End of the Road

After making it across Virginia and a couple of days into Kentucky I've decided to suspend the trip and head home.

Thanks to everyone who made this trip possible and encouraged me along the way!

A Stone's Throw from Kentucky

Day 23 Update from Breaks Interstate Park

Summary of the past few days
Day 18/19
6/2-6/3
Slacking at Grandma's House

Day 20
6/4
Marion to Abingdon
20 Miles

Day 21
6/5
Abingdon to Rosedale
29 Miles

Day 22
6/6
Rosedale to Haysi
35 Miles

Day 23
6/7
Haysi to Elkhorn City
Still in progress, but it's going to be a short one.

What a great rest stop I had at George and Marie's house! They have a beautiful home on a peaceful and scenic mountaintop just outside of Marion where I was completely overwhelmed with hospitality and heaps of home cooking. I worked two full days, getting pretty much caught up on my "urgent 'to do' list", toured the farm and played endless games of fetch and tug-of-war with "granddog" Rylie.

Thanks VERY MUCH George and Marie! I had a great time and look forward to visiting again.

But all too soon it was over and time to hit the road. Fully provisioned with homemade strawberry preserves, biscuits (plain and with country ham) and oatmeal cookies, George and Marie packed me up in the van and drove me down to pick up the route in Damascus, VA.

Damascus has a real "outpost" feel to it, hosting a large outdoor supply store and bicycling shop where I finally found dog repellent (and was told I'd definitely need it). I also picked up a "care package" from Pattye. Then after waiting out a brief rain shower I headed off down the road for what was going to be a relatively short trip to Abingdon to spend the night before heading back into the mountains. On the way to Abingdon I found a small hair cut place and decided it was time to a buzz cut! I left a little lighter and much cooler!

Friday was back into the mountains. I passed under Interstate 81 for the last time (I've been paralleling it for half my ride through Virginia) then rode through Morningside. On Thursday I'd felt that the countryside was changing slightly and today I definitely felt that. Fewer fields and more livestock. The hillsides rose more abruptly on either side of the road. The roads seemed more twisting and the hills seem to be getting steeper. It was very overcast (I worked all the way until noon before leaving, waiting for the rain to stop) and cool and it drizzled a few times but didn't really rain.

And when I got into the mountains, it was very hard climbing, but just beautiful. Drop-dead beautiful. I was on a very steep, narrow, twisting two-lane road, with huge tall trees all around. This was very rugged terrain, lots of sharp rocks and steep hillsides. And all around the sounds of water running. Streams, water dripping off the rocks, running in little streams beside the road, cascading over the rocks. It was as if the entire top of the mountain was a huge over-saturated sponge that was just leaking from every possible point.

The sounds of the mountain forest would be interrupted every few minutes with a car passing by and then return. I felt so lucky to be experiencing all of this "immediately" -- not from inside a car driving by but truly being inside of it...being part of it. I was thinking as I was riding up and up and up that you really need music to describe this kind of experience...words are just way too klunky!

I rode into a heavy fog (a low cloud?!) approaching the summit and it was just unreal. The fog stayed with me the rest of the ride (out of the mountain and through more farm land to the four-lane highway) to Rosedale.

Spend the night at a rustic motel, the got up and rode to Haysi yesterday. A lot of climbing and descending again - I definitely feel like I'm out of the foothills and into the mountains! After a nice more-or-less "downhill" ride into Haysi, I went looking for the (very aptly named) Hilltop Motel. A mile and a half climb! Good training for the days ahead I guess!

Spent last night on the phone with Pattye trying to plan out the next couple of days. One very limiting factor for me is just finding lodging (campsites, hotels or otherwise) every 20-40 miles (which....argh....is where I seem to be in terms of day-to-day endurance right now, especially given all the mountains). I plan to stop tonight in Elkhorn City (another 5 miles down the road from where I am right now), but from there it's a long 55 miles to the next camping location, and another handful of miles to the next motel.

Now I'm very confident I can do 60 miles if I need to, but there are 5 big mountain peaks in that route, so at best it's going to be a very challenging day.

So the plan is to spend Monday working in Elkhorn City while the body rests up from the last two days and then try for Pippa Passes and/or Hindman on Tuesday. Now if I end up not making it all the way I'm prepared to start asking for permission to pitch the tent behind someone's gas station or call for a taxi (do they have taxi's out here?). Frustrating because it's another day I'm not making progress, but necessary (I'll get a good amount of necessary work hours in at the beginning of the week and I really need to give the body a day off before trying to ride double my daily mileage in a single day).

Then last night I went and broke my glasses. And of course I haven't ridden by a Lens Crafters at all today. I've got them all patched up with duct tape (dignified quantities of duct tape) and figure I can nurse them along for a few more days until I get to Berea.

So all this has served to ratchet up the general anxiety level somewhat, which makes everything just a little less pleasant to deal with. I'm getting a whole new level of appreciation for those who wrestle with anxiety on a daily basis!

Oh, before I forget let me just say that I've got oatmeal, raisins and bananas in the saddle bags, granola mixed with trail mix in the handlebar bag, and I'm sucking down water like crazy. Good carbs and protein, and not so many cheeseburgers!

Anyway I'd better go pay my bill and ride into Kentucky. Here are some pictures:

PS The closer I get to Kentucky the more slowly I have to speak for people to understand me.

Lots of cows on Thursday and Friday

Hardware store in Damascus

George, Marie and Granddog Rylie

Grandma's back yard

Christiansburg to Marion

Day 15 - 5/30
Christiansburg to Pulaski
31 Miles

Day 16 - 5/31
Pulaski to Wytheville
27 Miles

Day 17 - 6/1
Wytheville to Marion
32 Miles

Pretty consistent 3 days ride from Christiansburg to Marion, eh?

I didn't keep up with the blog over the last 3 days because I kept getting hotels where the internet didn't exist or didn't work. Memories of those three days are kind of jumbled together, so I figured I'd just jumble them together in the blog under a single entry.

No dramatic improvement in my conditioning except that after a very hard Day 16 it occurred to me that I was eating a light breakfast (toast), working four hours on the computer then racing out at noon and starting my ride. So Day 17 I tried a new strategy. Light breakfast, work until noon, race out of the hotel and into the Bob Evans next door, consume a large greasy cheeseburger then start my ride. Upset stomach most of the first half, but then it kind of went away and I was left feeling much better at the end of the day (no "world is coming to an end" exhaustion and felt like I could do another 10 miles if I had to).

I'm also thinking I've got to turn my schedule around and try to ride in the morning then work in the afternoon. This is going to be tough for me because I'm a slow starter in the morning generally; I like working in the morning better; and I like knowing that I've got my hours in before I set out for the ride. But does it make sense to sit and work through the cool of the morning then head out on the bike in the hottest part of the day? No.

So I was passed by a group of 3 riders twice (I passed them when they stopped for lunch) on Sunday and then another solo rider on Monday just before turning off the route for Marion. All of them were on the same route, headed for Oregon. Although I didn't spend much time with them, if felt like I was a part of a small community.

I was kind of excited to see what Marion was like. My kids maternal grandparents have just resettled here from the DC area and for years I've heard stories and seen pictures of the house they've been trying to have built. I've been invited down several times but just never had the time to get away.

Riding into Marion was nice. It's a nice, fairly large sized town with a welcoming home-town feel to it. I stopped by the store for carbonated water (I'm kind of addicted to it) and then set off to what I thought was going to be an easy leg to "Grandma's house". Ha! Turned into three more miles of some very steep little hills, partly on a very narrow road with at least one crazy driver whose squealing tires motivated me to get well out of the way. When I found the right mail box I turned into the gravel driveway that was more like a gravel ladder. I had to get off and push the bike up...there was no way I was going to ride that.

Grandma's house sits at the top of a hill and it's just beautiful. You can see for miles and it was quite with a nice breeze. And waiting for me at the top of the drive was a tall glass of ice water.

I'm giving my body two full days of rest here and my employer two full days of work. As I write this I'm nearly at the end of the first day and I know already it's going to be tough to leave here on Thursday!

Here are some pictures from the last couple of days.

Quote on the back of this septic truck "Hauling Political Promises"

You don't think I'd even attempt this trip without a magnetic Elvis

Standing at the edge of a very steep uphill right-hand turn.

Roanoke to Christiansburg

Day 13 - Thursday 5/28
Roanoke (Troutville) to Catawba
23 Miles

Given my relatively long ride yesterday (and knowing that the old energy reserves would be depleted today) I planned for a short day. Got up and worked until noon, then checked out of the hotel and hit the road. Stopped a few miles up the road in Daleville for a quick lunch at Subway and a trip to the grocery store for sun block and grapes, and then pressed on up into the Catawba Valley.

About an hour after lunch dark rain clouds blew in from over the mountains and I took cover under a group of trees just as the skies opened up. I normally just ride in the rain, but today it just didn't feel right - the road was twisty and narrow, the rain very heavy and visibility was poor. After about 30 minutes it let up to a light sprinkle and I headed down the road. After an hour the sun was peeking through the clouds again.

I spent the afternoon slowly peddling up short steep hills and then quickly descending the other side. Up down up down up down. I felt like I was fighting hard for every mile (I can hear the in-shape veteran riders chuckling -- stop that!).

The payoff though was the beautiful landscapes and sounds and smells of the Catawba Valley.

I should have taken pictures, but I kind of get in this "mode" where I just want to keep my head down and pedal. So I did.

Finally I came up on the Catawba Valley General Store where for three bucks I was allowed to pitch a tent out back along with a few hikers who stopped for the night. I pulled up, parked the bike, got a cold drink and a package of Fig Newtons and sat in the on-and-off rain under the porch and read a book until it got too dark to read. There was a great restaurant across the street (famous among the hiker community, I'm told), but I had nothing left...didn't want to do anything but sit and read my book. A hopeless case! Finally crawled off to bed and was awoken a couple of times by thunder, lightning and heavy rain beating on my (thankfully very rain-proof and sturdy) tent.


Day 14 - Friday 5/29
Catawba to Christiansburg
33 Miles

Woke up about 7 am, crawled out of the tent about 7:30 and took an hour to pack up, drink a cup of coffee and eat breakfast on the porch of the store, this time in the sun!

The ride this morning was much like yesterday...up down up down. Had more energy today and of course the very, extremely, breathtakingly beautiful Catawba Valley for inspiration.

Today I had Christiansburg in my cross-hairs, specifically the Christiansburg post office where there awaited my first care package from Pattye. When I hit the town limits I pulled out the GPS, typed in the address of the post office and obediently folowed the route it gave me. Big mistake! The GPS took me on a big loop around the north side of town, about 6 additional miles of up down up down, and about half of that on a dusty gravel back road. I had a few extra miles in me, but that's not how I wanted to spend them.

Note to self: check Google maps the night before and write down your own directions!

Retrieved my care package without incident then raced for the nearest (second nearest actually) as the sky was clouding up and the wind blowing fiercely. Made it to the motel minutes before the rain started and was soon feasting on brownies and enjoying the other treats. What a morale booster!

Spent the remainder of the afternoon/early evening working and then called it a day.

I'm planning to spend the weekend slowly (picture me tapping my foot with look of extreme impatience on my face as I type "slowly") making my way up to Marion where I plan to spend Monday and Tuesday with George and Marie at their new home, working and relaxing.

Sorry, no pictures this leg.

Day 12 - Lexington to Roanoke

48 Miles

After two days of working in Lexington it felt good to get back on the road again. I'd been watching weather reports about heavy rain and thunderstorms all week, but the rain held off and the sun even made a couple of brief appearances in the afternoon.

As I was pedaling away from the motel I discovered a broken pedal. A piece of the pedal had broken and was flopping loose. No doubt the result of enduring the powerful strokes of my Lance Armstrong-like leg muscles!

Fortunately I was only minutes from downtown Lexington. I rode past Virginia Military Institute, a rather intimidating looking campus with buildings rising canyon-like on both sides of a narrow road (made narrower by on-street parking).

I found the bike shop easily and the owner replaced my pedals right on the sidewalk in front of the shop. This is a very friendly shop and the repair was very reasonable. The owner said that he had a couple come through recently with a tandem, recumbent, three-wheeler equipped with a trailer, solar panel and battery, a setup that allowed the couple to use the computer while rolling down the road. I like the ingenuity, but not sure that I'd enjoy working on the computer while rollowing through the beautiful Virginia countryside.

And beautiful it was. After replacing my pedals I was quickly out of Lexington and onto the quiet, tree-covered back-roads that ran along streams for most of the day. Almost no traffic, quiet except for the sounds of the streams rushing over rocky beds, and all the wonderful smells of spring. After a while the route paralleled I-81 and the sounds and smells of nature were replaced by the sounds and smells of 18 wheelers!

The last part of the ride got very up and down. Lots of rolling hills that I'd been anticipating (I hear it's this way from here on through a good part of Kentucky) and was well tired of by the end of the day.

And speaking of the end of the day, I'd no more than pulled my bike up under the awning of a motel and stepped into the lobby than the skies opened up and the deluge hit. Nice timing!

Day 10 - Lingering (again?!) in Lexington

Day 7, Charlottesville - White Hall
24 Miles

Got a late start this morning. Worked until 11 then rode the rest of the way into downtown Charlottesville to pick up a few items and then put some miles behind me. The traffic leaving town, on a Friday afternoon, on Memorial Day weekend was heavy, but a few miles from town the route took a turn on to the back roads and I left the traffic behind. From then on out the ride to White Hall was entirely pleasant and uneventful. The horizon was full of mountains all afternoon. I hope I'm up to climbing those mountains (we'll know soon enough). I arrived mid-afternoon, and trying to keep with my plan to take it easy, resisted the urge to go a few more miles.

My destination was the White Hall Community Building which is listed on the route map as a place where camping was allowed. When I rolled up the first thing I noticed was the beautiful view of pastures and the mountains behind. I parked the bike behind the community building then crossed the street to Wyant's market for provisions. I noticed they have a bike log sitting out on the counter. The man behind the counter said this was the work of the local historical society. I added an entry right below someone else who was headed for Oregon and had signed the day before.

Spent the rest of the afternoon reading and rehydrating in a shady spot beside the community building. As evening approached I broke out the camp stove for the first time on the trip and cooked broccoli and pasta while managing not to burn down the building or start a grass fire or otherwise injure myself or others. After cleaning up I set up the tent (I'll get my "outdoorsman" badge yet), read until it got dark, then called it a night.

Day 8, White Hall - Waynesboro
29 Miles
Woke up this morning with more dew clinging to the inside of my tent than to the outside (let's see, warm, xxl body inside the tent, cool air outside the tent). I packed up fairly quickly, stretched and headed off. In the wrong direction. I was headed for Crozet for breakfast. I ended up on a very nice road that paralleled a creek and was lined with very expensive looking homes and farms. Crozet was supposed to be maybe 3-4 miles down the road. The road I was on steadily rose and then got very steep just as the creek ended in a reservoir. I huffed and puffed my way up the road a ways before taking a breather and thinking to myself "Hey, I don't remember seeing a reservoir on the map".

I had 10 miles on the odometer when I crossed back in front of the White Hall Community Building.

Along the road to Crozet I crossed paths with a man cycling the other direction. He was cycling from San Diego, California to Maine! I was also overtaken all day long by cyclists who whizzed past me effortlessly. Well I may not be quick or in shape but I am persistent...well...so far anyway.

Finally made it to Crozet where I stopped for "brunch" at Subway and then pressed on to Afton, where I got my first "taste" of the mountains.

I only had to stop and push the bike three times.

Day 9, Waynesboro - Lexington
52 Miles

I crossed the Blue Ridge!

What a beautiful ride down the Skyline Drive. Traffic was light and the views were amazing. It was overcast and cool all day (thank goodness) with a few light showers which I didn't mind.

I gotta tell you, I was very nervous about this leg, having not really ridden in the mountains before and having run into so many...er...personal limitations so soon. My contingency plans to stop and camp half way across if necessary. But when I hit the half way point I was still feeling good. There were a lot of cyclists on this section of the Skyline Drive. I met a guy coming west to east whose wife was driving the truck with all his gear. When he got done with each day's ride they would load the bike in the back of the truck and drive to a hotel. Now THAT's the way to go!

It felt really good to know that I could make it over those mountains! I'm getting stronger every day (well, maybe every third day). On the other side was a very steep descent into Vesuvius during which I stopped a few times to cool off the brakes. The plan was to stop in Vesuvius and camp for the night, but I had a pressing "work thing" and decided to ride on to Lexington. The route from Vesuvius to Lexington runs along the South river and was just very pleasant.

Day 10
0 Miles
I've been working on the "work thing" all day and will probably be at it all day tomorrow as well. I hate being stationary again so soon, but the "up side" is that I'm getting a lot of work hours in early in the week and will spend the end of the week doing more riding.

I'm planning on making it to Marion on Saturday where I've been invited to spend the night at George and Marie's house (their brand new retirement home, on the farm!).

Now this is dedication. An Obama yard mosaic

The mountains were on the horizon all the way from Charlottesville

This was the view outside my tent in White Hall

The Cookie Lady's house at the top (almost) of a (very steep) hill in Afton

Entering the Skyline Drive

Resting at a scenic overlook

The same scenic overlook without me in the way

One of the last climbs on the Skyline Drive. I felt very small against this ridge

Day 6 - Lingering in Charlottesville

Rode out of Ashland on Tuesday. On the way I stopped by the post office and mailed a remarkably-large box of gear home. It was all deemed essential when I packed it last week, but has become less essential the more I have to pedal it down the road.

I really like Ashland. One of my first big events after returning to cycling several years ago was the Heart of Virginia event where I enjoyed the beautiful countryside surrounding the town. And last year I passed through Ashland on my way to Richmond and back. The weather was beautiful, blue skies and a light breeze, and enjoyed pedaling up Center Street, which is split down the center by the railroad tracks, and then slipping out the north end of town.

US Bike Route 1 runs north and south from Florida to Maine. US Bike Route 76 runs east and west from Illinois to Virginia. They meet in Ashland, and become the same road as they exit Ashland to the north. Last August, riding home from Richmond I remember stopping at the point where they split again, looking west down 76 and wondering if I'd ever ride that way. Tuesday I did! It was beautiful with lots of farms and very little traffic. Traffic coming up from the south towards Ashland was very heavy and made the ride a lot less pleasant than it would have otherwise been. Traffing going north from Ashland was virtually non-existant and for most of the day I saw maybe 6-10 cars an hour. Very nice!

The ride was very pleasant until I hit 20 miles or so and then got hit with the same rapid onset of general fatigue that made me want to stop at every shady spot and study the map for a few minutes. Riding by Lake Anna was nice, but the traffic picked up considerably.

Have you ever noticed how traffic in rural areas is much more pleasant to drive in, not just because it's lighter, but people are much more considerate and don't drive as fast and (if you're on a bike) tend to give you plenty of room (or if they can't pass safely, wait patiently for you to pull over and let them by). But the closer you get to a city, the more "mean" it all gets. The cars pass me more closely at higher speed and there's an occasional honk or angry gesture. It was very much like that riding into Lake Anna...traffic just got thicker and meaner.

The last few miles to Mineral were exhausting and I was very glad to pull up in front of the Mineral Volunteer Fire Department. The Mineral VFD offers cyclists a patch of grass behind their building and a hot shower at no charge. I set up my tent, took a shower and relaxed for a couple hours before dozing off. I couldn't even muster the energy to walk down the hill and eat dinner (and those of you who know me will be hard pressed to ever think of a time I missed a meal). I couldn't even muster enough energy to pull the camera out and take a picture of my tent. Do you get where I'm going here?

It was my first night camping (something I need to do a LOT more of very soon) and it all went very well. Setting up and breaking down went smoothly and quickly. I did manage to wake up several times to pull the sleeping bag back over a freezing shoulder, and three or four times to listen to the extremely loud train whistle (flashbacks to "My Cousin Vinny"). I rolled out of bed late, 7:30 or so, packed, thanked my hosts and rolled down the hill in search of breakfast (I'm still not really cooking or anything yet...not much of a camper yet). I found a little restaurant that was a bit scruffy around the ears but full of the friendliest people, most of whom seemed to know most of the others. Very nice! I don't know what it would be like to live in a small town like this (I'm sure it's got its downsides), but it was a very homey feeling. Three pancakes and eggs and bacon later I was off down the road towards Charlottesville.

That was yesterday, and I can't think of a more difficult day I've had cycling. I was tired on the way out of Mineral and it just got worse all day long. I was trying to make Charlottesville by 1 pm so I could check into a motel and start working. A couple hours into the ride and I was beginning to have a lot of doubts about my ability to do this ride at all. A couple hours later (when I should have arrived but was still a dozen miles away) I had an exit strategy all worked out, and by the time I was pushing the bike up the short but steep driveway of the hotel I had all but made up my mind to "suspend" the BTAA until I could get myself into far better shape.

Fortunately I have a GREAT support group (Pattye) who pointed out the extremely obvious (you sit behind a computer 12 hours a day and have been on the bike maybe a dozen times over the past month...just slow down!) and generally talked me back off the ledge. I'm not saying that after a good night's sleep I would have "suspended" my trip, but I am saying that it's very good to have a great support group.

So today I woke up and decided it would be a good idea to give the body a day off and spend the day catching up on things at work. Tonight I'm feeling pretty good.

So the plan is to scale back my daily milage and take it easy and try to make it over the Skyline Drive and down into Lexington by Memorial Day where I've got to hunker down and work for a couple of days (another rest stop...this is going to turn into a vacation if I'm not careful).

Anyway, that's about it. Here are some pictures I took between Ashland and Mineral.

Ashburn, VA - Day 3

Sunday was long, wet and cold. It rained most of the day, which I don't mind TOO much except my glasses spot up and fog up and that gets annoying. I do have a tendency to overheat though, so the cold was refreshing and kept me going all day. The route went west towards Richmond and then more or less paralleled the Richmond beltway north. I had planned to try and camp at the Willis Road Church, but was feeling good when I got in the area, and was reluctant to spend my first night camping in the rain (I'm SUCH a creature of comfort...going to have to toughen up!). I decided to push on a few more miles to the Richmond airport where I found a cheap motel and took a long hot shower. This also set me up for teleworking first thing Monday morning.

18 Miles on Saturday - Yorktown to Williamsburg
66 Miles Sunday - Williamsburg to Richmond
34 Miles Monday - Richmond to Ashland

So this morning I got up and went to work! Broke out the laptop and connected easily and worked until noon. There was something...er...stabilizing about doing something familiar out here where I'm out here completely out of my context. I think I'm going to like staying connected to this part of my life throughout this trip.

At noon I packed up the laptop, checked out of the motel and hit the road. Chilly and very windy today! I was hoping to put in a solid 50 miles today, but a couple hours into the ride I knew it was not to be. No energy at all! I was expecting this. Given that I haven't trained much and did such a long leg on Sunday, I'm not surprised. I also remember this happening on my Tidewater-Potomac ride last year. So I'm not freaking out over it (yet).

So I rode into Ashland and found another cheap hotel (I'm camping tomorrow...for sure!) and have been busy recuperating again this evening. I'll get up and telework again tomorrow morning then try to ride 48 miles to Mineral, VA.

Oh, here's a map of the TransAmerica route:

TransAmerica

It's on!

After years of dreaming about it, and trying to get in shape for it, and saving up my vacation time, and trying to figure out how to fit it around friends, family and job, and arguing with that nagging adult voice in my head reminding me how impractical it is, day one of the Bike Trip Across America (the BTAA - bee' taw) is in the bag and on the blog!

The plan is to ride Adventure Cycling's TransAmerica route, 4,200 miles from Yorktown, Virginia to Florence, Oregon in 14 weeks, and then meet up with Pattye and drive down to visit my mom and siblings in California. 15 weeks in all. And since I don't have 15 weeks of vacation time saved up (and can't really be away from work that long anyway), my employer has (very generously) agreed to let me convert my three-day-a-week telework schedule into an irregular, part-time telework schedule that will let me keep up on all of my critical work, respond to emergencies, and stay in touch with my colleagues and customers. I'm calling it "extreme teleworking," and my goal is for most of my customers to never notice that I'm gone from the office at all.

So today is the first day. Pattye drove me down to Yorktown this morning (less than three hour drive from the Northern Virginia, DC suburbs where we live). We had sort-of planned to have lunch when we got there, but I was getting very antsy (and not necessarily in a great way - more on this below) She took my picture in front of the Yorktown Victory Memorial and then again at the beach where I dipped my bike wheels in the Atlantic Ocean and set off towards the Pacific.

I had a very nice ride up the Colonial Parkway. The weather was overcast and I felt a few light sprinkles, but he sun broke through several times and it never did really rain. The route leaves the Parkway briefly (to detour around a no-bicycles-allowed tunnel) to wind through a section of Colonial Williamsburg, where I found British soldiers marching in the town green! I spent a half hour or so watching enthusiasts in authentic costumes display their drum and fife skills and engage in rifle practice. I rode on into a more modern section of Williamsburg and checked into a hotel and called it a day. I think I've got all of 15 miles on the odomoter, which is not much of a first day in terms of mileage (which I'm feeling quite the slacker about), but is huge in terms of just getting this started.

And "just getting it started" has been no small thing for me. I don't want to get TOO into this (because quite frankly it feels a bit silly and self-serving and...er...wimpy?) but one of the most difficult things to deal with is just the level of anxiety that I've built up over this trip the past few weeks. Huge heaping loads of anxiety! Don't know exactly where it's coming from (there are several prime suspects!) and I'm sure it's a cumulative thing and (pretty) sure it's going to be largely gone soon. But I'm sure gaining a lot more respect for those who have done this before!

And getting it started wouldn't be possible without a lot of help and support from the people in my life. Thanks to Al, Joe and Rich for taking a chance with "extreme teleworking"; to D for dealing with all the kid-issues this summer; and especially to Pattye for her exceptional support, encouragement and enthusiasm - and for feeding the cats while I'm gone.

Do I look anxious?