and they didn't have laundry and then the last two nights we have been staying in state park campgrounds and they don't have laundry. I only brought three changes of biking cloths and because of the lack of laundries, I was running short of cloths. John told me that when you are in a pinch like this, you just wear your cloths into the shower and soap them up with your soap and then take them off and kind of wash them and rinse them and then just wash yourself. He said to put them on the floor of the shower and kind of stomp on them while you bath yourself, but I was not brave enough to do that. Actually, it works. The cloths smell pretty clean. With this humidity, you have to hang them somewhere on the bike while you ride to get them dry. If you hang them during the night, they are not much better in the morning.

We are staying next to this huge group of people camping and they are NOISY. I thinking it's going to be a long night.

Day 14 – Finally some Agriculture

Today was a beautiful day of riding. It all started out great.  I told you about having to shop at a convenience store and the only cereal they had was Cocoa Krispies and Sugar Puffs, two of my favorite cereals. Also, most of the riders don’t like those sugary cereals, so I got to eat as much as wanted.   The weather did turn out a little hot and humid.  We usually have some wind that will keep us dry through the day, but today the wind was small and at our back and as we would climb hills, it would seem that there was no wind at all.  The sweat that your body generates to cool it down doesn’t go anywhere in this humid climate, so it just runs down your face and arms.  Finally when you get over the hill and start heading down the other side, you get the cool down as the wind hits you.

We finally started seeing some agriculture today.  It was so nice to see fields of corn, beans, hay and tobacco. We stopped and took a look at a tobacco barn that had recently been harvested and the tobacco hung to dry.  Chris had mentioned these from his mission in Kentucky.  We also rode by some beautiful lakes. We rode about 55 miles today.  It was a hilly day, but the hills had less grade to them which was welcome.

I have pretty much carried the pots and pans and lids from the day we started.  I was thinking today that when I was in Korea on my mission, my Korean name was So Tu Kang.  They tried to give you a name that mimicked your last name, but still sounded Korean.  When I got to Korea my pronunciation was terrible and when I said my name, people would just break out laughing.  That did a lot for my self-confidence.  What I was actually saying was, “My name is rice pot lid”.  After doing that way too often, my nickname there became Rice Pot Lid.  Carrying the lids just reminded me of that.

We have kind of developed these little riding groups.  It has been good for me because in my riding group is Nancy and Tim Love from Tacoma, Washington.  We ride pretty much the same speed, but what is really good is that Nancy is great at knowing which way to go.  That has never been a strong point for me.  Just ask Carey.  Carey is always trying to help me out.  Anyway, I have spent a lot less time being lost since we have riding together. They are a really nice couple.  He buys for REI so he has some great ideas for some cool camping gear.

We are in Pleasant Valley, Connecticut tonight and staying in the American Legion State Park. We will be riding into New York tomorrow.  We have to ride 74 miles tomorrow, which much of it is going to be some difficult riding.  I am a little nervous about that distance.   The internet is too slow here too upload any pictures.  i do have some good ones, so I will upload when things are better.  Hope you are all well.  

Day 13 – Hills!!!!

It all just started out with hills.  When we got into our campground last night, we all kind of arrived together and the guy that ran the campground just took his own sweet time getting to us.  Once he did, he told his son to take us to our area and he jumped on the four-wheeler and took off.  We all followed him and just as we entered the gate we started descending and we descended like crazy down to our camp.  So, this morning we started off by climbing out of that hole (The campground was pretty much a hole as well, the worst so far.  They charges $1 for a crummy shower) and it has been that way all day.  We only traveled 40 miles, but in that 40 miles there was 3,996 feet of climbing.  It was a killer.  I actually had to push my bike up one hill.  My legs just couldn’t take anymore.  I have to hand it to some of these elderly riders.  Man, they are tough.  They do have some low gears and if I ever do this again, I guarantee that I will have a few lower gears as well. Experience!  We went through Bigelow Hollow State Park today.  Do you know what hollow means? “A small valley between mountains”  These hills were 9% grades and they were just bad.  Our leader told us last night in our map meeting that when we went down the hills to not lose our momentum coming back up.  I did the best I could, but you always have more work than the downhill gives you.  I guess that is enough complaining.

We had to carry groceries as well today because there is nothing around here.  There wasn’t really anywhere to shop for groceries at all!  We shopped at a convenience store and bought Spam to eat in spaghetti.  That sounds great doesn’t it?  Well when you are starving, it tastes pretty good.

We had three detours that we had to go around today.  All of them were caused by Irene and were the result of downed power lines and trees.  On a lot of the ride today, we heard and saw the generators running at people’s homes for power.  They still don’t have power back on in many areas. By the amount of generators, I would assume that this may happen quite often.

I’m afraid that tomorrow’s hills are not going to be much better than today.  We are sleeping in beds, which will be nice. We are in Union, Conneticut.

 The motel

A few pictures of Boston. This is Paul Revere's house.

In Boston, people live above the shops and stores.  It makes the downtown pretty vibrant when it is residential as well.