Be-Spoken: April 2014

"It would be pleasant to be able to say of my travels with Charley, "I went out to find the truth about my country and found it." And then it would be such a simple matter to set down my findings and lean back comfortably with a fine sense of having discovered truths and taught them to my readers. I wish it were that easy. But what I carried in my head and deeper in my perceptions was a barrel of worms. I discovered long ago in collecting and classifying marine animals that what I found was closely intermeshed with how I felt at the moment. External reality has a way of being not so external after all."

John Steinbeck
Travels With Charley

So,

Off I go, from Anacortes, Washington to Lubec, Maine.

Thursday, April 17, 2014

Time to pack

Well, it's time to start packing. The list has been finalized. Each item has been laid out on the basement floor. Now it's time to see it will all fit on the bike.

My big brother Ed has decided to join me this summer and ride a portion of New York with me. My old touring bike has been tuned up, new tires and new drive train and will be delivered to New Jersey next week for him to use.

The weather hasn't been too cooperative making it hard to get road milage in. We had more snow on Wednesday. The nights have been well below freezing making it hard to get on the road much before noon.

Sunday, April 6, 2014

Cascades Pass

According to an April 3rd post by the Washington State Department of Transportation work has begun to clear the Cascades Pass over the Rockies. There is up to 35 feet of snow in places! I begin my ride on the coast on May 21st. The projected date for the opening of the pass is May 25th. Since I begin my climb after two days of riding, I may be hanging around for a while until the pass is cleared!