This Is It

Ready or not, here I come! I’m leaving tomorrow. I tried sleeping in my tent last night, but the smoke from our bonfire made it impossible to breathe. Stayed out there as long as I could before heading in to the lovely comfort of my lovely bed, which I will truly miss. I finally purchased a rain fly, and it rained last night, so I was able to test its performance. It worked beautifully, even though I did a half-assed job of setting it up. I think once I take a little more time with everything, my tent will be quite comfortable. Trying to sleep in it with full-sized pillows last night didn’t really work, but I won’t have them on my ride anyway. 

Yesterday, I hooked up my bike trailer, to make sure the bracket hadn’t been damaged in something we’ll just call “The Niagara Incident” (private message me for details). It was fine. I forgot how awesome that trailer is. I tried arranging my gear in it, but it had been a long day, and we were tired, so we went off to see a mediocre movie. I put together two care packages for Chuck to mail to me when I’m feeling like I need a pick-me-up. They have things like beef jerky, edamame and gummy Coke bottles. You know...the essentials. 

Today is a day for last-minute packing. We head out for Bar Harbor tomorrow morning. Stopping for breakfast at the historic Wayside Diner, which is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year. Tomorrow night, we’ll stay at the Acadia Inn, which was extremely forgiving of all of my reservation changes. Looking forward to breakfast on Saturday at Cafe This Way in Bar Harbor, a place we discovered years ago. Their food is amazing, and it’s a funky place. 

You may be wondering about my health, since I’ve had pneumonia for the past few weeks. I’m feeling pretty good. I still have a lingering cough, and I’m a little weak, but much improved. More of an annoyance is the fact that I tore off my fingernail, below the skin, whilst making the bed the other day. It was gruesome and extremely painful, and now I have to be careful not to snag it on anything. It happened to a very important finger too! It seems to be healing well, though. The folks at bowling got a kick out of my finger protectors, which look like mini condoms....

I think I’ll be OK. I’m taking it kind of slow for the first week. Twenty miles the first day, and then a cheap hotel. Thirty miles the second day and then a stop at my friend, Alex’s house in Belfast. He just got himself a fine automobile that I’m very excited to see and hopefully ride in. I’ll make my way to Boston and then hang out with Jason for a while. 

I’m excited about the trip and grateful for all the support I’ve received. I’ll continue to post updates, and I’ll certainly appreciate any comments or feedback which you think might be helpful to me as I embark on this epic, life-changing journey.