Djina blogged for the hour and a half when I took "The Beast" in to the bike shop for a quick overhaul. ("Look at this!" Ernst, the owner of the shop said to his assistant, as he examined my bike. "A Biopace chain ring. I haven't seen one of these since the mid-80s!") When we arrived at Berea and put the boys to bed, she blogged until crawling into bed at 2 am. It is true that Djina looked at 4 motels before being satisfied with this one. She was looking for that most important necessity that every motel must have. More important than beds, "We'll sleep on the floor with sleeping bags." More important than a shower and toilet, "We'll hose each other down, then pee in the bushes." Yes, Djina was searching for a motel with a computer with DSL for hotel guests. Yet, I am not immune either. It is now 6:19 am. I am blogging. Hence, Descartes must be updated: Blogo Ergo Sum.
Berea is the "Gateway to the Appalacia Mountains." One last mountain range to do. Says one blog, "The Rockies are kindergarten compared to these mountains." Translation: Extremely steep grades with surly coal truck drivers flying down driveway-wide, pot-holed roads await us. Don't forget about the dogs whose owners are still sore about the Civil War, and I'm still lugging Harry Potter in my panniers. By the way, Djina and I still think Snape will turn out good and the boys think he is evil. Don't give it away if you have read it!
675 miles to go. We can taste the end. The boys are amazing. They are ready for the ride to be over. Yonah searches the maps for any rerouting opportunities. He'd ride the Interstate at night with no lights, if we could shave off five miles. But the boys keep getting up at 6:00 am and put in the requisite 60 or so miles. They are tired - physically, emotionally, and though Yonah might not agree he has a soul, spiritually beat.
Solomon and I are trying to negotiate these last 675 miles. It is so hard for him to be on the bike. And it is hard for me to have him on the bike at times. The deal is: he works hard and then gets his milkshake. I still have to remind him "hill" when the grade gets rough. When I say this he has to turn to the front, put his hands on the bars, and give it his all. He has developed one new ritual that isn't exactly a pain in the butt, but it does involve that part of the body. At random times during the ride, he'll take his index finger and give my butt or lower back seven or so taps. I'm huffing and puffing and it's 95 degrees and 85 percent humidity and don't forget Harry Potter is now weighing as much as a set of barbells, and at this moment I feel a tap-pause-tap-pause-tap... It just makes me want to scream, and unfortunately, I sometimes do. "Stop tapping!" "I'm not doing it!" "I felt it and saw your shadow do it!" "It's your fault because you sat too close to me!" "If you do it again, I'll kill you!" "I'm not talking to you anymore!" My vow at the beginning of each day is to make it without yelling at 'ol Sprite.
Today is a blessed, blessed rest day. We earned it.
Matt
Thursday, August 2, 2007
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2 comments:
Descarte said alot of things, and postulated on many thing, and when you finally got to the end of his headgame, you finally pleaded please, if you could only cut to the chase..which usually happens at the end of the long and winding hypothesis..much like your journey. So you guys
are ready for the end game? Oh but, you will look at this episode, and surprise yourself the most. It will be a smile at the end of a long day, a flash of nostalgia when you see something that brings you back to where you have been. And now you are a mere hop skip and leap till
you get through the Appalachian hills. Berea, the place you have had a chance to rest in, and leave by now, I suppose, is a University town and if I remember correctly was started in the foothills of the Applachian mountains for and about the disenfranchised of the state. Its mission was that, and I suspect it mostly still is.
As we, Dieter and I, prepare for our much smaller journey to the West, by plane, and then by car, we will pass a few of the places you have been. The un-intended consequence of your journey is the inspiration you have imposed on us, and now I am
definitely signing up for Yoga in the Fall, and I will walk aside the car while in the Nevada desert
at least a mile or two every once in awhile, symbolically, just to not feel like a fat old cow--being driven to market.
So you guys are human after all. Solomon finds ways to torture you, and you find ways to be a parent in charge..and Yonah finds new and quicker routes and Djina ways to a solid internet connection. Its all right. Its all good. And actually I think you are all still the greatest. Your Rhode Island connection and devoted reader. Y.
Yes, and throughout it all we have been almost constantly laughing. We are still in Berea and about to head into town (waiting for the laundry to be done, as we washed everything except our bathing suits). Anty Vette, the Yoga will change your life! I'm not kidding.
L,
D
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