Day 25

We woke up and got ready for breakfast. I hadn’t slept well the last three nights. Not so bad that it was really a thing, but this morning I’m pretty over it. But there is a waffle machine. When I go to get coffee a woman follows closely behind. She has the look of ‘I can’t believe I have to wait for him’ as she finds me at the coffee machine. I don’t understand what makes some think they are actually so much better then another person that cueing behind them is offensive. I’m wearing a collared shirt!?! Your husband is in a tee shirt with crappy pants. Ok I’m wearing shorts and decided not to shave till we get to Astoria, but I’m at least polite enough not to give you dirty looks till you do me dirty. Whatever, I do me regardless of how you want to act. I did take some small joy in watching her walk back to her room as she dug the wedgie out of her, she really showed me her class. 

We got ready, not only in the usual ways but also knowing we might be in the wind tunnel again. The local news said 10 to 20 mile an hour winds with gusts of 30. Could be slightly better then yesterday, or… When we get outside I immediately realize I’m gonna need another layer. Luckily I thought this was a maybe, so my jumper wasn’t too deep in the panniers. It wasn’t cool, it was cold out. The Sky was dark and cloudy. 

We made our way out of town back to Route 2. Everything looked so forbidding. There was a large factory with smokestacks and large imposing walls, with the back drop of dark clouds. As we got further and further from town the industry fell away quickly but the dark clouds seam to follow as well. Shortly we found ourselves in gently rolling hills with bluer skies. 

There was wind, but nothing like the last two days. It felt completely different. I don’t know if the wind was that much less, or if it was a different angle, or we were just more prepared for it. No matter what, it was humane. I didn’t get a headache just from the blowing in my ear. We had a double wide shoulder which allowed for some side by side riding and low enough wind we didn’t fear crashing. 

We rode together for a while. The miles fell fast. It was really nice. The last two days felt like such a struggle, fighting for every inch. Today we shared stories and jokes and we peddled across the plains. 

Jerry just retired, this trip is the first of 5 in 5 years, but this trip is the real transition for him. I do well with transitions, I’ve always felt change is the only constant, so figure out how to make that work for yourself. Not sure if it’s that temperament or just me, but I have had lots of people come into my life during their transitions. Change is change. It is a thing that not everyone does well with. But like the butterfly you go in one and come out the other. I’m not sure why people fear change, I could speculate but it would only be that, speculation. 

I heard a smart person learns from their mistakes, but a wise person learns from others. I endeavor to always be the wise person. In this respect this trip is golden opportunity. Yes we have different jobs, but it has been a real experience to listen to how Jerry prepared. What things he thought about leading up to retiring, thoughts that he’s just pulled the trigger. How there has been an entire shift in the thought processes. I will have a different experience, in that it will reflect my life, but there will be similarities. It’s still kind of soon for me to really be thinking about retiring, but I think we all dream of the time when we can just do what we want. Hopefully we have the insight, opportunity and fortitude to do the work necessary so that we can really just do what we want when that time comes. 

The wind eventually picked up and the shoulder got smaller but it was still manageable. Though desolate. I keep going back to the pioneer days when a covered wagon would crest the hill to see miles and miles of more of the nothing same. It is empty today, then?!?! There also started to be more of these small pockets of water shed. I’m not sure of the exact name, but a watery area with tall grass, like the Meadowlands in New Jersey. This felt even more extreme for this pioneers. Seeing a patch of tall grass and suddenly your horse is thigh high in water… with the wind gusting. 

When the hotel was so close, yet so far, we saw the dreaded detour signs. We continued, but I had worry. Again it seams as if the road wants us to know for sure, what ever your day was or looked to be, you are not in control. Will this be a small change? A huge inconvenience? We rode ahead to find out. The two lane west bound was now, one east, one west, while they worked on the east bound lanes clear of traffic. The shoulder was now: white line, 6 inches, 8 inches of rumble strip, 6 inches and then a 4 inch drop off to gravel. This was not the ideal last 12 miles. To the inside, cars and trucks were close and fearful of hitting us. Riding on the rumble strip wasn’t really an option. Riding on the outside was ok, however there wasn’t much grace for any mistakes. We rode like this for a while, but it was not enjoyable to say the least. After a few miles we decided to cut across and ride on the empty east bound lanes. Suddenly our detour went from pretty crap to the nicest and safest road we’d ridden on so far. Construction ended about 200 feet after our hotel, so we had to skirt across the divider again but soon enough we were checking in. 

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MikeDiazTheFirst

Mike was born in Queen, New York to a blue collar family. An avid self educator, artist, and traveler he’s traveled around the globe three times while immersing himself in the culture of 48 different countries and counting.  Read about his journeys and musings here.

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