Rest Day - June 8th, 2019
It’s 11:30 a.m. The rain continued until about an hour ago. While it was still drizzling I collected the things I would need for the day I’ll spend on the porch of the camp store, where I am now. Here I will blog, draft emails, repair a seam of my biking shorts, and sew my pillow case into my sleeping bag liner (which serves as my sleeping bag). I’m sitting at a table drinking hot water that’s in unlimited supply in the store.
I’ve now used every piece of gear except for the emergency space blanket, the Boomerang CycloTrac tracker which I have not yet learned to use, and most of the tools in my tool kit (all of which I tested at home). I’m pleased about all my choices, although I wish my off-bike pants had a left rear pocket, since that’s where I usually carry my wallet. The pants are one size too large because I bought them when I weighed almost 170 and I’m now down to 155, so I ordered a smaller pair to be shipped to my next home stay.
I had been concerned about the slightly smaller than normal keys of the Bluetooth keyboard my friend Harold Rosenthal gave me, but I’m getting used to the spacing and am able to touch type. If the keys were full size the keyboard would fit in my trunk bag, its designated place, but not in my handlebar bag, where I sometimes keep it, nor in the Ziploc bag in which Larry delivered a sandwich and chips and which I use to keep things dry when I walk to and from the camp store.
I brought with me only one pair of Lycra underwear which also serves as a swimsuit. Having swum in the pond yesterday I realize I need a second pair of underwear and will have them sent to me.
I spent most of today at the camp store, first on the porch and then inside when I started to feel cold. I met several people, including Glenn who told me of riding the TransAmerica Trail 40 years ago. I did all the writing and sewing I had planned.
When I returned to my campsite I improved the clothesline I had rigged inside my tent by changing its path through the loops handing from my bug screen. As you might be able to see in the pictures below, one without anything on the line and one with a few items hanging, all four sections of clothesline run close to the bug screen, so that whatever I hang will be as high and out of the way as possible.
I accepted an invitation to dinner from a family staying in a camper parked close to my tent. Steve made a fire on which he cooked hamburgers which were accompanied by goulash and coleslaw, all of which was delicious. Amy stayed in the tent with their daughter Lucy who was not feeling well. Although I wished they would have joined us around the fire, their absence gave me and Steve an opportunity to talk about things we otherwise probably wouldn’t have discussed. Steve is an airplane mechanic and understood when I told him that I love fixing things so much that I’m actually happy when I discover that something is broken (provided it’s possible to get parts).
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| My pillow case sewn into my sleeping bag liner |
I had been concerned about the slightly smaller than normal keys of the Bluetooth keyboard my friend Harold Rosenthal gave me, but I’m getting used to the spacing and am able to touch type. If the keys were full size the keyboard would fit in my trunk bag, its designated place, but not in my handlebar bag, where I sometimes keep it, nor in the Ziploc bag in which Larry delivered a sandwich and chips and which I use to keep things dry when I walk to and from the camp store.
I brought with me only one pair of Lycra underwear which also serves as a swimsuit. Having swum in the pond yesterday I realize I need a second pair of underwear and will have them sent to me.
I spent most of today at the camp store, first on the porch and then inside when I started to feel cold. I met several people, including Glenn who told me of riding the TransAmerica Trail 40 years ago. I did all the writing and sewing I had planned.
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| The camp store as it appeared on June 11th |
When I returned to my campsite I improved the clothesline I had rigged inside my tent by changing its path through the loops handing from my bug screen. As you might be able to see in the pictures below, one without anything on the line and one with a few items hanging, all four sections of clothesline run close to the bug screen, so that whatever I hang will be as high and out of the way as possible.
I accepted an invitation to dinner from a family staying in a camper parked close to my tent. Steve made a fire on which he cooked hamburgers which were accompanied by goulash and coleslaw, all of which was delicious. Amy stayed in the tent with their daughter Lucy who was not feeling well. Although I wished they would have joined us around the fire, their absence gave me and Steve an opportunity to talk about things we otherwise probably wouldn’t have discussed. Steve is an airplane mechanic and understood when I told him that I love fixing things so much that I’m actually happy when I discover that something is broken (provided it’s possible to get parts).
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