Final Wrap Up

Well, other than a swollen spleen that can blow at any moment and a little lingering fatigue, I am feeling 99.9% better. This is good and bad. Good, obviously, because I don't feel like I'm downing a razor blade every time I swallow, but bad because now I have to wait until the doctor clears me to go home to Boston. I'm SO CLOSE to finishing this damn trip, but unfortunately it won't be anytime soon. As long as my spleen is on the ledge and threatening to jump, I am forbidden to ride, which is agonizing right now given the abundance of sunshine. On the bright side, I find myself with plenty of time to wrap up my blog, even if I am 100 miles short of my intended end point.

So, here are some final thoughts that come to mind when reflecting on the trip as a whole. First off, I can't even begin to describe the feeling of accomplishment I have, especially when I look at the map to retrace my tracks. I went so far and saw so much, it's kind of surreal. I think the highlight for me other than the natural beauty had to be the people I met along the way. Being on your own on the road can be a very lonely experience which is why despite my introverted nature I was always happy to strike up a conversation with a stranger. Like, for example, the friendly couple outside Grand Teton NP who were impressed how far I had come just to see the park, or the other motorcyclist I met at an Iowa gas station who was on his way to Alaska (Apparently he has ridden through every state but Hawaii and Kansas, go figure). In Northern California I met two brothers from Ohio who were doing a National Parks tour in their camper. We ended up at the same campground for the night, and they shared their potato soup with me in exchange for some of my stories. Another interesting person I met was the 73 year old British gentleman who after seeing my Triumph excitedly came over to show me pictures of the one from the 60s that he had fixed up like new. He used to race them professionally, but was now spending his retirement touring the states in a rented RV. Also, while camping in Yosemite there was a family from Salt Lake City at the site adjacent to me who to my good fortune decided to take me in. They fed me turkey burgers with "frysauce" (ketchup mixed with mayonnaise, its a Utah thing) and served me their last two PBRs, which hit the spot like you wouldn't believe. Then, while we waited for dessert to cook in the dutch oven, we sat by the fire and discussed the immeasurable value of the National Parks. Rob, Peggy and their daughter Mirra were all so friendly, they made the night I spent in Yosemite a memorable one.

Speaking of strangers and the power of kindness, I've been wanting to elaborate on what I found to be the pleasant surprise of the trip: couch surfing. I have always been aligned with the concept in theory. That is, offer your couch to a stranger passing through your town when you can, and someone will do the same for you when the time comes. Kind of like the "take a penny, leave a penny" tray, but with beds. In a perfect world it seems like a very efficient and methodical way to secure lodging. In the real world though, there are definitely concerns that come up, like "will I wake up in a bath tub full of ice?" I admit I was a little tentative going in, but after my first experience I was blown away by how great it was. At first I thought maybe it was just a fluke, that I just got lucky that my host happened to be super cool (which she was). Well, it turns out that my next host was super cool too, as well as the one after that. Every one of them was just so unbelievably accommodating and generous, and genuinely fun to hang around with. Not only that, but they were all of these things with no expectation of anything in return. Total faith in karma that what goes around comes around. Since then it has kind of dawned on me that I consistently met such cool people via couchsurfing because it takes a certain type of person to invite a stranger into your home on faith alone. With that in mind I'm really excited to do my part and host surfers of my own, not to mention to meet interesting new people, and to be a footnote in each of their adventures.

If I had to pick a low point of the trip, the obvious choice would be catching mono. As much as that did suck, the mono itself was bearable. It was the fact that it caused me to miss Florida and Savannah that still really bothers me. I don't know that I'll ever have the chance to see the gulf coast, let alone to motorcycle it, so that was certainly tough to swallow. Not only that, but my best laid plans to visit all of my East coast friends were literally obliterated. Still, I did really enjoy Asheville, Charlottesville and DC even though I was a shell of a man while there. I'm hoping that one day I can return to see the foliage in Shanendoah NP, sans mono. The ride from DC to CT, however, can only be described as frustrating. I paid $40 in tolls to have the privilege of sitting in New York traffic in the scorching heat. Eight hours later getting off the familiar exit to Wallingford was a cathartic moment. I was finally home.

About mid way through the trip I noticed that people stopped commenting on the fact that I was from Massachusetts. I realized it was probably because my license plate had picked up so much dirt and filth that it was hard to read at a distance. Bonnie was such a grimey mess by the end, I had to spend two and a half hours on my back scrubbing the grease off her rims and tailpipes. It was worth it though because in the end she looked like new.

5 weeks of accumulated filth.

Bonnie after her bath. Sparkle Sparkle.

For those of you who like numbers, here's a quick summary of my trip by the numbers.

Gas fill ups: A lot (>100)
Average mpg: ~50
Total miles (to date): 9391
Bacterial illnesses contracted: 2
Viral illnesses contracted: 1
Max temp: 109 deg F
Min temp: 45 deg F
Western most point: Eureka, CA
Northern most point: Portland, OR
Southern most point: Houston, TX
States visited: 26 (MA, CT, NY, PA, OH, IN, IL, IA, NE, CO, WY, ID, OR, CA, AZ, NM, TX, LA, MS, AL, GA, NC, VA, MD, DE, NJ)
Oil changes: 1
Couches surfed: 4
National Parks visited: 5

The reason I came back.

And with that, I officially close out this blog, and declare my cross country adventure a success. I now relinquish it to the bowels of the internet where it will float through the ether from now until eternity.Cheers!

Home sweet home/sick as a dog

Well, I made it home in one piece. Sorry for the delay in putting up a blog post acknowledging this fact, but I have just felt like death the last few days. I suppose that only makes sense though considering that a recent visit to the doctor confirms that not only do I have mono, but also a relapse of strep. So, the last four days have consisted of a heck of a lot of sleep, Dr's appointments and the worst sore throat of my life. I was hoping to summarize my entire experience with one final concluding post once I got back to Boston, but seeing as how I have no idea when that will be right now, I guess it will just have to wait. I'm sure I will have plenty of downtime to get it done at least, but for now I think I'm ready for another nap. So, stay tuned and I'll wrap up the blog and provide some pretty sweet stats from the trip.

A warm east coast welcome.

Ah, the east coast just as I left it: rainy. Two days of patchy rain so far, but I can't really complain. I'm just happy to still be standing under my own power. I've been pretty tired, have had a nasty sore throat and my swollen glands have me looking like the elephant man, but otherwise my spirits are up. I was able to ride a good 100 miles of the Blue Ridge Parkway before getting on the highway to make better time on my way to Charlottesville. Here I was able to grab dinner with an incredibly interesting and genuinely cool lady, Melissa, who I connected with via the couch surfing website. Like me she is a self proclaimed nerd which made for a truly engaging conversation about all things scientific. It was honestly the highlight of my night. Once she found out I work for Gillette, we talked in great detail about the nuances of making razor blades (don't worry P&G, it was nothing you couldn't see on "How it's made"). Plus, I had probably the best bowl of chicken tortilla soup in my life. So, overall a good night. Unfortunately, when I woke up this morning I had probably the worst sore throat of my life, so I'm afraid my defenses are starting to weaken. My power of will has served me well so far, but I should probably get home to CT asap. For this reason I opted to skip the Skyline Highway through Shanendoah National Park which is too bad because it looked to be truly amazing. At least this gives me an excuse to come down to the DC area to do the ride again in a healthier state. So, one day in DC to see a few friends, then just 5 and a half hours until I am home and can get some much needed rest.

P.S. I just wanted to acknowledge and say thanks to all my friends at home and on the road who have sent me their well wishes given my situation with being sick and far from home. It has really helped me keep a positive attitude. That, and I was amazed that all my DC area friends still offered me places to stay despite being sick. I know it didn't work out to get see all of you while I was down here, but it was still appreciated, and mark my words, I shall return.

When life hands you mono, make lemonoade

I had two days of riding to come up with the title for this post. Those were two long, frustrating days, but I'm glad to say that I think I have finally come to terms with it. In case you weren't able to guess from the title, I was diagnosed as having mono the other day in Mississippi. Crazy, I know. I started the trip with strep, and am ending it with mono. That's some seriously shitty luck. And, I'd be lying if I said it didn't really bother me. At my worst moments it damn near dismantled me. I am so damn close to finishing this trip, the last thing I want is any regret for not being able to end it on my own terms.

For those interested in hearing the story in a little more detail, I started to get a swelling in the lymph node in my neck somewhere in the vicinity of New Mexico. It was minor until I got to Austin and couldn't help but notice the lemon sized lump protruding from my neck. I just assumed (and the internet agreed) that it was an after effect of the strep. But, when I woke up two days ago and not only had the swelling not gone down, but it was accompanied with a swollen red throat I decided I'd better find a walk in clinic. After a handful of tests the worst possible result came back: positive for mono. The doctor said that normally treatment is lots of fluids and bed rest, but that's not exactly something I am capable of at the moment. At first I just laughed about it, unable to believe my luck. I decided the best plan would be to get home as quickly as possible and hop on the first interstate heading north, effectively cancelling the last week and a half of the trip. I could only hope that I could make it close to home before the worst symptoms kicked in. However, when the time finally came to hop on I-65 in Alabama I can only describe it as heartbreaking. I wanted so badly to see the beaches of the gulf coast, and I had lined up two really awesome couch surfing hosts followed by a weekend of catching up with friends in various cities up the East coast. Not to mention, I had been looking forward to riding the Blue Ridge Parkway through the Appalachian mountains all trip. I think that was just too much for me to handle, which is why I decided to say "fuck mono" (sorry for the cursing), and turned the bike back Eastward. The fact of the matter is it has been two days and the worst symptoms are yet to show up. No loss of appetite, no nausea, no painful or enlarged spleen, no more fatigue than is standard after 8 hours on the bike. Honestly, the worst thing I had to endure (other than this friggin lump on the side of my neck) was the depression and anger over cutting the trip short, and that went away as soon as I got things back on track.I can't really explain it, but finishing the trip as planned, or rather, as closely to planned as possible, felt like the only option. I'm still pissed off that I may never have a chance to motorcycle through Savannah or camp on the gulf coast, but I just have to chalk that up to bad luck now.

Anyway, so the current plan is to finish up the Blue Ridge Parkway the next two days, which has been gorgeous so far, ultimately dumping me off in DC by Thursday. Then its on to see some old friends who hopefully won't turn me away due to my "condition" (although, honestly who could blame them if they did), then one last push to Connecticut to be poked and prodded by Doctors. Oh, and that reminds me of the thing that really aggravates me the most. I've been wanting so badly to hang out with my nephew who is finally crawling, and I'm probably going to be put in quarantine instead. I just can't catch a break. Oh well. Here are some nice pictures of the majestic smokey mountains to take my mind off of it.

Well, it turns out that my helmet camera must have turned on in my bag overnight because now instead of having some amazing pictures of the smokey mountains I have roughly 8,000 pictures of blackness. I swear things are just going to keep getting worse before they get better. At least I did stop to take a couple of shots with my handheld camera, so, here you go.

The rolling smokeys

A little comic relief. Q: What do you get from riding through abundant sunshine in the desert on a motorcycle? A: Some sweet glove tan lines.

Land of a million pickup trucks

Austin really is a liberal oasis in a land of right wing conservatives. For example, on the drive here I passed numerous bible camps, saw a sign that said "liberals not welcome", and have literally seen more pickup trucks than people. By contrast, last night while strolling through the city, Nick and I overheard a bike pedicab driver explaining to his passenger (whether she wanted to hear it or not) how religious confession was not dictated by the bible, but rather was created by the priests so they could "keep tabs" on you. I got a chuckle out of this.

So far Austin is a pretty cool city though. Lots of good bars with good music, laid back people; as the guy at the front desk of our hostel put it, change all the sunny days in Austin into rainy ones, and you'd have Portland. I'd have to agree. So far Nick and I have been able to sample the local BBQ, check out a few live bands, see the Capital. I'll probably keep this post short though because we are on our way out to catch the Bruins game now, then it's on to Louisiana early tomorrow morning. Ciao.

Update: We just got back from a night out on sixth street, and it was a lot of fun. I can totally understand why they call this the live music capital of the world. It's just so strange to see the transformation of the downtown area from very quiet and boring during the day to just an absolutely miasma of people at night. We got to see a phenomenal blues band perform in a little bar while we watched the game and drank cheap beer. Essentially, it was my ideal Austin experience. And to cap off the night I had a chili dog from a street vendor that absolutely hit the spot. I will certainly be going to bed tonight with a smile on my face.

Some like it hot...

...but I am not one of those people. Before I get into describing what it feels like to ride your motorcycle through an oven, let me sum up my time in LA.

LA is a prison. Most people just don't realize it because its so damn expansive and pretty. Don't get me wrong, it really is an amazing place. There is so much to see and do, and being in Manhattan Beach was great. The beaches were gorgeous, the food was excellent and the weather was perfect. What I could do without though was the traffic. What an aboslute mess. This brings me back to my original statement of LA being a prison. There is practically zero public transportation, so to go anywhere you are at the whim of the traffic, which is rush hour almost 24/7. Therefore, you really have to be motivated to go anywhere outside of the little corner of LA you call home. Eventually, I imagine, people just give up and stick to their usually neighborhoods. Trapped. Like mice in the maze.

I'd have to say the highlight of my trip was getting to spend the day with my high school friend Nick. Not only did he take the day off from work to hang out with me, but he was an enthusiastic and knowledgeable tour guide driving me all over the place to give me the full LA experience. We did lots of typical tourist stuff, and capped of an excellent day with dinner in the city with another high school friend/California transplant. Throughout the day though, I found Nick's perspective on the city most interesting. He summed up Socal culture in one word that I found extremely apt: status. It is so incredibly flashy here, and it seems the sole purpose of each individual is to prove their superiority to those around them whether it be by where they live, the car they drive or the suit they wear. In short, a nice place to visit, but not somewhere I'd like to live. I have such respect for Nick though. He has always had such a solid understanding of how the world works; not only has he figured out LA, but with some hard work he has managed to turn the tables and let the city provide for him. Classic Nick. He seems very happy, which makes me happy for him.

Obligatory (sideways) Randy's Donuts pic. Sorry, too lazy to crop and rotate.

Now, on to Arizona, or as I like to call it, the Devil's butt crack. I'm so glad that part of the trip is behind me. The temperature in Phoenix hit 109 degrees, and it stayed well into the 100s even into the twilight hours, which translates to no escaping the heat. Here's a quick lesson in heat transfer to give you an idea of how miserable it was:

For heat to flow from one medium to another a temperature gradient must exist. That is, regardless of the mode of heat transfer (i.e. radiation, convection, conduction) there must be a difference in temperature so that the heat can flow from the hotter source to the cooler receiver. Considering that my body temperature is about 98.6 degrees on any given day, and the air around me was over ten degrees hotter, that means that even cruising down the highway at 75 mph the air around me provided no cooling sensation, but rather made me hotter. It may have been disgusting, but I actually found relief when bugs on the highway would crash into my bare arms (I had to strap my riding jacket to the back of the bike) exploding in a cool burst of moisture, and then gone, completely obliterated. I had to stop every hour to choke down some of the boiling hot water I kept on the bike with me just to stay hydrated, but after getting a little dizzy at midday, I decided to play it safe and stop every half hour instead. Three days of this felt more like three weeks, but thankfully I made it to Austin where I am sitting here writing this now. I've met up with my best friend (also Nick), and we are about to head out to explore the city. Updates of our adventures to follow.

Revelation Big Sur

The big draw of California is supposed to be the sunny skies and consistently comfortable temperatures, or so I've been told. My experience thus far hasn't quite lived up to the hype. I've seen a range of 90 heat near Modesto, followed by overcast skies and 58 degrees by the coast less than two hours later. This made for a less than ideal experience cruising through Big Sur, which was unfortunate since I had built it up so much in my head. Don't get me wrong, it was still a very pretty ride, but road was full of drivers more focused on watching the scenery than the road, and to be honest I thought the Pacific Coast Highway North of San Francisco was just as scenic. Still, despite being chilled to the bone afterward, I'm still glad I can say that I did it at least once. Not to mention, I stopped midway through to eat a bag of the best bing cherries I've ever had. They were probably so good because they were picked literally twenty feet from where I purchased them.

Before I go bad mouthing California too much, let me talk about Yosemite. Actually, whatever I say simply won't do it justice, so I will just call it spectacular and leave it at that. You simply have to see it for yourself. Like the Grand Canyon, pictures do not even come close to capturing the immensity or natural beauty of it. It all makes you feel pretty insignificant to be honest, but not in a bad way. Just knowing that you are part of something bigger by contrast makes you feel lucky. So, with that being said, here are a few pictures anyway.

One last thing before I go. I chose the title for this post based on a song of the same name. It is one of the most beautiful songs I know, and it was running through my head the entire time I drove down the coastal highway. It seems like the perfect soundtrack to view these pictures by, so now I'm sharing it with you to enjoy as well. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kx6Zkb89KZE

Now, on to spending the day in LA with my friend Nick. Hopefully a post will follow tonight recounting our exploits. Cheers.