hi everybody. this morning i'm writing from Goshen, Indiana. Glen and i made a quick decision to pedal like mad to get up here so i could see a friend of mine before she left for vacation. We've been staying with Glen's friend Jerry Peters, having a good ole time, relaxing, running into people we know, spending time with friends, etc.
i've not been quite sure how to approach this update thing, but several people have suggested that i do a diary sort of thing, a little blurb about each day, so i'm going to try that. if you get bored, let me know.
but first, a couple of things...
i will always carry with me now the memory of the beauty of Pennsylvania. after meeting Glen in Indianapolis one life-changing morning a few weeks back and making the quick decision to come on this trip, i had a week and a half in Lancaster that was filled with family and preparations. with all that busyness, it never hit me that i would right away be traveling through some of the most beautiful country ever, right there in PA. it was so unexpected, such a pleasant surprise, the forests and hills and farmland and small towns and winding rivers that we rode through and up and over. many places that i want to go back to again.
ok, i think instead of starting at the beginning of the trip, i'll just tell a story or two, then start the diary from about a week ago.
our first day was fun. Glen's brother Ernie rode with us until evening, then his parents came to say goodbye and to pick him up. because we had to wait by the road so the parents would see us, we began to cook on the grass in the dude's yard we were camping on. only, the grass was so dry (there having been little rain in eastern PA this summer) that it promptly caught fire. it wasn't a problem, we stomped it out and continued cooking on a maybe one foot square burned spot. however, the neighbor from across the road had observed our escapades, and came over with a threatening demeanor to tell us there was a burn ban and take down our names. we expected to have the police show up next, and were anticipating that conversation when the neighbor came back and offered to let us use his stove to cook "instead of starting a fire." we followed his offer and ended up having a great time talking with his wife, who treated us like sons and fed us ice cream. plus we walked away with a whole pile of tomatoes from their garden. strange twists to things already.
the first days were filled with biking, with finding a traveling rhythm, with me getting used to a life of sleeping in people's yards and getting water from people's faucets and camping out and cooking out and living on less money and going wherever we felt led to go. since glen had already been on a trip like this, he took care of most things; i just worried about getting in shape and getting used to the biking life. we went west pretty fast, since we were both eager to get out and stretch our legs and get somewhere. climbed some nice sized hills, a few two and three mile climbs. (if i wasn't in shape i am now.) basically had fun being out together on a new adventure.
ok, i could probably type more, but to save time, now to the diary.
8/25, day 6: today we woke up in a gazebo in Houston, PA, having camped out in the town park. though we thought we might get a visit from some officials, no one bothered us all night. stopped in Claysville at a small town Methodist place for church. walked in to service twenty minutes late in our biking gear. turned a few heads. went through Wheeling, WV, where i want to live sometime. had some right knee and ankle trouble late in the day, limped into Barnesville, OH. saw "89 cent cheeseburger" sign at a Wendy's and stopped with visions of huge burgers for cheap. got inside and found out it was the junior burger, walked out. outside Barnesville stayed for night with wonderful farmer and wife, daughter home from college for summer. watched cows move up and down their beautiful valley. he fed us leftover lasagna and cooked burgers for us and dug up some potatoes from his garden that lasted us for several days. slept in his equipment shed for fear of rain.
8/26, day 7: farmer's wife brought us juice and toast, let us take showers in their house, a great start to the day. after riding through Ohio countryside, we tried to stay at a state park campground for free. we were denied. heck, they wanted 11 bucks to camp, and we'd been camping for free, so we went elsewhere. found a place a little down the road, a fireman/ paramedic guy who let us sleep under his tree and chatted with us on his porch for an hour or more. today Glen said, "sometimes i feel that we're like the Israelites, just getting enough food for each day, trusting the Lord to provide." and i said, "yeah, and we're keeping our debit cards handy."
8/27, day 8: in the morning our host's dad came by to check on the horses that he stables there, saw us cooking breakfast under tree and came to talk to us. he went away and came back with a grocery bag full of food, enough for lunch for that day, plus some. unexpected generosity is something we encounter a lot, learning to receive part of the journey. we wanted to make Columbus by evening so we could attend our cousin's child's birthday party, but we got to the road we wanted to take and realized it was a highway, not suitable for us. flagged a motorist down to inquire about other roads, and he said oh, there's a bike trail just over there. well, the bike trail went just where we wanted to go, and we rode laughing and thankful for our good fortune. happy coincidence or someone bigger planning our way for us? we're not sure. stopped to eat lunch at a man's picnic table; he joined us and chatted, brought us mayo and cheese for our sandwiches. picked our way through crowded streets of Columbus, made it to our cousin Edith's place in time for the birthday party. hung out with cousin-in-law family and had great cookout meal of bratwurst and sides, cake and ice cream. stuffed ourselves.
8/28, day 9: woke up in my cousin's camper to a call from my mom. we took a rest day--did laundry, sat around and talked, went to the library for email, stopped by a bike shop, made phone calls. our cousin Evelyn had off for the day also, so we puttered around together much of the day. Edith's husband Mike took off early from work and we went to a park for supper, played with the kids there (Alaina and Derek, about 1 and 5, cute and fun to run around the playground with). with some space to think about what i was doing, realized that what i most enjoy about the trip so far is just getting somewhere on a bike. other things are fun, but that is i think what drives me the most.
8/29, day 10: Mike and Edith sent us off with a great breakfast of whole wheat and oatmeal pancakes. the night before i had talked with my friend Laura in Goshen, and found out she was leaving for a vacation on sunday. glen and i decided our next adventure was to push it to Goshen in two days to get there before she left. did our first 100-mile day (a century, in biker language). felt good to go that hard; we fortunate to have a tailwind, so we just put our heads down and pedaled hard. stopped for a night at house where husband builds street rods, wife makes excellent fresh grape juice, and just-started-high-school daughter keeps bunnies out back and baby ducks in the kitchen.
8/30, day 11: woke up in between a soybean field and a fence. pushed another 100 miles to Goshen, Glen and i working as a team, drafting off of each other. i felt good in morning, he felt good in afternoon, so we helped each other out nicely. so happy to see Goshen sign around 6 in the evening. crashed at Glen's friend Jerry's house, wonderful to spread out in his basement. ate college picnic food along with freshman orientation crowd at Goshen College, where Jerry is theater technical director. went to a pub in evening and heard live music, a wonderful treat while on the road.
8/31, day 12: spent day visiting in Goshen. had breakfast at mutual friend Phoebe's house, great food and fellowship. went to end-of-the-season ice cream sale at small homemade place, ate discounted pints of raspberry and amaretto. spent time with Laura in afternoon, catching up. went to Goshen soccer game in evening. turned out to be a great day of seeing friends, getting little things done, hanging out in Goshen, a Mennonite hotbed that i've heard much about but never visited before.
well, i think that officially catches me up. this morning glen and i are doing laundry, sitting around, getting ready to go soon. i was looking at an Eddie Bauer clothes catalog this morning and all the clothes looked so weird--nothing that would be functional enough to bring on this trip. we are living in a different world, said glen, and i agree, we traveling, almost hobos, on the edge of things, skimming across the country and across culture, outside of the regular stream of life, creating a culture of our own, a culture of two guys biking simply. till next time, peace!
9/1, day 13: today glen and i said goodbye to Goshen after having a wonderful break there relaxing and hanging with friends. headed for Mishawaka (near South Bend) to see some friends of mine who are Franciscan friars. i met James, Doug, and Mark in San Francisco; they served a candidate year at the Shipwreck friary and parish while i volunteered at the school, and we all became friends. i knew they were in Indiana but didn't know where until i suddenly got an email from one of them friday. they invited us to come, so we decided to go. a very short ride, under thirty miles, which glen and i enjoyed, riding side by side on back roads and chatting most of the way. my friends are now Franciscan novitiates, living for a year in a house with twelve other men: praying, working, studying. we joined them in the afternoon and ate dinner with them, then went to Notre Dame for a beautiful candle-lit vespers service. what a privilege to be in this place, a place where few can come but we were made welcome. a great time to experience an almost monastic lifestyle, something so different from ordinary life. yet, our bike trip has some of the same pieces to it--simplicity, community, sharing--only we live these values in a different context. still, i may be on a spiritual journey as well as a physical...
that's it! till next time. peace, joe.
Keep in touch - Joe (lappjoe@yahoo.com) and Glen (glapp@juno.com)!