Aug 3rd Norwood, MA
So it was time to move on once again. It’s weird as the trip gets further in; it gets harder to move on. I hung around till everyone was up and I could say good bye. This has become like a second home to me and I know I will see them all soon so it was not too hard to leave. The day was beautiful and I got into the swing of things pretty fast. I was headed for the Maine coast and just the scenery alone could keep a man on that bike forever. Before I knew it I was in the state and on the coast and was already back where we had driven the day before in New Hampshire. Soon I was in Massachusetts and I could not believe the ground I was covering. Before I knew it I realized that I was going to end up in Boston by nightfall and at this point in the trip can not afford a hotel anymore. I had to think on my feet and decided I was going to take a train into Boston from a few miles away then hit up the suburbs through another train. In Beverly I got on and just loved the ride. New England’s train system is brilliant and when I got off I rode through Boston with a smile on my face – the history and vibrancy surrounds you. It’s a cool town and always growing. I got to the south station and got a second ticket to Norwood to get out of the congestion of the city. I did not realize but it is getting night fall much sooner now and when I thought I had an hour to ride it was already dark in Norwood. So I was off to find a spot in this much smaller town and found some public land that I set up shop in. I was visible to everyone but I have yet to have a problem and felt comfortable.
Aug 4th Guilford, CT
I woke up to a dog wondering what I was doing there and so I left early. I made Rhode Island in no time and funny enough got more lost in the smallest state than any other before. New England streets are so confusing – it reminded me of Cali. What is it with the coastal states with the winding roads and the roads in the middle states being so straight. I could not believe how far I made it today. I rode the coast of Connecticut and thought about Dirty Dancing with all the polo fields, old money, and beautiful homes. It was very nice. There is a lot to see in this area and one day when I have money I will spend more time here. I also was honked at a lot not out of anger but just kids in traffic – but thought about hate for some reason. I came to the conclusion that everything comes from somewhere, therefore, when we hate something that comes from within. If that is the case which I know it is then when we hate, we hate something about ourselves. This made me conclude that the hardest lesson in life that I must always work on is to learn to truly love myself because if you truly love yourself then you cannot hate anything. This is a work in process but if you’re not growing your dying and everyday should be looked at as training for how to live. Days are lessons and the test only comes at the end - this is why philosophers tell you to look at the journey and not the destination because it is the journey that is the magic. I also realized today thinking about luck – I am not lucky I am living and that if I was to get robbed or hurt then I would be lucky because the statistics on this is more uncommon than my success on the trip. I ended in Guilford, CT and slept next to a home donated to the fire department for practice. It was a great day and I felt good about everything.
Aug 5th Princeton, New Jersey
I awoke so excited to see my friends, the Lambs. For some reason my mind was moving as fast as the pace of the New England cities and as I got closer to the New York border one could see the congestion of the city ahead. I decided that since I had pedaled New York I would ride the train one last time into the city since I was helping Blair move to DC and needed to be in Princeton, New Jersey. I would train there then pedal the state to the coast south and ferry to Delaware because I had not been on a ferry since New Orleans. I trained to Grand Central Station where I met the most interesting man named Steve. He walked up to me asking me what I had named my bike – which I have thought about but failed to get one I liked. As I told him what I was doing he broke into the fact that he had been biking the world and just traveling with whatever came his way. It was amazing and he gave me his blog of freewaysoul.blogspot.com. I then left to bike to Pennsylvania and as I waved good bye I could not believe I did not go to Central Park with him. The energy of that city made my head spin and I felt like my time clock was ticking away to death. I love to see that place but everything is about the individual and I do not agree that is how we should be. Even the billboards all made the statement that it was all about “you you you”. I made it to Penn station and must say the trains and the city was more tiring than the riding. I was glad to be headed to Princeton and slow my roll. It is getting close to the end and with 41 states down I will be sad to finish so the last run I want to really enjoy the ride. That night the Lambs came home and it really was as if I never left. We just laughed, ate, and talked about what we had been up to. It was a huge dinner and a short night, but we had plenty of time together. It’s hard to reflect on all I have done and can’t wait to see all the people that have made this trip what it is again.
Aug 6th Princeton, New Jersey
This was a day of nothingness and I loved every second. I walked around the city of Princeton after I drove Blair’s car in for the few blocks. I now I am really lazy – ha. I love Princeton and the campus is beautiful. NJ is a really beautiful state and even though many of the cities could use some cleaning up, it’s great. I laid around the rest of the day till everyone came home and then we were off to dinner. The Lambs have a cousin living with them named CK and we all had a fun visit. The waitress or cooks did forget a whole steak, but fixed the problem and it turned out well. Blair, CK, and I went out and had a ball running around the town. Blair and I danced around and then ate the fridge clean that night.
Aug 7th Washington, DC
I was so excited to see Trevor again and it really is amazing how quickly it feels like I never left and how close I feel to the Lambs as part of my family. We packed up a U- Haul for Blair and I was excited to go see DC where Blair was moving to for grad school.
Trevor and I took the truck and got to catch up which made the ride faster. We went to Delaware first and I got to see Amy, an old friend of Blair’s, which was nice then we were off to our country’s capital. We moved her in to the apartment and were starving. I have to be honest and say that we did nothing patriotic or “touristy” while we were there. We did eat well and play around the city till the morning. I only got in one friendly political battle and it ended well. I love DC and it was not as busy as I thought or remembered. The roads are crazy but all in all it was so much fun.
Aug 8th Princeton, New Jersey
We woke up and Trevor was tricked into unpacking Blair’s stuff so he told me to go back to bed which I did and was glad to do. We went to breakfast and then hit the road. The ride back was a little longer but it was nice to get some more time with Trevor. Blair took the train again and when we got back we all went to get sushi and once again all had a blast. I am going to miss these guys but I always make it back somehow and can’t wait to be here again. It’s on to the last leg of my trip and I try not to think about finishing. I look forward to everyday and much love to all and talk to you soon.
