"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, February 9, 2017

THIS IS A BLOG-JACK!  You know, a hijack of a blog.  I was going to set up a new blog for my California to Florida trip, but I didn't.  Even thought up a really neat name: "Old Crank".  Get it?  These days it seems that my days contain more "gun-as" than "did-its",  oh well.

So here's the scoop:  Just ignore the Washington to Maine pronouncement on the face page, been there, done that.  If you wish, where it says "Bespoken" on your computer screen you can cross it out and write "Old Crank".  This time out it's a bike ride from San Diego, California (or there abouts) to Saint Augustine, Florida.  And the modis-operndi is a little different too.  On my last ride I left Washington with a fully loaded touring bike, by myself (although it turns out I was far from being by myself) intent on pedaling my way home.  This time I bring baggage of a different sort.  Wait a minute, Bev's coming with me this time, that last statement may not play so well, oops.  Here's how it works:  Bev will ride ahead each day to our appointed end point pulling the camping trailer that we bought in Indiana, I will huff and puff along after her.  I will carry no baggage on the bike other than the bare essentials and arrive each night to a bed rather than setting up a tent.  Hardly seems like any effort now that I think of it.

Bev and I will be accompanied on our journey by our now good friends Joe and Rhonda Thompson.  I met Joe and Rhonda on my last ride and they had already figured out the camping thing.  Never claimed to be that smart you know.  They will do the same with their car and camper.

This will be a very different ride in that regard.  In others I wonder.  If you managed your way through my last blog (just the last post would do I suppose) you understand how impacted I was by the human element.  I have been deeply affected by the presidential election.  Spoken bluntly, I have not been able to get my mind around how anyone could have voted for Donald Trump and I am afraid of what his presidency portends.   I look forward to meeting people across the country and understanding their views to see what I can glean.  I go with as open a mind as I am able and await the result.

We are in Flagstaff, Arizona today.  We will begin back toward Florida some time in the middle of February.

Cheers and Blessings 
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