Pedaling Pilgrim Blog Home

We arrived in Corvallis today. With the help of one of Caroline’s new roomies and two friends, we quickly helped my nemesis disgorge our cross country steeds, provisions, and all of Caroline’s belongings. Today’s drive was just over 5 hours, but after 31 hours and 1,988 miles over three days, I was ready to rid myself of that wretched boxy beast. Even the pleasant smell of melted butter couldn’t make me muster up any good thoughts about that U-Haul. My hands feel like they froze and there’s numbness in my toes. I was so happy leaving that thing behind, I couldn’t take a parting photo or even look back; zero love lost in that parting.

My friend Kurt was contemplating retirement a few years ago. He wondered what he would do in retirement and thought maybe long haul trucking might be a good occupational time filler. He thought maybe the two of us could go in together on this idea, seeing the country while getting paid to drive around. I’m pretty sure Dante included an eternity of long haul trucking in his 4th or 5th level of hell. I told Kurt that was my feeling about his scheme; after my experience with that 15-foot box on wheels, I’m certain I would rather be hit by a truck than drive one on a daily basis.

I have a 24-hour reprieve with Christin and Caroline before Geeto and Lecy show up tomorrow. I hope my hands will be unclenched from my 31-hours death grip by then.

I realized this morning that I forgot to include something in yesterday’s blog… this is the problem with writing late at night after a long stressful day (as I recall from my Mississippi adventure). On Monday as we drove through Minnesota, I saw 3 highway signs on I-90 that read “LOOK TWICE FOR BIKERS”. I should’ve gotten a photo, but I was thinking about my last brunch with Lecy when he was “critical” (not complaining) about my route planning. I thought, “Maybe we should just right on I-90; the good people of Minnesota seem to care for us!” Then yesterday I saw not one, but 2 solo bicyclists fully loaded riding on the I-90 shoulder near Missoula MT. One looked like he was 70+ years old and riding east; the other maybe 40’s and riding west. ON THE SHOULDER ON THE INTERSTATE! I’m now remapping our route for discussion with Lecy tomorrow 😉.

Lastly… we’re marginally famous: Lincoln County Leader Article. A couple of local newspapers contacted me and were excited to run some stories. They said they may check in while we’re on the road. I’ll be glad to share stories from our campsites, roasting marshmallows on the I-90 shoulder.

I went through many emotions over the past three days, moving our youngest 2,000 miles away through frequent driving stresses on top of the anxiety of a 3,700 mile bike ride. I don’t know what song could capture that mood, but I was frequently nearly: Driven to Tears