Overdue Update

Hi Everyone!

I am happy to report that Rose and I are headed out on our bikes in just a few days. It is almost a month later then our original plan but that’s the way it goes sometimes. I’m glad it wasn’t any longer then a month. Working outside in the sun was getting pretty tough. Often the days would get near 100 degrees. The nice thing about cleaning and building koi ponds is there was always a water hose handy and I would soak myself down a couple times an hour. I will miss my co-workers but I’m super exited to be going. It was a fun and satisfying job, I enjoyed bringing a little bit of nature into people’s yards.

Often times I was not the only one to enjoy the little bit of the natural landscape

The past couple months we have worked as much as we could, even weekends. We did our best to take as many camping trips as possible though. We also purchased a used canoe and spent lots of time canoeing. My car, a hybrid gets around 55mpg so we usually took it on all our trips. Often times it was loaded down to the point that non adventurous people would stare in amazement. I like to think it was amazement I saw in there faces but it was probably bewilderment at the idiot who has a canoe bigger then his car strapped on the roof. And two bikes. Haha.

We never passed up an opportunity to take a mini adventure, make extra money or watch the sunset.

We also enjoyed swimming in a lot of the crystal clear springs that were around us.

One thing that is kind of disappointing is a lot of my cycling clothes shrunk in the 5 months since I wore them last. They are a bit snug now. Haha. I don’t think it was from all the gourmet meals Rose and I cooked. We both enjoy cooking. And I enjoy eating!

We had initially planned on leaving June 1st. That was when our 6 month lease was up on the place we were renting. I say place but it was really just one bedroom in a house with a shared kitchen. Not wanting to spend money while touring, we did not renew the lease, instead we camped for the 25 days until we could get on the road. Actually it was more like glamping. We bought a used tent that was huge by our standards. It was big enough that we put our queen size bed in it. Not just the mattress, the whole bed frame and all. Our clothes fit in totes that we kept under the bed. Also we had a screen room over the picnic table. Except for the heat we were very comfortable and actually enjoyed the campground more then the shared house we were in.

We are headed to PA to visit my family and friends for few days and then we will leave from there and ride the C&O Canal towpath and the Great Alleghany Passage. From Washington DC to Pittsburgh Pa. In Pittsburgh we will rent a car and drive to Middleport, NY. Middleport, NY is our official starting point even though by then we will have rode 435 miles. We hope that starting in Ny and riding the Northern Tier route will be cooler. The Northern Tier bike route travels from Bar Harbour, Maine to Anacortes,Washington. Rose has cycled the Northern Tier from Maine to Buffalo, NY. I have been on it as far west as Cleveland, Ohio. We chose to start in Middleport because that’s where we met a year ago while we were riding opposite directions on our separate tours.

Rose has ulcerative colitis. She was diagnosed with it when she was 26. Mostly it has been in remission the past 23 years but this spring it came out of remission. After many doctor visits and trying a few different medications it was decided infusions were her best treatment option. The schedule for getting the first three infusions is what made us postpone our trip. Now that those are done she only needs an infusion once every 8 weeks. Unfortunately it’s not something that can be done just anywhere and she will have to return to Tallahassee every 8 weeks to receive it. So the first part of our journey is Middleport, NY to Minneapolis, Minnesota 1300 miles. The 435 miles on the C&O and GAP are to get us back in cycling shape. Also Rose has not done them and they are on her extensive bucket list. Anyways in Minneapolis, Rose flies back to Tallahassee for two days to get her infusion on Aug 18. That gives us 43 days. We have set a few challenging goals for our budget. Basing our daily budget on $10 a day each, we both bought $400 dollar prepaid credit cards. So combined we have $18.60 a day to spend. After our car rental promised price of $120 and roughly $50 in fuel. That will allow us to spend $14.65 a day. That doesn’t sound like much at first, but if we only go to a grocery store every 3 days we could spend $43.95. That buys quite a bit of groceries. Also my Mom and Dad set us up with about a month’s worth of food from a discount grocer. Not only are our bikes loaded down there are 2 more boxes of food they will mail to us at a warmshower host somewhere down the road. My biggest weakness is coffee. It’s so, so hard for me to pass a coffee shop. My favorite is an iced latte and they cost around $5 dollars. To curb the temptation, we have a medium size cooler on Rose’s front rack. We will be making our own iced coffees as much as possible. The cooler is also for leftover foods. We don’t plan on buying ice everyday but ice is a lot cheaper then a latte. Some convenience stores allow you to get ice if you buy a beverage. We will just have to wait and see how it works out. We both are confident we can stick with this budget as long as we stay focused on the goal. The less we spend; the longer we ride! That’s our motto.

We took our time driving up to PA. We drove some of the Blue Ridge Parkway and visited Mt Mitchell

Tomorrow we start riding in Williamsport towards DC. We are packed and exited.

Here’s a couple more pictures of canoeing in Florida.

No Horseplay was a common injuction when we were growing up on the farm. Anytime the situation could be a little dangerous… around farm equipment or putting on a roof for example Dad would say, no horseplay. As an adult I have said it a many times on various job sites and am always met with a blank look. So for the past 20 years or so I just assumed it was not really a real word and was just something that Dad said. However that never deterred me from saying it. So you can imagine my surprise when, not only do the state parks in Florida recognize it as a real word they even have it painted on signs!