Wandering Retirees

One is not supposed to start a piece of writing with an apology. Fine. I’m doing it anyway, Gentle Reader. As I sit pecking at my screen, July has passed into August thus showing how much we didn’t want our adventure to end. (Channeling Pharoah, if it’s not written it’s not done.) Silly, isn’t it? So this is how we finished our wonderful trip. Leaving the big, luxurious and impersonal Marriott hotel in Kingston, ON, we rode northeast along the St. Lawrence River and crossed back into the States at the Thousand Islands entry heading south. (Connie and I both have Global Entry passes from US Customs. It made re-entry quick and easy. We recommend looking into it.). The weather was beautiful and the ride to Cortland, NY and the Patterson clan was a pleasure. Rural NY State is beautiful; we used some of I-81 and lots of back roads – our favorite kind of ride. Sue and her mom, Helen, were so gracious in their welcome. We feasted like royalty and soaked in the pool with little James and Kiely, two of Sue’s grandchildren. Their parents, Annie (niece) and Tom stopped by several times to catch up. Helen was kind and sharp as always, and so much fun to visit with. Nephew Gregg, who lives on the shores of Lake Como, also made an appearance. He continued his annual razzing about the NY Giants and predicts great things for his Redskins. He has such an imagination! His latest project is acquiring a plow to clear his ¼ mile driveway in winter. This is no small thing: last winter Cortland got about a foot of snow for every inch we got in NJ. Nephew Kevin, Tina and their son, Andrew were away camping when we arrived so, sadly, we missed them. We also missed Jim, Sue’s love for 50 years, and my brother, who passed in 2014. There’s both sweet and sorrow in every family.

On Thursday Sue treated us to a musical put on by the Cortland Repertory Theater, “Footloose”, which came out originally as a film in 1984. It was a fantastic production in an intimate setting with the audience on three sides, front row about three feet from the stage. Really good music, singing, acting and set design. We loved it all. Not all good Theater is on Broadway; not all good theater has to cost a mortgage payment. Just saying.

We had a wonderful time being able to relax, eat Sue’s amazing cooking, and connect with family. Sue is such good company. But it was finally time to head home on Friday. We’d been 82 days on the road and were worn out. In a good way, mind you, but ready for home. So down I-81 to the PA Turnpike Northeast Extension. Of course there was road work – lots of it. The NE Extension is like a two lane cattle chute full of traffic. Close a lane and everything clogs up leaving patience as your only tool. We had lots of opportunity to reflect back on the wide open roads out west. The desolation if US 50 in Nevada became a rose-hued memory. So forth. We knew we were back on home turf.

Then Philly – our main routes into NJ were filled with stalled traffic. The heat was firmly in the 90’s and Google was showing us a route through Philly. We took a shot and followed the GPS. Silly persons. We were led through a convoluted route leading to the Betsy Ross Bridge over the Delaware. We had no idea there were so many side streets and alleys, and the traffic was heavy. The saving grace was our familiarity with the real (unspoken) rules of the road close to home. Still, it took us 9 hours to cover 190 miles. But we finally crept into the driveway and poured ourselves off the bike. Home is a sweet place.

We covered 12,700 miles on our journey covering 82 days. We stayed in motels, hotels, Airbnb’s, and with loving generous family along the way. The bike held up wonderfully, needing two oil changes, a new set of tires and about 290 gallons of premium fuel that cost between $2.30 (Anywhere, NV) and $5.75 a gallon (Mendocino, CA). After the first 10 days, we rode in relative comfort, partly due to equipment and prep, and partly because we lost feeling in our butts. (Feeling has been restored, you’ll be glad to know!) Relative frugality on the road and Connie’s exceptional planning kept us solvent throughout the trip and leaves us owing nothing.

We were so fortunate to have seen so many national and state parks and monuments that our much maligned governments and public servants have preserved for our use and enjoyment. It’s telling when you consider the huge number of folks from overseas who invest their time, money and energy to come see our spectacularly American natural treasures. Makes me wonder if we take our rich heritage for granted. And the people. We met hundreds of folks along our journey. Some we have mentioned in our posts, but many we just couldn’t for want of time and space. In the insular and divisive time we live, its too easy to dismiss those who make their life in far flung corners of our country as alien or of no account. We have many sub-cultures, including indigenous peoples. To a person all struck us as folks who want what we all want: to make a living, care for their families and pursue whatever gives life meaning and makes it sweet. Naturally, some are arrogant and rude, but so many are folks who could be friends if we’d let go of the labels. We are a rich country. And the greatest wealth is found in our people. We’d do well to think on that. So that’s all we have for now. Thank you to everyone who looked in our journey – you made us acutely aware of how precious and exciting our adventure was. You encouraged us and added to the gladness in each day. I thank my partner and copilot, Connie, for her fabulous skill as a planner, navigator and boon companion. She is the love of my life, and makes every adventure sweet and rewarding.