SATURDAY, JUNE 11, 2005

Tuesday, June 11, 1985

Twenty years ago today, I started out on my bike trip. Leaving from my home of Millersburg, Kentucky, I headed for the West Coast. I knew it would take me weeks, maybe even two months. I didn’t have any set road map, I just knew I wanted to go west. Since I didn’t take a camera, I recorded my experiences daily in a journal. Following are the thoughts, feelings, and adventures just as I wrote then twenty years ago.

I’ve sorta been putting off going on this trip partially out of fear of what lies ahead and mostly because my bike was in need of many adjustments. Well, finally I decided to leave Millersburg at 10:00 Tuesday morning. It was my brother Greg’s birthday and Mom was working at the salon today. It seemed to be a perfect sunny day and I left home with 300 bucks in my pocket. I rode by to say goodbye to Mom. She seemed a bit worried that I decided to leave so late in the morning. I was planning to get to Louisville, KY, by nightfall. (A 115-mile ride.)

It was nice and sunny till I got to Georgetown. I was hit by a big thunderstorm with lots of lightning to go with it. I was soaked as I came out of the ditch I was taking shelter in. (I was more afraid of getting hit by lightning so I found the lowest area and got away from my bike.) The storm cleared up, and it was sunny again. I continued on towards Frankfort and everything seemed to be doing okay. I hit a big hill and pushed my bike to the top and took a rest. Found a McDonald’s and had lunch. I guess I had gone about 50 miles when somewhere between Frankfort and Shelbyville I got hit by one big storm after another. I pulled off the road once and went into the woods to get away from the lightning. It was pretty scary again. I kept riding through an almost constant rain till I got to Simpsonville (about 20 miles from downtown Louisville). It was starting to get dark and I was very wet and cold. I was standing with my bike in a low area off the road so I wouldn’t get struck by lightning. This was not fun. But while I was standing there in the rain, a nice guy named Scott Stalker gave me a lift all the way to downtown. My friend Bettie (my best friend who I was planning to stay the night with) wasn’t home at the time, so I called Millersburg to let my mom know I was alright.(She was pretty worried and thought I had picked the wrong day to start a trip.) I went to get something to eat and tried to get Bettie on the phone again. She was very excited and surprised to hear from me. Bettie and Donna had just gotten back from swimming and let me stay the night. (Donna was a handicapped woman Bettie was helping in exchange for a place to stay. Donna seemed to be nice to me, but she acted pretty nasty towards Bettie.)

Back then I was very much in the closet. Bettie was probably my closest friend and there was even talk about us becoming a couple. My family must have thought that Bettie and I would get married someday. I guess they have finally given up on the idea. I finally told Bettie about 10 years ago that I was gay. She didn’t take it bad at all, and we are still very close.

SUNDAY, JUNE 12, 2005

Wednesday June 12 1985

“Bettie woke me up at 930 AM and got out clothes together to wash at the laundromat. After washing clothes, Bettie took Donna to do her swimming and I went looking for a bike shop to find a c clamp and some straps. I found a Schwinn dealer but he didn’t have any of the things I was looking for and sent me to an auto parts dealer. They didn’t have any either so on the way back to Bettie’s I got a flat rear tire. I bought a new tire and tube for $12.73. I fixed it in the parking lot of the Kmart and headed back to say bye to Bettie.

After we said our goodbyes, I got back on the road and at 530PM I crossed the Ohio River into New Albany Indiana and tried to find US 62. The sun was going down and I was riding on a sidewalk in front of a Holiday Inn when my forehead hit a lead wire supporting a telephone pole. I was knocked off my bike and my neck and forehead hurt. I noticed blood pouring down between my eyes. I went inside the Holiday Inn to see what the damage was in the restroom. people looked at me and said that it looked like I had a nasty wound. Once inside the restroom I washed it up and found a shallow cut straight across my forehead. It just looked worse than it was. I put some pressure to it for a bit and the blood stopped then I continued on my way.

I ate dinner at Druthers and continued west on a road I later learned was US 150. I got to Greenville and asked some older man how I should get to bradford. He said to take some road to my right when I get back to town. It winded it’s way through gravel roads. I was just guessing at my directions now. I think I was lost. Lots of forested land and I thought perhaps I shouldn’t be here, but I continued onwards. The sun had already disappeared as I passed Bradford. I wanted to get as close to US 62 before sleeping.

I was now riding by starlight and it seemed like a nice peaceful night. I took US 135 south and turned right at the crossroads. I found a service station and bought a root-beer. I continued west thinking I was going toward US 62 unknowingly passing the town called Ramsey and heading for Depauw. I was getting very tired so I turned off on the side of a desolate road and slept in the grass just off the road so I wouldn’t be seen. It was a nice cool, starlit night.”

MONDAY, JUNE 13, 2005

Thursday, June 13 1985

“Had to wake up early so no one would see me off on the side of the road. I rolled up my sleeping bag and quickly got myself together and rode west. Something didn’t feel right about this direction and it was very cold this morning. It was in the 40s. pretty cold for summertime. I was hoping the sun would warm things up a bit. The gloves that Bettie gave me sure came in handy.

I turned around and found myself in Ramsey. I did make a mistake. I should have gone straight at the crossroads. I took US 135 south and headed for highway 62. I rode into Corydon Indiana and bought somme bananas, a can of tuna, a can of beans, and a candy bar at an IGA supermarket. I kept riding west and passed a national park called”Wyandotte Cave”. Kept riding till I rode into a town called Leavenworth. There was a nice roadside park at the top of this beautiful hill. I parked my bike at the shelter and opened my can of tuna and bananas. While I was eating I noticed something odd. Something looked missing. Then it hit me,”I forgot my tent!” It was too far to go back now. Decided I had to just keep going. I would have to buy another one later.

I got back on the bike and found the roads ahead to be very hilly. I passed lots of small towns. Stopped and got water out of a very clean looking creek. scared a pig that was walking out on the road in Weatfork. It went squealing off the road into the woods. It seemed pretty funny at the time. Saw lots of crows in St.Croix. lots of open farmland here.left the Hoosier national Forest and entered St. Meinrad. Saw what looked like a castle up on the hill. Rode into Dale and I was feeling pretty hot and tired. Stopped at a store and bought some nasty peaches, nut rolls, orange juice, and milk. stopped just long enough for a little break then rode on highway 62 from here to Boonville. the traffic was just horrible now. Big diesel trucks kept riding past me constantly and the shoulder was narrow. It was so hot as I got nearer to Evansville. Up in the sky I saw a big hot air balloon floating over some big open fields. It was a nice sight to see and I have always dreamed of being on one someday. letting the wind carry me where ever it wanted to take me. Kinda like I was doing now. A similar freedom.

Rode on into Evansville where I bought a chicken box and asked someone how to get to Henderson Kentucky. It was getting darker and I hoped that my friend “Bo Baggins” Billy Bryant’s telephone number was in the phone book. I rode 7 miles and crossed the bridge into Henderson. It was very scary and dark now. the trucks made the bridge rattle and shake and there wasn’t much room on the shoulder. Just as I reached the other side a policeman pulled me over and said I couldn’t be driving at night and asked for my drivers license. He saw that I had no record. We had a nice short chat and said that when i reach my friend to have him come pick me up so I wouldn’t be on the road at night. little did the policeman know that I had no idea where Bo Baggins was. I looked the phone book over but there was no Billy Bryant or his mother listed. I decided to take a dark back road off behind a motel and camp for the night.There was a bit of trees just on the side of the road but little room on this steep hillside. I pulled my bike up into the brush just as some cars went by. I tried to conceal myself the best I could and knew I had to wake up very early just so I would not be noticed. it was very, very miserable and i had to keep from sliding back down towards the road. I was too tired to ride any farther tonight so I just fell asleep camouflaged in the branches.”

TUESDAY, JUNE 14, 2005

Friday, June 14 1985

“Woke up extremely early, in fact I hardly got any sleep at all. Kept feeling like I was going to slide down the hillside onto the road. I packed my things away in the dark and got on the road before I could be seen. I went looking around town for a post office and Baggin’s telephone number. I found a little park and had my breakfast. I looked again through the phone book but I couldn’t find and mention of a Billy, a William, or Virginia Bryant (his mother). I found the post office but it was closed. I gave up looking for stamps and took off down US 60. I stopped one last time at a pay phone and spent my last 2 quarters calling different Bryants to see if someone knew him, but no one did.

US 60 had very heavy traffic and the shoulder was narrow so I decided to get off the main road and take a detour on US 266 to Smith Mills.I missed the turn off in Smith Mills to Uniontown and found myself in a game preserve by the Ohio River. I found a park right on the banks of the Ohio River and stopped here to eat a can of beans and to wash up some. It was very bright and sunny day. The weather felt great. A fisherman and his young son came by to fish and gave me directions to Uniontown. The father and son drove on down the road to find a better spot.”

What I didn’t write in my journal at the time was that after the father and son left, a big van pulled up and a large, handsome, bearish man in his 30s started talking to me. He seemed to be overly interested in me. He then asked if I wanted a ride. I said no. Then he finally came out and asked if I wanted to join him for some fun in the back of his van. I was shocked that someone would ask me for sex. it just didn’t happen to me. Part of me desired to be with this handsome man, but my fear of someone knowing me to be gay scared me more. I couldn’t even say the word let alone have sex with someone. I told him I was straight and that I couldn’t and he finally gave up and drove off. The idea of a guy wanting to have sex with me got me very horny. I found a secluded spot in the woods and jerked off.

“I finally left the park and rode on down the road but made a mistake and took the gravel road to the right and followed the curve of the Ohio river for about 20 miles. It was very beautiful here. Wide open flat fields stretching for miles. Finally got to Uniontown the long way around and stopped for an ice cream and directions to the bridge. I rode miles before I came to Shawneetown and the bridge that crosses into Illinois.

Just across the river I stopped at a park to get water and cool off. I headed onwards on a highway that was four lanes all the way to Harrisburg. It was pretty flat with big hills to the south. Got to Harrisburg and ate dinner at a Hardees. Got back on my bike and headed towards the Shawnee National Forest to camp. On the map it showed a green area that I assumed was forested land. It was getting dusk now and I was pushing till I found woods, but so far there was nothing but farmland. I road to Stonefort and got off on a gravel road. I was getting desperate to find something. I was very disappointed. The whole place was nothing but private farmland and no where to camp. Some forest! I finally pulled over on the edge of a swamp just enough off the road not to be seen. I unrolled my sleeping bag and got inside. The mosquitoes were miserable. I heard foxes yelping and all sorts of animals all night long. I didn’t sleep well.

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 15, 2005

Saturday, June15 1985

Woke up to light rain and mosquito bites this morning. I packed up every thing and got soaked trying to find my way back off the gravel road to the main highway. I had gotten a bit sunburned on my face, arms and legs and needed to buy some sunscreen. I rode into Stonefort and mailed a postcard to Mom and headed west on US 166.

Came to a beautiful little town called Creal Springs and got some water. It kind of reminded me of Mayberry from the Andy Griffith Show. Rode on to a larger town called Marion and found a Kmart type store and bought a new pup tent and some sunscreen. I came up to a nice big lake called Crab Orchard with water-skiers. I decided to jump in near the boat dock to cool off, bath and also wash my clothes. It felt great! I fastened a few of my wet clothes to the back of my bike to flap dry in the wind and when they got dry, I would put a few more pieces on the back till they were all dry.

I kept riding towards Chester on a flat deserted road. Past lots of farmland and road into Chester about 730 PM. I stopped at a Phillips 66 to get an ice cream and ask directions to the park. The woman who worked there was really nice and called the city police to see if it was okay if I could camp in the city park. Good news the policeman said it was okay. I walked my bike to the park and another dog started following me. There was one earlier that looked like a spitz that followed me for a while. This dog was a big beautiful collie and somehow he seemed to understand everything I said. It had to be someone’s dog. It followed me to the park where this was probably the best night for sleeping since leaving Bettie’s house. The collie stayed just outside the tent all night and growled at everyone that came near. The dog seemed to adopt me and I would have liked to have been able to take the dog with me, but I knew he wouldn’t be able to keep up and would most likely get killed on the road. If it were some other time and place I might have been able to keep him.

THURSDAY, JUNE 16, 2005

Sunday, June 16 1985

I woke up nice and early. This was the best sleep I have had since leaving home. I packed up the tent and found the dog still nearby. I rode out of the park and the dog was following me. I had to try to find his owner or something. I just couldn’t have him following me, because he would surely get killed on the road. I stopped at a Phillips 66 and met a guy and his girlfriend who were sitting outside. I told them that this really cool dog was following me and I think it was lost. I asked them if they would put the dog somewhere until I could ride off. They said that they would check to see if anyone had lost a dog and take it to the shelter. I felt like crying because I didn’t want anything bad to happen to that dog, but there was nothing much that I could do except make sure that he didn’t follow me. I really miss that dog. I went to a Hardees and had an early lunch and then rode out of Chester.

I drove onwards at my usual grueling pace riding north on US 3. I stopped for water in every little town I came to. It was all mostly farmland and small towns. The land had some hills but was mostly flat. There was a lot of marshy land here and I was riding north just east of the Mississippi River.

Later that afternoon I was getting close to East St. Louis on US 3. It turned into some interstate. I planned to cross the bridge into St. Louis, but I didn’t want any trouble with the law today. They had signs that said no bikes allowed. I had a bit of a problem. There were a few interstate bridges that cross the river , but none so far that allow bikes or pedestrians. I finally crossed a bridge into a small town called East Carondolet way out of my way. There was a sign that said something about a ferry boat. I was starting to go down this road when I stopped a black guy and his family. I asked if there really was a ferry. he said no, but that I should keep taking the road I was on and I should hit US 3 again.

Pet peeve #1 I don’t understand why bikes can’t use Interstate highways or at least the Interstate bridges. They are really much safer than regular highway bridges.

Pet peeve #2 There are just too many damned suburbs to ride past. I have become so sick of them.

Pet peeve #3 Why is it that a map can have an area listed as a national forest and when in fact it turns out to be private farmland?

Pet peeve #4 I don’t understand why there can’t be more campsites. One shouldn’t have to pay to sleep.

Pet peeve #5 Too much of the country so far is privately owned land. I wish more of it were publicly owned and open to everyone.

Well I walked for what seemed like hours. I was pushing my bike on heavily traveled roads, but still never got across. I finally came to Eades bridge and walked across into Missouri. Once across I pushed and saw the Gateway Arch. It looked magnificent! I had been here once before on the way back from a college trip out west. I rode up to the arch to get some water just in time to catch the beginning of a road race like the one I ran in last year.

It was getting late in the afternoon and I wanted to get out of the city as soon as possible so I could find a decent place to camp. I road through the ghetto part of town and it seemed to go on forever. I just wanted to get out of St. Louis by nightfall, but it was too late. I was mad and vowed to push all night if I had to, just to get out of town.

Up ahead in the western sky I saw lightning and knew there would be rain soon.It was about 1230AM when I finally got out of the main part of the city. I was getting close to the country but was still in the city limits when the rain began. I hurriedly set up my tent near the end of someone’s big yard. I don’t think they could see me from their house, because I was behind some trees near the road. I later found out that I had set up my tent in a rain gutter. The wind got to blowing hard. The rain was very heavy and my tent collapsed. I tried to hold it up the best I could, but it leaked and everything started to get wet. Somehow I managed to go to sleep anyway. I dreamed of tornados.

FRIDAY, JUNE 17, 2005

Monday, June 17 1985

All through the night there was one storm after another. My tent had collapsed and I just let it stay that way. I slept late because it was so dark i couldn’t tell it was morning yet. Finally packed up all my wet things and got out of that yard. As soon as it stops raining I will be able to put my wet things on the back to flap dry.

It rained practically all day and I was soaked, but pushed onward. I stopped to get groceries in New Haven Missouri around 330 PM, that is about the time when the rain finally stopped. Things were starting to dry out when I got to Hermann MO. I crossed the Missouri River here and got on US 94. Most of this road goes right through large corn and soy bean fields. To my left are flooded fields that have either been flooded by the Missouri River which I am riding parallel to or from all the heavy rains that we have been getting. To my right are huge cliffs and a railroad track. I have seen a lot of wildlife here, but the area is too marshy to set up camp. It is starting to get dark and the town of Bluffton is way up here in these cliffs. I am running into lots of beautiful countryside, but not as many farms. I see some big piles of dirt so I took my bike up behind them so no one can see me from the road. I hear people talking somewhere on a farm nearby, so I very quietly put up my tent between the rocks and the woods. A bunch of squirrels are chattering along with a whole mess of whippoorwills. I also hear what I think is a fox making a drunken cry. It is cool and breezy and I should sleep good tonight. I am still disappointed that I have not yet run into another biker going my way.

SATURDAY, JUNE 18, 2005

Tuesday, June 18 1985

I got up about 7 or 8Am and quietly packed up everything and rode on. Today makes it a week since I left home. After leaving the Bluffton area I was back to desolate roads, flooded fields, and the cliffs. The wind was very strong today and it is very hard to pedal against it. I stopped and ate a tuna sandwich beside the road. later I saw Jefferson City in the distance. It took me forever it seemed like to ever reach town, and the bridge that I had to take to cross the Missouri River into town was so damned narrow that I thought it was too dangerous for a bike to be on it. I cursed so much crossing that damned bridge!

I finally got into town and road up past the capitol building and called my recruiter from a pay phone to let him know where I was. He told me that my roommate Rebel had gotten into basic just fine. I told him I would call back in a few days. My next call was to find out if there was a buffet in town and where it was located. I found a Duffs five miles out of town in my direction. This was my second buffet meal of the trip. I went to the rest room and some smartass little kids were trying to break the hot air hand dryer. The buffet was packed and I think I am starting to look like a traveler now, because I have the classic sunburned skin, slightly sun-bleached hair, and bummed out clothes. After eating I fixed my hand brake that had come loose and blow up my tires with air. People seem to be getting extremely nice to me now. A boy who works at a deli in the mall was really nice and offered to fill up my juice jar with water.

I left town and road into California Missouri. I stopped at a grocery to get something to munch on the road. In the store an old couple stopped me and asked where I was heading. They seemed really interested in my welfare. As I walked out of the store the old woman insisted that I take two dollars to help me out on the road. People in cars have been blowing and waving now too. Seems nice to be noticed.

After leaving California, as with my fate of lately, another dog started to follow me. It sorta looked like a black fox with white paws and a white tip on the tail, and grey blue eyes. Bad thing about this dog was that it liked to chase trucks. I didn’t want to see him get killed so I gave him the slip when I passed two other bikers going east. They had to deal with him now.

I am riding towards Sedalia now and have found an almost perfect spot to camp, except that I notice more than one person on the other side. there is no chance of getting wet here and there is a nice place in the stream to take a bath, but I am not too sure what these people are like and i think they know I am here too. I guess most people are basically good. I hope my guardian angel will protect me tonight. Last night I dreamed of being in the army and all seemed good.

Sunday, June 19, 2005

Wednesday, June 19 1985

Slept pretty late this morning because I was feeling so comfortable.I never did encounter those people I saw last night I guess because we were separated by a large area of mud and distance. I am guessing that they didn’t even know I was there. I got up and took a quick bath in the muddy creek, then picked the ticks off my tent. When I woke up, the tent was dotted with little black dots. Must have been hundreds of them.

I rode on into Sedalia where I bought some bananas, tuna, and some donuts for breakfast. As I was leaving the parking lot I saw a laundry mat and decided to go back into the grocery and buy some laundry detergent. As I was washing my clothes, the woman who works there, started asking me where I was heading and where I was from. She was very nice and said that she used to travel with her husband when he was a trucker. I finished my load and she wished me good luck.

Today was a miserable, hot, windy, muggy day, and I have not taken a decent bath since I left home. All the JTCs are labeled with letters A,B,C,AA,BB,CC etc.(I don’t even remember what FTC stands for now.) The road I am on now is so damned hilly my knees and achilles tendons are very sore. I passed a town called Knob Noster and I kept wanting to call it Knee Knockers or Door Knockers. not really much to say about anything great or exciting happening between Sedalia and Lees Summit except it was miserable. Singing and talking to myself has kept me going without anyone to talk to. I kept singing parts of Scarborough Fair, Slip Sliding Away, Band on the Run, King of the Road, etc just to keep myself occupied.

I finally arrived in Lees Summit and had to find a place to eat. broke down and went to Hardees again. The girl waiting on me was new and was making my milkshake when the machine slung ice cream all over her shirt. i couldn’t help but laugh. She made another one and said jokingly, “I really hope you like this one.” I finished eating and was riding off when she yelled out the door,”Did you like your shake?” I went to a gas station and asked where there was a good place to camp nearby, and they said Lake Tacoma about 20 miles north east of here. I looked at my map and didn’t think it was that far so I rode around this road and that one and ended up at the airport. I asked a man who worked there. he gave me good directions to a camp , but never did see the lake. The campsite was very nice with a port-a john beside each campsite and a picnic table. I slept very well this night. Very glad this long grueling day was over.

MONDAY, JUNE 20, 2005

Thursday, June 20 1985

I awoke pretty late this morning because I slept so nice. I had to get going though. It was clouding up pretty early and it looked like it would rain soon. I finished riding on into Kansas City and ate breakfast at McDonald’s. I think some black girl was cursing me behind my back as I stood in line.

After breakfast I put some plastic over my tent and sleeping bag, but as I rode off the rain went away. It took me what seemed forever to ride through Kansas City. I noticed that they don’t even have telephone books at their booths. Finally made my way out of town and found a sun visor on the road. Just outside of town I stopped at a rest area and read the history of Ft. Leavenworth Kansas. Oh yes, I am now in Kansas!

My right knee is just about to give out now. They are just like ball bearings, they can only take so much wear and tear before they give out or get more lubrication to the joints. Going downhill is just as hard as going uphill now because of this steady headwind. This is what I am experiencing now. When one of those big diesel trucks come hauling past me I am blown around like a snowflake in a blizzard.

I saw a sign advertising a KOA campground after leaving Tonganoxie Kansas. I went on a bit of a spending spree here. I ate two meals at McDonald’s so far today and bought a cantaloupe, tuna, oatmeal cookies, and a can of beans at a supermarket here.

As I entered the outskirts of Lawrence Kansas I finally found a KOA campground. I road up to the manager’s office and paid five bucks for a campsite. I met a very nice tomboyish 16-year-old girl named Jana Enix who came over to my campsite and told me that the night before I got here there was a group of students that was in my spot. She said they had guitars and that they sang songs all night. We later went swimming in the pool and I listened to her pick out tunes on her portable organ. She said she was going to be a musician and a songwriter. She invited me to eat cookies and some watermelon with her and the family she was traveling with. The woman was pretty nice, had dark skin and had three dark skinned children with curly blond hair. They were beautiful children with really cool names like Autumn Star, and Dusty Rose, but they were little brats. The woman was responsible for chaperoning Jana on her way back to Utah.

We talked for a while that night till we got tired. The night got pretty windy and had lots of mosquitos. We decided it was too much and I went to my tent and Jana camped up on top of a picnic table.

TUESDAY, JUNE 21, 2005

Friday, June 21 1985

Got up early and took another hot shower it was very nice. I woke Jana up and we talked a while. Jana gave me her address before packing up to leave. It was starting to look like rain when we said goodbye.

I rode about five miles down the road and met a biker going east. He said he had been traveling for six weeks so far and had spent over 700 dollars. He had a 15 speed bike and was surprised to see that I had made it this far on only two speeds. My other gear shifter was broke when I started. We exchanged information on the roads we each had been on and then parted company. I continued onwards and noticed that the land was getting a lot flatter and the wind was blowing very strong from the southwest. Sometimes the roads have wide shoulders and at other times I have to compete with the autos and big trucks as I hug the white line. I feel very frustrated that I can’t seem to get more mileage in a day. I can’t push myself much harder because of the wind, heat, bad roads and my bad knees.

I stopped in some small town and bought some ice-cream, and dried fruit. As I was leaving, a big storm from the southwest. It was kind of flat and not so many covered areas to hide from the lightning so I thought it best to head back towards town and take shelter at the Thrifty Grocery. The storm came with all it’s fury and I was glad for a time to be dry and safe, however I am very much more afraid of being stranded here tonight. Lots of people came up to me at the grocery store telling me about the weather and so on. One guy who worked there said he was from Manchester KY. Another guy said I should go check out the city park to stay the night. A national Guardsman, (I assumed) told me there was a severe thunderstorm warning out for the area until 11 PM. After the rain settled down I rode over to the park. It was very nice with a pond with ducks and geese and a shelter. I felt pretty paranoid about places like this because of how it seemed like a park I stayed in when I was a homeless person in Houma LA. It is bad to feel this way in a supposedly free country. I feel wary that at any moment some policeman, park keeper, or someone with authority will wake me up from my sleep or just from sitting here and say,”Move along’”, or “Come with me. You are coming with me to the police station.” I know I am not doing anything wrong, but I am feeling a bit paranoid. I feel somewhat guilty that I might be committing some crime of vagrancy or a crime of just being here.

As I was sitting here in the park I was wondering what it must have been like for the native people to fight for their freedom to live here, and how they had to deal with our founding fathers, and the pioneers. I was wondering why I decided to join the army in the first place. Surely I didn’t join to fight to defend my country for a freedom that may no longer exist. I suppose it is a myth. Money makes some people more free than others in this country. I suppose Jesus himself would most likely feel like an outcast in today’s society.

Sitting here in the park shelter I met two girls who sat and talked with me for a while, then later two boys came by for a chat. When I decided it was about time to ride out, I found that my back tire had another flat so… I guess I am stranded here for the night. I have seen the police cruise the area so I just hope that they don’t mess with me or nothing bad happens.

Wednesday, JUNE 22, 2005

Saturday, June 22 1985

The night passed without much trouble, in fact I actually got a good night’s rest. I got up about 7 AM and packed everything away. I waited around until the Western Auto opened at 8 AM so I could buy an inner tube and another inner tube repair kit which I apparently forgot to bring.

I later road into Manhattan and got some donuts, hamburger, and french fries with the last of the loose change I had left. I am now going to have to break a hundred dollar bill. So far I have spent $130 dollars in 13 days. I have averaged out spending ten dollars a day, but part of that went to buying a new tent, a back tire, two inner tubes, and a night at the KOA campground.

The land seems to be getting more spread out and towns seem to be getting further and further apart so now I’ll have to conserve more water. Today is really hot and windy. I have noticed that the traffic doesn’t seem quite so bad now so maybe I can make better progress today. I was thinking about the sound by Kansas, “Dust in the Wind”.

I stopped and ate dinner in a town called Clay Center and got three pork chops, two bananas, a can of peas, and some milk. The road is getting much easier to ride on now and I think I am officially in the great Plains. I am sitting at a rest area at a dusty crossroads in the middle of open farmland. I met a nice family from Missouri who are traveling north to Nebraska then west to visit relatives. It was rather nice talking to them. I guess I will push on since there is only a few hours of light left.

As it got closer to getting dark I was on the lookout for a place to spend the night. I found a nice secluded spot under a bridge to camp. Like all the other bridges I have camped under so far, it was full of ticks and mosquitos. I put up my tent and saw them crawling around on the outside of the tent, but they couldn’t get in. Ha Ha Ha! I was pretty tired and sore and fell to sleep easily. I had a peaceful night.

Thursday, June 23, 2005

Sunday, June 23 1985

I guess I woke up sometime around 7:30 AM or 8 AM and took a quick bath near the muddy stream and also washed my short pants. I packed up and hit the road again. I came to a town called Beloit and got some rolls and milk at a small market/gas station. The lady who works there was very nice and filled my water jug for me. Some older man that looked like Mr. Ledford (a man whose tobacco farm I used to work on) was telling me that he had been to Oregon and he remembered that it was a damp place. I waved bye and continued down the road.

That afternoon I stopped at some roadside park to write a few lines. This was my thirteenth day on the road and I still haven’t met anyone going west yet. Today is a hot, windy day and it feels pretty miserable out here on the road. All I do is drink up all my water and I think I need to get another juice jar.

On the road again, and I passed a very nice lake at a town called Glen Elder. As I was leaving town, I decided to push my bike down, but felt I must keep going.

I am in a town now called Downs and am sitting at a nice rest stop. Kansas may be flat, but they certainly do like to have a lot of parks. I have seen acres and acres of wheat fields. I sat and watched a combine cut the wheat and separate the grain. A chute dumps the grain into a truck. I have seen more wild animals here than I ever saw in Kentucky.

After leaving Downs, the going got extremely tough, and it was almost unbearable. The wind had increased its intensity along with the heat. I actually thought I might pass out a few times and stopped to take a breather. When I got to a fork in the road there was a little gas station. In my worn out condition, I bought a Snickers bar, a package of licorice whips, and a can of root beer. The guy who worked there said the temperature was up to 105 degrees in the shade. Before the owner could warn me, I had already met the killer dog. We had already made friends. He said the dog usually doesn’t take to strangers. I am lucky that I haven’t had any problems with dogs so far.

As I was leaving, some nice, big country guy offered to give me a lift to the next town called Osborne four miles down the road. I thanked him and being very hungry, I thought to myself, why not?

I thanked the guy for the lift and in Osborne I went to a pizza place. I ordered a small pan pizza and a salad bar. I did feel a bit guilty afterwards for spending the money, but it was nice. I finished it and took off down the road. I didn’t get very far before I was overtaken by the heat again. I decided to go lie in the grass to cool off but saw thunderstorms rolling in, so I thought I best head for the nearest place to take cover. A few miles up the road I found a bridge and got underneath. About a half hour later the storm hit and there was hail the size of quarters.

After what seemed to be the end of the rain, I headed towards Alton to get water, because I was out. I rode into town and saw a huge man, his wife and child. We talked about the hail storm that had just hit. I asked him where I could get water and he said to go to the filling station. I walked inside and started talking to all the nice town people as I got water. They seemed very curious to learn of my travels so far. They said they were into the seventh day of wheat harvest. As I was about to leave, they offered me a soda pop for free out of the tub of ice water. The sodas were for the harvesters as they came in from the heat. I thanked them and chatted a bit more before leaving. My last thoughts upon leaving were that there are many nice neighborhoods and friendly people that I have met so far who are so helpful to strangers like me passing through.

I was now headed for Stockton to look for a place to camp, and was hit by another thunderstorm. I got pretty soaked, but it felt pretty good. As the storm passed, I saw two rainbows in the sky behind me. Things cooled down pretty quickly and the wind stopped. I made pretty good time to Stockton before dark and found a park on the other side of town where camping is permitted. I set up my tent near the shelter and found the place to be full of mosquitoes. Sure glad I have my tent. Oh, I almost forgot that I saw a deer today, lots of hawks, and passed my first prairie-dog town.

FRIDAY, JUNE 24, 2005

Monday, June 24, 1985

I woke up about 7 AM this morning and packed up my tent. Today is my brother Bill’s birthday and tomorrow will be my grandparent’s 50th wedding anniversary. I rode back into Stockton and finally found a place to use the rest room. I heard two men talking about the weather and I overheard them say that it was supposed to get up to 115 degrees today. God I hope not! I went into a grocery in town and bought some carrots, bananas, a candy bar , and some milk. It took it back to the park to eat it for breakfast.

I was back on the road again going west and stopped at a roadside park near Webster Lake. I took out my map and it looked like I have about another 150 miles to go before I hit Colorado. It is very sunny out today and I don’t think the wind is quite as strong as it was. It is getting pretty warm, but nice so far. It is nice being alone riding in the open countryside, but I still wish that I had someone else to talk to. It would make the day pass by a bit easier.

This afternoon I happened upon a little town called Nicodemus Kansas. It started out as an all black settlement established for slaves escaping persecution during the Civil War. According to the sign, this was supposed to be their promised land. As I rode into town and stopped at a little well kept park, it seemed as if I had gone back in time. I met a group of small black children in dress clothes playing in the park. They were very well behaved and their parents seemed to be dressed in more dressy clothes. Everyone I met here seemed so friendly and nice. This was probably the nicest town I have been to so far.

I rode on to Hill City where I am sitting now getting a hamburger and fries at a little restaurant. It is 12: 45 PM and 85 degrees and not quite as hot as it was this time yesterday. After leaving Stockton, I have been going up in elevation and the rich black dirt is being replaced by a chalky, yellow, sandy, gravely dirt. I am now starting to see yucca plants that tend to live in more desert like regions.

Later on this afternoon things just got miserable. It is difficult to describe how sore my ass feels from sitting on it for so long. When I reached Hoxie I bought a box of chicken, and a piece of watermelon. I ate it at a roadside park in the shade. It was so good! I walked over to a telephone booth and called Mom. It felt good to hear her voice. She said she had gotten an atlas and was following along on the map each time I called home. My brother Tony said he wanted a t- shirt from some famous place.

Today I made a big decision to head north to Oberlin Kansas, because US 24 turns into an interstate. When I started North, the wind seemed to push me almost there. I went 38 miles in about an hour. I was flying!

Once I got there everything was closed, so I looked for a place to camp. It was dark and I was pushing my bike. I walked off on the wrong road and got a flat tire again. I tried to fix the flat in the dark. I got angry! I was so frustrated and confused that I almost started to cry. I put the tire on as best as I could and pushed back towards town. On the outskirts of town I met a freight inspector who told me where I could find a roadside park. I found the park and once I got there I was too tired to do anything else but get out my sleeping bag, roll it out on the floor of the shelter, and go to sleep. Mosquitoes were all over the place, but I just didn’t care. I just faded off into oblivion.

SATURDAY, JUNE 25, 2005

Tuesday, June 25, 1985

I wanted to sleep forever this morning, but I knew I must get up and fix the tires. Everything seems so much simpler in the morning after a good nights rest. I patched three inner tubes with my fix-it kit and hope they hold up. I don’t know whether to go north or west at this moment. If I go north, the wind will push me. If I go west I will get a bit closer to my destination, but it will probably be more difficult. I guess I will just see what I do at the spur of the moment. I talked with the caretaker of the park this morning. He seemed very nice. He wished that the wind would always be at my back. Yeah, that would be nice for sure.

I decided to ride west and it became another extremely, miserable, hot, windy day. It seems like the damned wind will never let up! If the weather keeps up like this, I feel like I might be reaching my breaking point. One must have hope though. I guess I have some idea of what some of the early pioneers went through and they didn’t even have paved roads or rest areas. They were riding in wagons and on horses over open rough, bumpy ground. How frustrating it must have been. It is hard to imagine the Great Plains full of bison, scattered camps of native Americans, and the invasion of pioneers moving west. The heat must have claimed a lot of them and water must have been hard to find. It is definitely easier to travel on flat pavement, but I feel sad for what was. Slowly the land is being fenced off and broken into smaller pieces. The land is slowly being urbanized and paved over. Now most of the travelers are retired mobile home owners, and the countless cars and trucks that zoom past at blinding speed. Unless you are riding a bike or walking, or your car breaks down, it is hard to get a taste of the long tiring distance along with this constant wind and heat.

Finally made it to Atwood and trying to rest up. The temperature must be in the 100s again and it is easy to get heat stroke so I must watch myself. On my way here, I stopped under the shade of one of the few trees around here, and heard the rattle of a rattlesnake. I didn’t need to get snake bit out in the middle of nowhere so I made a hasty retreat.

It is starting to look like we might be getting a big thunderstorm because the clouds are building up really fast and starting to get dark.

(24 hours later) I couldn’t write for a while. Everything happened pretty fast. I rode into a park because storm clouds were piling up so rapidly. The weather turned really bad and there was one rainstorm after the next. During a break between storms, I rode over to a grocery in town and got two bananas, a box of chicken, and a Snickers bar. before I got back to the park, I was caught in a blinding rainstorm. I made it back to the park and ate my chicken in the restroom. Stupidly thinking that the storm had passed, I decided to head on towards Bird City. The clouds looked fierce, but I thought it would blow over. About a mile up the road I saw a wall of rain headed towards me with plenty of lightning. I was on the top of a hill and one of the highest objects around. being afraid to go anywhere for fear of being struck by lightning, I laid down in a small ditch along side the road and got away from the metal of my bike. then it hit! I was pelted by hail, and wind driven hard rain. lightning was striking all about. I was getting soaked and very cold. Instead of the clouds just passing, they seemed to circle and swirl above me. The direction of the wind seemed to be constantly changing. As I lay there shivering and praying not be be hit by lightning, I realized that this was one of the most frightening encounters with nature I have ever had in my life! No joking! Never would I want to go through this again. As I lay there, I saw another rain storm coming. I decided to risk it and jumped on my bike and pedaled like a maniac back towards town. When I got to the bridge I ducked up under it. I was so so cold. I couldn’t stop shaking, so I took out some dry clothes and put them on. Still very cold and exhausted, I I got out my sleeping bag and laid it out on the dirt. I was too tired and cold to care. No more traveling for the rest of the day. I only got a total of 27 miles and was very disappointed. It rained all through the night.

When all seems hopeless and you are tired and down

All the world seems to be against your every move

It’s time to bed down

Forget all the day’s worries

Just tuck them aside

Have hope for tomorrow

Because it is a brand new day

SUNDAY, JUNE 26, 2005

Wednesday. June 26, 1985

I decided to sleep late because I was so cold. I dreamed of being a new army recruit, fresh, new, and scared. By the time I finally got out of my sleeping bag under the bridge, I noticed that it was very cool this morning. The wind was blowing strongly from the north. Not much of a chance of catching a southern wind to push me towards Nebraska. Went to another grocery store in town and met a nice blonde girl who said that we got a lot of rain and that we had a 50/50 chance of getting more. She said she liked to camp and ride bikes, but going alone would have been too much for her.

I went back to the park and ate some cinnamon rolls, bologna sandwiches, and some milk. Two bright young children, a boy and a girl, walked up to me and asked where I was going. They said they had traveled and stopped at this same spot every year. Their mother came by and started to talk too. She said that she met two 70-year-old men that were riding bikes across the country also. They told her that this was their third time and that they were averaging about 75 miles a day. She said they were carrying more stuff than I was. It really humbled and amazed me that men that old were outdoing me. We talked and shivered in the cold wind for a while, then said goodbye. I headed towards Bird City.

I took it slow and got to a rest area. Some middle-aged trucker kept eyeing me, and I was thinking that something just wasn’t right with him. I pushed my bike to the far picnic table and waited for him to leave. Sometimes I have a strange feeling about someone and I try to go with my instincts. I felt that I needed to avoid this guy. He seemed to be waiting to see if I was going to the restroom or not and kept watching me. Finally he gave up and left, and then I went to the rest room.

I rode into Bird City and had to mail my letters there because of the name of the town. I had been teasing my brother Bill since he was a little kid about his nickname “Kee Kee Bird” and that birds live in Bird City. He somehow got that name because his middle name was Keith and my baby brother called him Kee Kee and it stuck. I bought some raisins and a Snickers bar, then left town after mailing the postcards at the post office.

On the way to Wheeler, Kansas, I met another eastbound biker from Oregon. He had been riding for three weeks. He didn’t have a tent so I suppose that he had been staying in motels. He said he was headed towards Chicago. He said that he had met a biker heading west about a day ago to San Francisco. We said goodbye and we both rode off. I rode on into Wheeler and sat beside the road and ate some bologna sandwiches and raisins. Then headed towards St. Francis.

As I entered the outskirts of town, a girl working for the road construction crew was holding a stop sign. I said hello and said that her job looked easy. She said, “Yeah, and it pays good money for school.” I told her that I wished I was back in school again and that I had graduated two years ago with a biology degree. Her eyes lit up and she said that she wanted to be a biology major too. We talked for quite some time in the middle of the road. She had short auburn hair and dark freckles from all the hours of being in the sun. She was so interesting and I wish I could have talked to her a lot longer. I asked if I had to take the detour and she said no, I could just go straight on through town. She told me she had met a man going east who was doing it walking backwards. We laughed and said how odd. She wished me farewell, a safe journey and that I kiss the waves of the Pacific for her.

I found a park here in St. Francis where camping is allowed, and I am thinking about either staying here for the night or going on because I still have a few hours of daylight left. I decided it best to set up camp. Tonight I dreamed of being back in elementary school, but that this time I was the janitor and the same age that I am now.

Monday, June 27, 2005

Thursday, June 27, 1985

I woke up fairly early and finished off my raisins. It feels extremely cold this morning and the wind chills me to the bone. The custodian who cleans the restroom came in and threw chlorine bleach all over the floor this morning and about chocked me to death. I want to get out of this state so bad because the weather, mostly the wind, makes me so miserable. I don’t know what gave me the farts, but I have them bad. I also need another shower, shave, and my clothes washed.

I packed up and took off riding north on US 27 and clipped the south western corner of Nebraska at a town called Haigler. I walked into a small country store and bought some chocolate covered donuts and a Snickers bar for breakfast. As I was walking out, I met a rather tall, thin older lady with white hair. She had very white skin and asked me where I was going and where I was coming from. She said she was originally from Washington state, and had a Norwegian background, but had to move because of respiratory problems. She noticed my accent, but I said that I didn’t realize I had one. She told me not to go towards Mt.St. Helens, because it was showing signs of activity again. She also described the north Pacific coast as being foggy, lush with vegetation, and rocky. She said goodbye and rode off home on her bike. I headed to the city park to eat my breakfast.

It was a nice little park, and just as I sat down at a picnic table, a family stopped by to eat their lunch. I wish my hometown of Millersburg was just a little more like these towns.

After eating, I pushed westwards to Colorado just 8 miles down the road into a strong wind. The wind seems to be my worst enemy, milage wise. It seems very strange that just a few miles down the road the countryside looks so much different now. It looks more western. Instead of flat wheat fields, I am now seeing rugged plateaus and cattle ranches. I have been seeing yucca for about the last 70 miles or so, but now I saw my first prickly pear cactus and lots of sage brush of a blueish color growing in the sandy soil.

I am sitting in a town called Wray Colorado and am thinking about getting lunch in a restaurant. I need another well balanced meal instead of all the junk food I have been eating for the last few days. I don’t plan to stay in Colorado long because I am thinking of cutting through the top corner and head northwest towards Wyoming. I’d rather not linger well long much till I hit the Rockies. I still can’t believe I have come this far without meeting a biker going west. The way I understand it, everything will get rougher from here on out. Hopefully not any rougher than I have had it so far, but who knows.

After sitting at the park for a while, I went to Big Red’s Drive-Inn and ordered a chicken dinner of three pieces of chicken, french fries, and toast. Not exactly the well balanced meal I had in mind, but what can you expect for a semi fast food restaurant. They were nice and everything, but I was hoping for some vegetables. I really feel guilty when I don’t leave tips, but my money has to stretch a bit farther than it has been lately.

I drove on towards the outskirts of Eckley and stopped off at their rest area. It was well kept, but didn’t seem very welcoming. There were signs saying, “No Camping”, “No Walking on the Grass”, signs telling you where to walk your dogs. As I sat there on a picnic table, a group of people drove up, I was guessing the lawn keepers. There was a woman who had a child who seemed over protective. “Jimmy, come here! Where are you Jimmy!” so on and so on. I seem to have developed a paranoia of being around kids anymore. It isn’t that I don’t like them , I think that being a single man, and a loner, I think that if I were caught talking to a kid, even if it were a child of a friend or family, I fear that people would assume the worst from me. I suppose that if I had a child I would be very cautious of strangers also. It is a sad situation because every time a kid approaches me , I just want to get up and leave. Being that this paranoia exists, I don’t think I would ever want or desire to ever have a child of my own.

I washed my hair in the sink and shaved. I got on my bike and didn’t even bother to stop in town, but drove on to Yuma. I stopped at a grocery store where I felt like I was being carefully watched. I hate when people stare at me like I am a shoplifter or something. Just because I am carrying my backpack I guess, but I don’t trust leaving it alone on my bike. I went up front to pay for some bologna, bread, and corn chips and encountered a snooty, gray haired lady. She was extremely cold and rude to me as if I were the scum of the earth. Feeling dirty, I left without saying anything and went to eat at a roadside picnic table.

Later I drove to the city park to use the restroom. There were a few people there and I was getting some nasty looks. maybe it was just me, but I get the impression that Yuma doesn’t take too kindly to strangers. I realized that I had a few hours of daylight left so I rode on into Otis. I like the name because it sounds so homey. On the 14 mile ride here my ankle and knees began to get really sore. I feel I may have bruised or sprained my ankle. I don’t feel as if I can drive another 10 miles or so tonight to find a place to camp. There is a roadside park here, but I don’t know if camping is allowed. The way I feel right at this moment is that they can just toss me in jail. If they did they would really be cold hearted. When I lived in Louisiana, the police in Houma would throw me in jail in a heartbeat. Strangers just aren’t welcome there and they don’t have many public restrooms either. At least this place does. I hope they don’t mind. I am not here to cause trouble, I am just trying to act out the pioneering spirit within me. I didn’t set up my tent. I just spread my sleeping bag out on the ground in case I had to get out fast.

Tuesday, June 28, 2005

Friday, June 28, 1985

No one messed with me last night and I had some wild dreams. I dreamt that my dad came back to live with my mom and us. In the dream he tried to assert his authority and I retaliated. It was a horrible dream and I woke up feeling pretty upset. I know things were never actually like that when he did live with us. He was gone most of the time. We are on speaking terms now and I might even like him. In the second dream, I am back at college and I am sneaking into the cafeteria and am meeting old friends when Mary, the sister of Cathy, a girl who I somewhat dated, comes up to me in front of everyone, and says that I hate her. She even says that I am a pig and that I did her sister wrong. I know this is not true , but everyone seems to believe her. I try to explain myself, and tell her that I thought at first she was Cathy because they look a lot alike. Somehow she starts laughing and then is telling everyone that she loves me.

I got up and packed my sleeping bag away before the sun came up and headed for Akron Colorado. In town I ate breakfast at the Ranchers Inn and had eggs, hash browns, sausage, and toast. It all cost me $3.00. It was the first decent breakfast I had in a long time. There were two parties of guys sitting at the booths on either side of me. they seemed to be a bunch of redneck ranchers in cowboy hats who were doing nothing but bragging to themselves. they reminded me of the rich old farts on “Dallas”. I couldn’t wait to get away from them.

I rode on into the town called Brush, where I am eating food left over from yesterday on the side of the road. It was really cold this morning and I heard some people from the restaurant talking about frost. I am trying to decide where to go from here.

I continued on US 34 for 22 miles into Ft. Morgan and bought a small carton of ice cream. I headed on towards Greeley. On the stretch of road from Ft. Morgan to Wiggins, I caught my first glimpse of the Rocky Mountains in the distance. It was an awesome site for a biker like me to know that I have actually pedaled this far to the foot of the Rockies. I also saw my first jack rabbit today.

On the road to Greeley, the condition of the road had gotten very bad. Every time a big truck came by, I had to jump into the grass. It didn’t occur to me that after I left the rest area, that I had to use the rest room. I kept saying to myself, “I’ll just hold it till I get there.”

I came to a town called Kersey. I couldn’t find a gas station. I found the city park, but they had no water, or available restrooms. They were locked tight. I was very pissed off and rushed off to find better luck in Greeley. Just before I got to town I stopped under an underpass, and took a piss. I found a piece of charcoal and wrote, “ Jack ****** the cross country cyclist was here June 28 1985”.

I rode into Greeley and rode through some sandy ditch in a parking lot. My tires were covered with sharp sand burrs and it punctured my back tire. This was flat number 4. I pushed to a shady area near a motel and fixed it. after repairing the inner tube, I rode all over town, it seemed, trying to find a gas station or a water fountain. After a lot of searching and passing by a street dance, I found an Exxon and finally went to the rest room.

I left the Exxon but forgot to fill my juice jar. I rode on through town and saw my first McDonalds since leaving Manhattan Kansas. I said, “Why not.” and spent another 3 dollars on a Big Mac value meal. It tasted good, but I am going to have to better control my spending sprees.

It was starting to get darker, but i didn’t want to stay overnight in a town of this size, so I decided to pedal towards the mountains. My inner tube has a lump in it now and it made me wobble as I rode. A few miles down the road I saw a storm nearing from the mountains and I wanted to find some place to camp fast. I couldn’t stand the thought of getting soaked again like I did two nights ago.

Oh happy day! I saw a sign for a roadside park and it had free camping. I pedaled as fast as I could go and cursed and hit my bike. I was mad because I couldn’t get myself to go any faster and I was trying to beat the rain.

Well now here I sit. There is a family in a camper just to my east. they have two teenage daughters and a small son and I can here them calling for their puppy named Rambo. There is an older couple just to my south. About the time I finished writing, this small shower came up and everyone left but me. In a way I am glad because it is nice and peaceful now. I was feeling a bit nauseous and had a slight nosebleed. I guess it was from the altitude. All went well and I slept peacefully tonight.

Wednesday, June  29, 2005

Saturday, June 29, 1985

I woke up fairly early this morning and everything looks so beautiful. I am up on a hillside with a terrific view of the Rockies and their snow capped peaks off in the distance. I washed up really good in the restroom , even my hair. I think I’ll even try to find a place to wash my clothes , a buffet in town, and then head on towards the Rocky Mountain National Park.

Now I am sitting on the bank of Lake Loveland. I got lost this morning and wound up in Winsor Colorado, a few miles to the north of where I wanted to be. I took a short cut back and hit US 34 west again and rode into Loveland. The mountains are getting a lot closer now and there are a lot more trees. On the way into town, I saw a sign at a steakhouse that said,”All Yo Can Eat.” I paid $3.00 and got more food than I would have gotten at a grocery store. I had three plates of everything from pancakes, scrambled eggs, hash browns, sausage, biscuits and gravy, and orange juice. I feel rather stuffed, but I plan for that to be my big meal for the day, and maybe my only meal. It is so cool and shady here that I think I might just stay about another hour before heading on.

I finally decided to get myself off the cool grass and ride on towards Estes Park. After leaving Loveland, I rode through a very winding road with sheer cliffs on both sides. There were lots of signs warning of falling rocks. This was a very beautiful stretch of road with a river just to the side of me. As I was riding along awed by the scenery, A biker rode up beside me asking where I was headed. I said I was going to Oregon. he seemed really impressed that I had come this far in such a short period of time. He was a tall, good looking, dark haired guy with tanned skin. he said his name was Mike Murphy and that he had biked across Australia and New Zealand. I am guessing the guy must be rich or something. As we were riding along the rim of the canyon, he said, “Let’s wait here for my girlfriend.” She finally came up from behind us and looked to be in her twenties also with a dark tan and dark hair. They both had big 15 speed bikes and then just zoomed off past me heading for Estes Park. They had been telling me how nice they thought the town was. I caught up with them again and he took my picture with his girlfriend. I loved the ride to Estes Park, but the wind was very strong and the hills very steep.

As I arrived in Estes Park , they had both stopped along side the road putting on warmer clothes. They said that this was as far as they were going and I said goodbye and continued on. I saw that they had a KOA campground in town, but I decided it was much too early to camp, so I went looking for a place to get something to eat. I found a restaurant called,”Hamburgers and Stuff” and walked in. The hamburgers were $3.00 and over. I paid close to $4.00 for a small hamburger, fries, and a milkshake. She asked me if that was all, but I think the prices were a lot more than I ever planned to spend. The girl seemed a bit rude to me. maybe it was the way I was dressed or something.

I found Estes Park to be a pretty expensive tourist trap kind of town. I didn’t want to stay in a place like this very long, so I decided to ride on into the Rocky Mountain National Park and check out their campgrounds.

As I neared the park, I saw signs that said campers need a reservation to camp. Damn, I had no idea. I saw this camp site near the entrance to the park and asked the price. This weasel-faced, smart-aleck older guy said the cheapest site was $11.50. I said,”What?!! $11.50 just to set up a small pup tent?” He said yes. “Do you have hot showers then?” He said,”no, take it or leave it.” I said , ”To hell with that, I am not going to pay that much.” and then got back on my bike and left. I was so mad. I kept saying to myself that I would push all night if I had to.

I rode up to the entrance to the park and the park ranger dude said there was no camping sites available. I told him that this was US 34 and I planned to keep going west and that I was not stopping. He charged me 50 cents entry fee and I rode on in.

It was getting to be late in the day now and the park is so beautiful so far. I filled my juice jar with water from the mountain creek and continued up the steep roads. I got to one of the first scenic overlooks and met a young man named Kevin in his mid twenties. He was kind of tall with freckles. His wife Carol had long dark black hair and a pretty sweet cheerful face. I asked them how far this road went till I got to the other end of the park. They said that I had a very long ways to go yet. I told them my situation and how I felt about spending too much money in this very expensive area. They said they understood completely. I told them about my trip so far and she seemed amazed. They told me that they had canoed some 5 thousand miles before and knew what it was like to try to conserve money. They said they were from Butte Montana and came here once before during their honeymoon. They told me that it would be stupid for me to walk all night and miss the beautiful scenery. They said to just go up the hill a bit and camp far enough off the road to not be seen. She fixed me a peanut butter sandwich and gave me an apple and an orange. “Oh and be sure not to drink the water.” Uh oh, I already had drank a bit of the water in my juice jar. They told me I could get some kind of intestinal parasite that would give me diarrhea. She gave me some iodine tablets to put in my water from now on. I thanked them and said bye. I rode a ways up the steep hills and then when no cars were around, I darted off the road and carried my bike up over a bunch of rocks and trees. I was watching to see if any forest rangers were near, then stashed my bike and got my sleeping bag out. I was already starting to feel kind of nauseous. Then it hit me. I got sick rather quickly. I started to vomit and had some diarrhea . I felt really nasty, and was also bothered by lots of mosquitos. This was not a good night.

Thursday, June 30, 2005

Sunday, June 30, 1985

I woke up early and had diarrhea. I quickly packed up my sleeping bag and sneaked back onto the road before a park ranger might see me. It was very cool and crisp this morning. So far on my steady ride upwards I have seen a dead porcupine, two mountain sheep, lots of hawks, and fields and fields of different kinds of wildflowers in bloom. I see forests of Colorado Blue Spruce trees everywhere.

I am now riding up into an area of Alpine tundra where the trees are stunted by the cold and the heavy wind. All of the trees seem to be bare on one side and the other side green. There are big patches of snow this far up and I am sitting next to one of them. At one of the scenic overlooks, I saw people feeding these cute little black and white birds and chipmunks. I saw few marmots that look a bit like groundhogs and make a high pitched whistle noise. Up this high, the mosquitoes have finally left me alone. The sun seems very bright up here. The higher I get, the sicker I tend to feel. It seems like every step I take makes me pretty dizzy. I suppose it has to do with the high altitude of over 10 thousand feet above sea level.

I am well above the tree line now and it has gotten very cold and windy up this far. It has gotten to be a pain trying to stay far enough off the road with all the traffic about. When I finally reached the Alpine Visitors Center I found the museum part very nice , but the gift shop was terribly expensive. I bought a bag of peanut M&Ms for $1.95, but that was about all they had to eat and I was starving, especially since I had been sick and threw up most of the night. I feel very weak and suspect that I might have gotten giardia from drinking the tainted river water. The people at the visitors center looked at me as if I had some sort of disease. I guess I do look and feel pretty bad. I can’t even smile because my lips are kind of chapped.

After I left the visitors center I found that I was on the way down. I found this part to be really fun and fast. I was keeping up with the cars down the winding roads. It didn’t seem like 15 minutes had gone by before I was out of the park. I decided to stop at a grocery store in grand Lake. I bought a cantaloupe, a can of tuna, bread, and milk for 4 bucks but I was very hungry. It was getting harder to get a decent meal without spending a fortune.

I ate some of the food I had bought, but felt too run down to ride much farther. My stomach still hurts and I lost my can opener. I am sitting at a free campground at Lake Granby and am thinking of camping here for the night. I am so disappointed that I haven’t met any bikers going west yet. I saw lots of bikers, but they were all local bikers visiting the park for the weekend. I have decided not to go towards Jackson Hole Wyoming or Yellowstone, because I would rather not run into any more touristy towns. They are just too expensive and they make me ill. I think I will just skip Wyoming and hit Utah, Idaho, and then Oregon.

Sitting here in my tent and am thinking about how disappointed I am with this country. It is very beautiful, but but it doesn’t feel very free. I am kinda disappointed with the way most people tend to want to camp. A big majority of them can’t enjoy nature without bringing their big mobile homes complete with stove, refrigerator, beds, electricity, and a tv set. For me to go anywhere near the beauty of a national park, I am forced to deal with all the money hungry merchants perched just outside the park like a spider. I hate that all the land just outside the park is privately owned. I think the best way to preserve the beauty of these parks is to make them inaccessible to RV vehicles and cars and one should only be able to get there by hiking or riding a bike. I just wish that this country would try a lot harder to preserve more wilderness areas than trying to exploit the land for what monetary value it can reap from it.

Friday, July 01, 2005

Monday, July 1, 1985

I really needed the rest last night. I set up camp really early last night. It was probably about 5 PM when I went to bed and I got over 12 hours of sleep. I woke up around 8 Am and it was very cold. I hated getting up and going out into the crisp air, but I wanted to get an early start. I packed up and left the campground and realized that I had lost Bettie’s gloves somewhere in the National Park when I was looking for something warm to wear. My hands got really cold and I had to put some socks over them to use as mittens.

It was mostly downhill riding all morning on the way to Granby. This was a touristy town also and I found things to be rather expensive in the stores. I went into a grocery finally and bought about ten dollars worth of food for a few days so I wouldn’t have to go to another expensive restaurant.

I took a wrong turn after leaving Granby and passed some construction workers who told me that I was heading towards Denver. Yikes! I was heading in the wrong direction and had to go back to where I had made my mistake. I found the right road and had a very nice downhill ride for about 15 to 20 miles. I loved it!

I have seen so many animals and birds on the trip so far, I just wish I had a camera. This morning I saw my first bison and tried to draw them, but I didn’t have a pencil sharpener or good paper to draw with , so I just drew a few pics here with the ink pen.

I am now in Kremlin Colorado and it is about 53 miles to the nearest town west. It is a lonely day and it looks like it might rain. I think I am in the true west now. I am in the Rocky Mountains and I see plateaus everywhere. I am about 7300 ft. above sea level and the weather is a little warmer than it was this morning. I hope I don’t hit cold weather like I did this morning. Kremmling is a pretty cool western looking town, but I guess I should be going.

After leaving Kremmling, I was going steadily uphill. My stomach was really acting up and I didn’t feel much like eating because I was feeling nauseous and had lots of gas and cramping. I met two bikers going east on a bicycle built for two. They were both blond and tanned,a guy and his girlfriend. They were wearing leather helmets. I was telling them that I suspected that I might have gotten giardia from the water at the Rocky Mountain national Park, and the girl said that she knew a teacher that had it once and was in the hospital for months. God I hope I don’t have that! They were from Oregon and this was their first day in Colorado. I guess they were making a whole lot better time than I was. They told me that the campsites in Idaho and Oregon were very cheap, usually a dollar a night and not much more than four. They said that ahead of me was very huge hills to climb. As I rode on, I found that they were not joking. I was feeling so sick and my water ran out. I was weak from not eating and only felt like pushing my bike up the hills for hours. I tried to get my lower gears to work and in one of my angry moods, I broke the handle of the lower gear shift. It seems that 5th gear wants to jump off the chain for some reason and I can’t keep the bike in tenth gear because it keeps wanting to go to 5th. I’m having loads of problems.

As I was pushing up one of the hills, a bunch of load mouthed guys in a truck were making fun of me because I was pushing my bike. I was pissed off and just grumbled under my breath. I bet if they felt like I did right now, they would be in bed. Those assholes! Pushing my bike was miserable and hot. The flies and mosquitoes were all over me today. This sucks!

I made it to the top of Muddy Pass where I reached the Continental Divide. There were lots of camping areas but they had no where to get water and I also wanted to find a place to call home. On the way down the road was very steep and my brakes don’t work very well. I was moving at pretty high speeds and my bike seemed to wobble a bit so I had to be as careful as I could.

As I entered the town of Steamboat Springs, I found this town to be another tourist trap. It was starting to get dark and I was too tired to go on. I stopped at the first campsite and it was $8.60 a person. I said it was too much and walked off. I went through town and stopped at a 7-11 store and called home about 8:30 MST or 10:30 EST. I told my mom all that had happened and she advised me to stay the night in a motel or a campsite and not try to go any farther tonight. She thought it would be a good idea if I bought myself a radio to keep me company. After talking to my mom, it made me feel a lot better, at least emotionally, but my stomach was killing me.

Saturday, July 02, 2005

Tuesday, July 2, 1985

I woke up fairly early and decided I better take a hot shower before everyone else got up and used all the hot water. I’ll be damned if I pay $8.50 and go away without a hot shower. I took a shower and it was nice and hot. I went back and slept for another hour or so. I woke back up and filled my water jug, gave myself a hair cut, and packed up my things. I had a banana and some raisins. My stomach still hurt, but I needed some energy more. It was cool and damp with dew this morning, but not as cold as the night before.

On the road I found it was mostly downhill till I reached Hayden. On the west side of town I went under a bridge at Yampa creek and ate some pork and beans, a peanut butter sandwich, and a banana. I am hoping I won’t get sick, but they are fart foods. As I was getting up to leave, I noticed that someone had come down to do some fishing beside me.

Later that afternoon, I think that my stomach is feeling a bit better. I found a rest area along the stretch of road and stopped and changed my clothes and filled my juice jar again. I road into the town of Craig and found a McDonalds and got a strawberry shake and an apple turn over. It was just what I wanted after a hot ride. I didn’t stay long in Craig and found that I had a huge hill to ride up after leaving. This hill really made me exhausted. The roads seemed to get a bit better again and after leaving Steamboat Springs, I have been riding in more of a desert climate. There are hardly any trees to be seen now and the hills are smaller and rounder.

Somewhere on the long stretch of desert road, a guy in a black pickup truck passed me, and I heard a loud noise like a gun shot. I wasn’t sure if he was shooting at me or that his truck had back fired. A few moments later I heard a second blast. Maybe five minutes after that I met a young blond guy maybe in his twenties, who said he was headed towards the northeastern states, then on towards Florida. He said the guy in the pickup had shot at him also. We talked a while about the roads and their conditions ahead. A little while later I met two more bikers, a man in his 40s and I suppose his son, were traveling east as well. They were telling me about a little store up the road where a lady was keeping a record of all the bikers who were passing by. They also said that most of the towns ahead had cheaper campsites. I guess we talked for maybe 15-20 minutes then headed on our ways.

The towns a very far apart now and this really is lonely stretches of road. I was hot and tired and the map said that there was supposed to be a town called Lay coming up. I finally came to Lay where there was only one little store standing in the middle of nowhere. It was about a quarter the size of a 7-11 store. I was buying a root beer at the coke machine just outside the little store, when a woman came out and welcomed me inside. She was a very friendly little woman with glasses maybe in her 40s or 50s who was telling me about all the bikers that had passed by and stopped in her store. She had been keeping a log and had each of the bikers to sign it for her. She gave me her address in case I should write her a post card when I reach the coast of Oregon. We said goodbye and I rode on.

I rode another twelve miles though the desert and hit a town called Maybell. Seems like their biggest draw to this town is their park where people come to camp. There was one little store where people come to sit and gossip. It is still pretty light out, but it seems as if I have another 50 miles ahead of me till the nearest town to get water, so I decided to stay here for the night and camp in this cool little park. I love this friendly little town in the middle of nowhere.

In the campsite, I met another biker named George who appeared to be in his 50s, tall, and graying hair. He said he was from New Hampshire and that he had been a mail carrier for 30 years and had never missed a day. On the day he retired, he said he packed up his bike and headed west to the coast. This time around , he flew to Washington and was riding towards Denver to catch a plane back to New Hampshire. We talked for the longest time. he says he loves the freedom of traveling the country and taking risks. I went to the little store and bought a lime sherbet. It tasted so good on a hot day like today. I then bought two oranges and walked the few feet back to the park. George came back over and we talked some more about the routes we were taking. The sun is on the horizon now so it must be around 8:30. I am not sure how we pay for the campground yet because no one seems to be in the office. I suppose they will contact us . The way everyone is talking, Utah seems to be mostly flat and rolling hills ahead of me. Today was a very nice day and I met some wonderful nice people.

Sunday, July 03, 2005

Wednesday, July 3, 1985

I woke up before the sun came up and took a nice, long, hot shower. I came back to the tent and sat down on the top of a picnic table, still dripping with the morning’s dew and had my breakfast. I was packing up and getting ready to go when George got up. I went over to his campsite to say goodbye and he adjusted my brakes for me. He told me I needed to get my chain and sprockets oiled, and to get new pedals, etc.. I said goodbye and rode off straight up a very long, steep hill. The day had already started out warm and sunny, so I knew it was going to be be hot.

On the long lonely road through the desert of western Colorado, I saw my first sighting of a pronghorn antelope. I was thrilled. A little while later I saw two coyote pups climbing in and out of their den that was a hole in the side of a dry dirt mound. It started getting very hot and I had a few down hills, but it was getting harder to travel. I stopped alongside the road and collected pieces of agate in the white sand. later on, I saw more pronghorns off in the distance. Their images were blurring and waving from the heat coming off the ground.

The heat was really getting to me now. About half way to the town of Dinosaur, my chain kept slipping out of gear and it was making a clunk, clunk , clunk noise. Almost every other time the pedals made a complete revolution, the gear would slip and break my rhythm. It is getting extremely frustrating to ride now and I have lost my temper many times.

Almost to Dinosaur I met a woman walking up and down the highway. She said she had lost her hub cap. As I rode up the road, I found it for her. She thanked me and went on.

When I finally got to Dinosaur, I really wanted another tub of lime sherbet, but the store I went to didn’t have any, so I bought a lime Popsicle, and a quart of milk. I was craving something cold and wet.

I am sitting in Dinosaur park now. It’s a tiny little town about a 1/4th the size of my small home town of Millersburg. The park has a 20 foot long, and 9 foot high, green, fiberglass triceratops. There were lots of people taking pictures of their kids next to it. My bike is in very bad shape now and the nearest town is in Vernal Utah, 34 miles away. I am so tired and hot, maybe I will wait about an hour then head off.

I finally made it to Utah. I am sitting here at a KOA campground in Vernal. After leaving Dinosaur, I found the riding to be quite enjoyable. It was mainly downhill or on level ground. I was only two miles from Utah, instead of five, and I am so glad to be out of Colorado.

Today has been a very hot tiring day. I rode into a town called Jensen Utah and bought a blue popsicle. I don’t know what flavor it is, but I love it. I rode on into Vernal and ate at a Kentucky Fried Chicken. I had a craving for chicken and spent $4.00. I saw signs for a KOA and decided that I wanted to to camp in one again. I traveled over 90 miles today and have money still in the bank. I haven’t really stayed in any sort of comfortable bed on this trip and $6.00 to camp is not as expensive as 8 or 11 bucks like I spent on the other KOA campgrounds. I met five bikers going east, but they didn’t bother to stop and chat. Except early this morning with George, I haven’t talked to anyone all day.

Dinosaur National Monument is a really big thing in this area. If I had more time and energy, I would love to stop at the museum and see the collection of bones.

The sun is just going behind the mountains in the west, but the day still isn’t over yet. Not quite. At the KOA, after I had set up my tent, a man and his two daughters were talking for hours. He kept saying, “Megan, don’t play with that flashlight.” “Megan, don’t jump on the air mattress.” “Be quiet you two. People are trying to sleep here.” This went on till I finally fell asleep.

Monday, July 04, 2005

Thursday, July 4, 1985

I woke up pretty early and took a nice hot shower. It felt like a good day so far. Just as I had packed my bike, I found that I had a flat back tire. I had to unpack everything and put on another spare inner tube. I decided I needed to go to Kmart and get another spare inner tube. When I got there I found that they didn’t open until 9 AM. That is when I discovered another flat on the same wheel. I went to McDonalds while I waited and got an egg McMuffin, and hot cakes. I then went to the supermarket and bought some WD40, two pedals, a drawing pad, a pencil sharpener, a banana, and a can of pineapples.

When it got to be after 9 AM, I went to Kmart and bought an inner tube and some aerosol tire sealant. At that moment I saw radios and said, why not? I bought a little radio for $13. It took me over an hour to get that sealant inside that inner tube. I maybe got half of it in and gave up.

After I finally got things together I rode on out to Roosevelt. As I was leaving town, I met a policeman who told me to be extra careful because they had had a nasty head on collision last night, just a mile down the road from the KOA. I thanked him and rode on.

My gears were slipping worse now and I was only creeping along. I made it to some very small town and bought a Popsicle where I met a balding man in his fifties heading west by bike. I asked if I could ride with him and he said yes. He noticed how bad my gears were sounding and asked me if I might want to come by his house to get a look at it. he said it was probably the broken gear that was slipping and that he had a spare part that might fix it.

We arrived at his home in Roosevelt, and he told me that he took up riding bikes because he had had a heart attack. His doctor told him he had to take up some kind of exercise or he would have another one soon. He discovered that he enjoyed riding bikes and now rides a total of 50 miles every day. He found the right parts , but said he couldn’t help me put it together, so I thanked him for his help and rode off towards Heber City so maybe I could find someone there who could help me.

I stopped at a little grocery store and bought a whole quart of pineapple sherbet then rode to a rest area on the other side of Roosevelt. There I met a group of Native Americans, who were relaxing in the shade of the shelter. This area was part of the Uintah Indian Reservation. I started to try to fix my gear and one of the guys came over and helped me fix it and we had a nice chat together. he said that he was down visiting relatives in Roosevelt and was just stopping by to cool off because it was 98 degrees out today.

We finally got the gear fixed and then I said goodbye and rode off towards Duchesne. It took forever against a strong wind, heat, and a steep uphill climb. i got to town and met two bikers, a man and his wife. As usual we asked each other where we were headed towards. They asked where I was camping. I said that I didn’t know. She said there was a campground in town for $6.00 a night. I told them I was sick of paying that much to camp and that I would find a place in the desert. They said to make sure that I look towards the town because there was going to be fireworks.

I pushed my bike past Starvation Lake Reservoir and found a picnic table to write in my journal. There are these damned little fly/gnats that are driving me crazy. They swarm right up in your face, and fly up in your eyes, ears, and nose and bite. They are bugging the shit out of me!

Somewhere just outside town, I found a place to set up my tent among the cactus, rocks, coyotes that I heard howling in the distance. I did see some fire works when I stood outside my tent looking off towards town.

During the night I dreamed some wild dreams. The first one I had was of my dead great aunt Betty. I dreamed that she was alive again, but that we both knew that she had to go back to being dead. We talked for a long time. I cried and then she said she had to go. Next thing I saw was her dead corpse. It was mummified in the fetal position, and fixed into her bedroom wall as a permanent fixture.

In the second dream I had scared my brother Bill by telling him about what had happened to my aunt Betty or something, and he went into hysterics and ran off. I felt very guilty but there was nothing I could do. People were coming from all over to look for him and then we found him in a tobacco barn up in the loft. He had stripped off all his clothes, and cut all his hair off. That was a very odd dream.

The night didn’t go very smoothly. I had diarrhea all night. I guess that stomach problem isn’t quite over yet. I had it so bad that I finally ran out of all the toilet paper I was carrying.

Tuesday, July 05, 2005

Friday, July 5, 1985

I woke up early this morning to diarrhea and a front flat tire. Just the thing to start a new day. One of my repaired spare inner tubes happened to hold air and then I got on my way. There is hardly any traffic on this desert road at all. It was already hot when I woke up this morning, and I had an up hill climb for miles. After a few hours I pulled over beside the road to eat a can of beans and write some, but these nasty little flies won’t leave me alone so I didn’t stay long.

Now I am sitting at some rest area somewhere between Duchesne and Fruitland, in the middle of this hilly desert. I ate a can of pineapples here, and am trying to find a radio station that isn’t religious or country.

Later on I arrived in the great metropolis of Fruitland which consisted of one little store. The heat and thirst does weird things to my spending habits. I usually buy more than than my stomach can hold. This usually pertains to cool, juicy,and wet foods like watermelons, ice cream, sherbet, or milk. I tend to suck it up to excess. This time I bought a big $2.00 microwavable hamburger, chips, milk, and a candy bar. I always feel like a tramp when I sit just outside the store and sit in the shade on the dirt. Some people came by and looked at me funny, but at that moment I really didn’t care. Then some shabby bearded man who was a bit wild looking with no teeth said, “Where you from?” “Kentucky.” “All da way from dare? Where you going?” Oregon. He just scratched his head and looked at me puzzled and walked into the store. Most of the water in this area is unfit to drink, because I have asked a lot of people for drinking water and they said they didn’t have any. I wonder what they drink?

Well I rode on and saw on the map that the nearest town coming up was Heber City just over 45 miles away and the radio said the temperature was going to be over 100 degrees F. Farther up the road I saw a sign that said, “Drinking Water”. As I got nearer, I saw all these vehicles pulling off to the side of the road. Then it caught my eyes. A big fountain of water was gushing from a pipe. I went up to try it out and found that it was pure, ice cold, mountain fresh, spring water. it was so nice. I must have sat there for nearly 40 minutes wetting my head and feet, and drinking and cooling off. Many people stopped and asked me the same type of questions. Funny thing though, nobody ever suspected or asked me anything about traveling when I was in Kentucky or Indiana, but now most people must think that I’ve come a long way. I hated to leave, but the water was so addicting. Someone said that a lake was about 5-10 miles up the road. I thought that maybe I will get a chance to swim today.

I rode straight on up the hills and my bike was doing fine. I got to the lake and decided that I could ride a few more miles. I said it so often that I completely passed the lake and found myself going straight downhill. Something seemed wrong. I thought heber City was proceeded by a tremendous hill that would take me forever to climb. I must have gone 20 miles on just one downhill stretch of road right into Heber City.

When I arrived here I found the town to be another type of tourist trap. I figured that I had spent over half of my last hundred dollars already because of my splurges. I just couldn’t help myself and went to a grocery and bought some granola cereal, a quart of milk, and a large slice of watermelon. This town has very few trees and I saw a park about a mile back the way I came. I rode back to the park and ate and ate and ate.

Now here I lie in the shade in the nice cool grass of this park. I am so tired and full, that I don’t want to ride any farther. There seems to be all sorts of golf courses around here.

I finally packed up and road towards Ogden and saw on the map that there was a State Park and campgrounds nearby. I came upon this big reservoir and found the campground. There was a pretty blond girl who was working at the gate. She said the price to camp was $4.00. I asked if they had showers and she said no. I said it was a little too much money to camp without having a shower. I said goodbye and rode off.

It was starting to get dark and I stopped beside the road and pulled out my map. A man pulled up beside me and asked me where I was going. I said I was looking for a place to camp that wouldn’t charge me $4.00 without a shower. He suggested another campsite, but when I had pushed there, I discovered that it was part of the same park system and they also charged $4.00 and he told me that it was only $2.00. Arghhhh! I was so pissed and said to myself that I would rather push my bike all night rather than pay to camp. Finally after pushing up some road in my direction, I found a bridge and just got out my sleeping bag and slept beside the road in the dark. I had a few problems with mosquitoes, but it was actually quite nice a place to camp.

Wednesday, July 06, 2005

Saturday, July 6, 1985

Woke up way before the sun arose. I was afraid the police would come by and see me, because it was too obvious that I was camping here. I packed up quickly and pushed part way to the next town. It was too cold to ride. I found a store and bought a quart of milk and a fruit pie. I pushed my bike to a nice sunny spot near a lake to eat it along with my granola cereal.

After eating too much, I got on my bike and pushed on. I found the bridge to be out on the highway and was forced to take Interstate 84 north. It didn’t bother me much, the road was much better than the one I was on. I got off in the town of Echo and asked directions. I met two beer bellied truckers who told me that I was headed in the right direction to go north into Idaho. I was dying to use the restroom, but there didn’t seem to be any service stations around. I found myself lost temporarily near a cement factory, so I decided to just get back on the Interstate and not worry. They didn’t seem to mind bikers being on it.

I rode on towards Morgan and couldn’t find a restroom anywhere, or a faucet to get water. I did find a grocery store and bought some Tang, sweet hard candy, and a root beer. They didn’t have a public restroom and I was about to pop. I rode onwards and was still in need to find a restroom. The road was mostly downhill towards Peterson and I found a service station there and used the restroom and got water. I caught a look at myself in the mirror and thought that I looked awfully worn out and wasted.

Back on the Interstate, I saw a sign for a rest area . I rode up to one of the shelters and sat down on top of a picnic table to write some more on my journal and munch on some granola. There were these little ground squirrels that came up to me begging for some making cute little squeals and chirps.

I was really getting hot now and the weatherman said on the radio that they were having record breaking temperatures of all time near 117 degrees in St. George yesterday and it was supposed to be in the 100 degree temps today The shade here feels nice, but I must try to keep pushing west , since my money is quickly running low. I’d like to find a buffet somewhere today. I want some vegetables and meat.

I kept riding the Interstate into Ogden, and checked the telephone book for a buffet, but found nothing. I decided to stop at the first Kentucky Fried Chicken place that I came to. I found one in Ogden and spent $3.00 worth and rode towards Brigham. The traffic was starting to get really bad and congested. Some woman pulled me over in her car and insisted that I take $2.00 from her in the name of the Lord. I was thinking to myself, “Do I really look that bad? Do I look like a bum?” I told her that I had plenty of money but she insisted that I take it anyway. Well, who am I to turn down money. I told her to tell Jesus thank you and rode on. I stopped again and bought a shake at McDonalds. Man, I’ve got to stop spending so much.

Back on the Interstate in the heat and dust of the afternoon, I found that I had a flat back tire again. I just got a new inner tube. The sealant inside was helping somewhat, but it was still slowly leaking. I found myself pumping the tires every few miles. it was starting to get too dark to fix the flat. On the radio the weatherman said that Salt Lake City, St. George, and all of southern was under a severe thunderstorm warning and that a generator or something had blown. He said that Salt Lake City was having a blackout. I could see part of the outline of The Great Salt Lake off in the distance as well as the skyline to the city.

My money was running so low, but I really wanted a motel tonight. I got as far as Honeyville and found a park that said,”No Camping”. I rode into town to look for somewhere to stay and met a woman coming out of her car who said that the town didn’t have any cheap motels or campgrounds. She said go ahead and camp in the park because people do it all the time. I said well, if anyone stops me and asks, I will just say that I was stranded and didn’t have much of a choice.

I rigged my tent inside the shelter because the mosquitoes are just unbearable here. I think Kentucky must be the only place I have been so far that has been free of such large swarms of mosquitoes. The night got somewhat cooler here and it had a bit of a breeze. I slept pretty good during the night. I dreamed that I was cooking a nice big meal and that somehow the food got knocked into the sink and down a garbage disposal.

Thursday, July 07, 2005

Sunday, July 7, 1985

Woke up early this morning to a very strong wind. The day seems pretty nice though. I fixed my flat tire and packed up everything to go. I am hoping to hit a town sometime tomorrow that has a Western Union so I can have my mom send some money to me.

Got back on the interstate and rode into a town called Tremonton and prowled around hoping to find a McDonalds for breakfast. I didn’t find one so I decided to eat at a steakhouse instead. I ordered 2 eggs, sausage, toast, hash browns, and a side order of pancakes. It was a lot for my money, well not really a lot, but more than most places. It all came to about $5.00, but I was really hungry and more than willing to pay that much this morning. The food was really good. I really look like a tramp today and felt ashamed to walk into sit down restaurants. My shoes have big holes in them. My face is burnt to a crisp, and my shirt and pants are dirty. Even my hair is standing up on the ends because it is so dirty from the dust. The waitress was a heavy woman and not so pretty, but she was very nice to me. I usually didn’t tip much at all because of my lack of finances, but I gave her 50 cents more than I gave anyone else.

I got back on the Interstate and I didn’t see any signs prohibiting bikes from riding on the side. It had gotten to be another very hot day up near 100 degrees again and the humidity was so heavy that i could only see the silhouettes of the massive mountains called the Uinitas which stand very high above the horizon. It’s getting to be mostly a downhill ride on this side of the mountains. I can see the outer edge of The Great Salt Lake. I stopped a few times under some of the underpasses because of the heat.

I was taking a break just to rest my eyes and cool off. About 15 minutes later I saw the first three bikers going west. I called out to them and asked them where they were headed, but for some reason I think they might be a bit stuck up. Maybe they weren’t , but they acted like they didn’t see me and rode on. I let them ride on by and kept my distance. I got back on my bike and caught up with them once, but they sped up and passed me not saying a word.

I decided to go all out and catch up with them again. I couldn’t let these guys with their fancy bikes pass me up and think they were better than me. I eventually caught up with them and then when I got near, I just rode up beside them , said hello, and sped right past them. I got well ahead of them and rode into a town called Snowville. This was the last stop for over 30 miles till the next store, and the last town I will go through in Utah.

I found a little store and bought another microwavable hamburger, and a coke with ice. I took it outside and found a picnic table next to a sprinkler. Maybe 20 minutes later, I saw the other bikers ride into town and go into the store. This time they seemed eager to talk to me. They said they were from Florida and had been on the road for seven weeks now and were headed towards Oregon. I was hoping that they might tolerate me as company. Oh well, I guess I will see after they get out of the store.

I watched as they got back on their bikes and rode on out of town. I guess they didn’t even want to bother to say goodbye. I let them ride off, and a few minutes later when I got back on my bike, I realized that my carrier had lost some bolts, but I think it might hold till I can get to a bigger town that has a hardware store.

This whole stretch of Interstate was so long , lonely and hot. I made the long ride into Idaho and about five miles into Idaho I caught up with the two bikers at a rest area called “8 Mile Seer”. There were some Indians here selling jewelry. I was talking to some truckers who came up and asked me where I was from and where I was heading to. Off in the distance it looked as if a storm was on the way. I saw a sign that was about a mile back down the road that said,”Severe Weather Area”. I was sitting here on a bench catching up on my writing, when I started to smell a strong odor of ozone. I put away my things and headed towards the shelter. An older man there said that it probably wouldn’t rain. He said they hadn’t had any rain since April. A few minutes later the storm hit with high wind, hail that covered the ground, and heavy rain. The temperature dropped maybe 10-20 degrees. The rain started falling so hard that we had to run inside the restroom

It soon ended almost as suddenly as it began. I am sitting here waiting to see if it will dry out. I still have a few hours of sunlight left. I decided that I would try to ride a few more miles before dark. I went over to see what the other bikers were up to and they said that they were camping here for the night. They looked surprised that I said that I was going to ride on. I guess I should have stayed also, but part of me was just being contrary.

I got a few miles down the road and saw more storm clouds bearing down on me. Being out in the open and exposed, I decided not to try and take any more chances, because storm clouds seem to pop up quick around here. I sped on my bike and got up under the nearest underpass I could find. It seemed to be nice and comfortable up under there. I had my radio and some swallows to keep me company.

While I was unpacking my bike, a car pulled up and a guy said they were lost and was asking directions. I knew exactly where I was , so I got out my map which had much more information than theirs. They seemed impressed that I knew my geography and directions so well. they were trying to get on the right road to Pocatello Idaho. Today had been a fairly good day after all. The roads weren’t so bad once I was able to get away from those slowdown ramps where road construction was going on.

I laid my sleeping bag out and played my radio for a while. There were no mosquitoes or gnats here to bother me. I finally fell off to a very peaceful sleep. I dreamed that I was in the army as a new recruit and that everything was going smoothly.

Friday, July 08, 2005

Monday, July 8, 1985

I woke refreshed and ready to go. The weather feels just right this morning. I usually don’t feel this good in the morning and want to sleep, but I had no trouble getting started. I wondered if I was ahead or behind the other bikers that I had left behind at the last rest area.

I rode up one big steep hill, then it was one big downhill ride for miles. I love riding this morning because I got lots of miles behind be already. I stopped at a small tiny town called Sublett. It seemed to be made up of only a small cafe and a service station. I walked into the cafe and ordered exactly the same thing I had yesterday morning. the price and the meal was surprisingly similar. It seems that now that I am in Idaho, people are much more friendly and a lot more people are asking me the same old questions. I like being a popular figure, or conversation piece. I left a 75 cent tip to the nice dark haired waitress.

Back on the road I was making very good time. It seemed like I hit the next rest area very quickly. I found that I had gotten another flat tire again. I am going to try to patch it up and try to get to Burley as fast as I can. I have only $25.00 left and I need to call Mom to get her to send me some money before the bank closes. I need to buy a new back tire and inner tube. I am not sure how much it is going to cost. At this rest area, I was chatting with some people who said they saw 3 bikers who were a few miles behind me. They seemed surprised that my messed up bike could have kept up and passed their more expensive bikes.

I kept riding on and was making great time. I found that I was too late though. I rushed to the nearest phone I could find in the town of Rupert Idaho and called home hoping it wasn’t after 2:30 PM . When I called, Bill answered the phone and I knew he wouldn’t accept a collect call. I heard him say something, then there was a long pause. Tony finally came to the phone and accepted the charges. he said that Mom had gone to Paris to do her shopping and that it was past 2:30 already. I knew the bank was closed then. Tony told me that he had gotten a letter from my buddy Rebel who had just joined the army. It said in the letter that Rebel had become some sort of leader in his platoon just after two weeks of being in basic training. I said goodbye and told him that I would call again later when I thought Mom might be home.

I needed to ride on into Twin Falls to find a Western Union, but while I was in Burley, I was looking through the telephone book for a buffet, but couldn’t find one. I went to a grocery store and bought a cantaloupe for 59 cents and two apple fritters for a buck, and some bananas. I then rode over to McDonalds and bought a Big Mac, fries and a raspberry shake. I also ate my fritters there. I went to the restroom to wash up a little and saw myself in the mirror. God! I look like a wild man or something. I think I look like a cross between Robinson Caruso or a bum.

Back on the road again it got very hot and miserable. The radio said that in Twin Falls it was 96 degrees. It sure felt like it. I stopped under almost every bridge that I came to just to rest, cool off and get out of the brilliant sun. I hit another rest area just outside of Twin Falls. It was a nice little forested area overlooking a vast canyon. I stopped at the shelter and ate my cantaloupe and got some more water. I started to write in my journal and a policeman showed up and asked me if I was planning to stay here for the night. He seemed really nice and polite, but you can never tell. We chatted a while and he said he would return in a half hour and help me locate a Western Union in Twin Falls. I hope that is what he was planning to do, and not come back to harass me or something.

Later on I was surprised. The policeman is really a nice guy. He came back by about a half hour just as he said, and told me that it was just fine if I stayed the night here at this rest area, and that he would draw me a map to the Western Union. He left again, but in the meantime, I was talking with a man who worked at the rest area. He said he was getting paid $900 a month and that he had also been in the army. We talked for a while and he told me about things to watch out for once I got in the army.

The policeman showed up again and drew me a map of how to get to the Western Union. He said that this was the same Snake River Canyon that Evil Knieval jumped a few years ago. I got on my bike and crossed over the canyon into town and called home again. Mom said that there were a lot of people in Millersburg asking about me. She asked if I had made it through the desert okay. She said that my cousin Mac and his wife were having a baby. It is so strange that all my cousins are married and or living with someone. It makes me feel old. We had a nice talk, then Tony read Rebel’s letter to me. It didn’t sound too good coming from someone as gung-ho as Rebel was. He seemed a bit upset with the way things were going for him. I guess he doesn’t like the discomfort of the army. I had a good talk and said goodbye to everyone and headed back towards the Interstate.

For some strange reason or feeling, i thought I best not camp at the rest area. Something just didn’t seem quite right about that place, so.. I went to the KOA in town at the last minute and got a campsite for $9.00. I really did need a shower. I was thinking that I might not hit another campsite and have another shower till I get to the beach. I set up my tent and watched the storm clouds pass over to be replaced by a sky full of stars. I took a nice hot shower , crawled into my tent and feel off to sleep.

Saturday, July 09, 2005

Tuesday, July 9, 1985

Woke up this morning around 8 AM and took another shower, I packed everything up and headed towards Western Union. I decided to stop at Burger King, but it was a mistake. It was okay , but too expensive compared to McDonald’s. I happen to find one of those just a block away. The directions the policeman gave me were excellent. I had no trouble finding the place.

The first time I went in, I found that no one had sent the money yet. I decided to go to the grocery store while I waited. I bought some granola, milk, and raisins, and ate it at the side walk park. I went back about an hour later, and by that time Tony had sent the money. I am glad Tony sent it because I had to name the person who sent it in order to get the money. I might have had to guess the name of almost any relative or friend who might have sent it. I don’t think I want to stick around town to find a buffet. I rode over to an A&W Root beer store and am having a big cool root beer and catching up on my journal before I leave town. I think I might be trying to put off going because it is so hot outside. it is near 100 degrees out today again.

I rode through town and found the interstate. The road I was on was pretty flat and I had the wind in my favor. I seemed to cover a lot of ground in a short period of time today. I was making excellent time and soon found myself at another rest area 47 miles from Twin Falls. At the rest area there were men replacing table tops on the picnic tables. I stayed here for a while and got water and rested some before heading on.

Later on in the afternoon, the temperature had gotten up to 106 degrees in Twin Falls according to my radio. It was so hot I stopped again at an overpass and lay in the shade on the slanting concrete. I got my towel and radio out and fell asleep beside the road. I bet the drivers must have thought I was an odd sight to be lying there. The sky began to cloud up and the radio said it was 5 PM. I wanted to get to the next town before the storm hit.

The area I was riding in now was becoming more mountainous. It was getting high up and there was a big valley off the road to my left. I could see a big storm coming out over the valley and heading towards me. As I was riding up the hill, there were these slowdown ridges cut into the road. They were hell to ride over and my bike would bounce and vibrate as I rode over them. I was hitting a patch of them almost every five feet, but there was nothing I could do. The storm was approaching fast and I had to try to ride on. As I was riding over a patch of ridges, I found that I developed a flat tire. It went flat fast so all I could do was push. I was looking for a bridge, town , or something nearby before the rain comes but I couldn’t find anything for miles. I guess the storm would just get me.

It started to get dark and windy. I could smell the ozone heavy in the breeze. The wind was picking up dust and I could feel drops of rain hitting me. I noticed a car pulling off the road just ahead of me. The car backed up and a thin, small, blond, pretty middle-aged woman asked if I needed a ride to avoid the storm. I said,”yeah, I sure do.” She readjusted her things and made room for me and my bike in her small car. I told her I was trying to get to the nearest town that had something like a Kmart or variety store that sold tires and inner tubes, because I had run out of patches.

We rode through some beautiful mountainous country in the pouring rain and then through Mountain Home. She asked if I might rather go to Boise because she knew for sure they had those kinds of stores there. I told her I was headed that way anyway. She said she didn’t normally pick up people along side the road , but she saw me pushing with a storm approaching, and she said she thought of her daughter and son who bike and hitchhike around. She said that if her kids were stuck in that situation, she hoped someone would be nice enough to give them a ride. She was telling me all about Oregon. She said she was from Portland and was down visiting her children who lived in Boise. She was telling me about the mountains that lie ahead and the nice climate between the Cascades and the Coastal Mountains. Along the roadside, we saw where range fires had burnt the grass for miles around.

When we approached Boise she asked if I’d rather be let off at the KOA or a variety store. I said the variety store would be best. She was willing to take me anywhere in town to help me out. When she let me out at a Fred Meyer, I asked how I could repay her for her kindness. She said that if I am ever in a car and see a person in need, to stop and help them also because it may be her son or daughter. I thanked her as she drove off to see her family. I am so glad for kind people in the world.

I went to Fred Meyers and bought an extra thick strong inner tube and a new tire. Just as I was about to leave, I saw “The Hobbit” on the book shelf. I bought it again because it was one of my favorite books and i thought it would be nice to read it again. The whole thing totaled $15.00. I went to the Wendy’s across the street and got a salad bar and a burger for 4 bucks. After eating it I got gas pretty bad. I fixed my flat and went looking for a KOA. I got lost trying to find the place, but I eventually got there. i know that I have been spending money a lot faster than I would like, but I felt i needed to rest up again.

When I finally found the KOA, it was pitch black outside. The girl at the desk charged me $11.00 to camp. I was so tired that I didn’t care. I’ll just not go to another one, and I should be in the desert again. I took a nice hot shower and went back to my tent to read a few pages of “The Hobbit”. I easily feel off to sleep. I remember having some wild dreams during the night and woke up all startled. I don’t exactly remember what they were about. Ghosts again I guess.

Sunday, July 10, 2005

Wednesday, July 10, 1985

I woke up about 7:30 and had slept pretty good except for the weird dreams. I took another hot shower and bought some milk for my cereal. I have been just sitting around this morning writing and just relaxing. I don’t feel much like being in a hurry today. I can start to see an end to my trip now. Oregon seems to be within my reach now and I guess I will try to make it there before nightfall.

The ride into Oregon came so fast. I am sitting here now in a state park just within the oregon boarder. I didn’t realize I had gotten here so soon. I had rode towards Ontario, but thought I was still in Idaho. Even though I am now in Oregon, I still have a few days till I reach the Pacific Ocean. I ate at a McDonalds a while ago and have been taking it pretty easy most of the day. I haven’t been riding very fast and stopped a lot and was reading , ”The Hobbit” almost every chance I got. it is going very nicely with this trip because Bilbo is experiencing something new each day also. This park in Ontario is a nice place and I have been swimming a bit in the Snake River. It is nice to get cooled off for a change. I have left the potato state, but the grasshopper plague and dry hot weather is still with me. I have seen a few fires here and there and I hope I have seen the last of those cattle guard like ridges on the side shoulder of the interstate. That was what popped my last tire yesterday. I haven’t had any bike problems today and things seem to be going so smoothly. I think I am starting to feel a bit nervous about going to boot camp now. After what Rebel said in his letter, my imagination is getting the best of me. I surely hope that I can handle what the army throws at me. Hopefully I have already seen the worst of times in my life, but right now giving up my freedom for a few years seems to be such a sacrifice. I will sit here and enjoy this nice hot day and the cool river for just a bit longer then ride off.

I rode on towards vale and found a grocery store. I decided to stop a i bought a box of chicken, two bananas, and some donuts. As I headed down the road, I saw a sign that said,”Kinds Table”. Damn! I have been looking for days to find a buffet and now I have just bought dinner. This is so painfully upsetting. Oh Well, I just rode on towards Vale and maybe a place to camp. I rode past lots of farmland and passed a farm where a plane was spraying again. I got some of the spray in my eyes and had trouble seeing. I kept riding before I got sprayed on again.

I made my way into Vale and found a small park with sprinklers going everywhere. i sat down on the only picnic table and ate some of my chicken, donuts and got back to reading , ”The Hobbit”. I don’t really know if camping is allowed here, so I waited around till dark to see if it would be okay to set up a tent.

just as it started to get dark, a truck pulled up and I thought they might be park superintendents. To my surprise, two bikers jumped out of the truck. They talked a few minutes with the driver , then he drove off. I guess it might be their parents. I walked over and asked them where they were heading. They said they were both from Boise, and they were going to take a bike ride through Oregon and then down the coast towards San Francisco. they said I was welcome to ride along if I liked. I thought it was nice to have some company for a change. Well, I set up my tent and they set up theirs and we went to sleep. they had said that it was fine to camp here. I had a good sleep and dreamed of birds.

Monday, July 11, 2005

Thursday, July 11, 1985

I woke up before the sun came up, partly because I had another bad dream that had something to do with the mutilation of birds. The others were still asleep, so I packed up everything and started to read on “The Hobbit” again. I noticed that they finally woke up and started to pack their things. I decided to eat here and read more of my book while they went into town to find a restaurant and a grocery. They promised that they would swing back by later. It has been a month on the road so far, and I think it has been strange and wonderful. Whenever I run into trouble, I seemed to be able to cope and get by. Sometimes I feel like there must be some sort of guardian angel, or a god watching after me nearly all the time. Probably not a Christian god though, or maybe it is nothing at all. So far, I have never been so bad off that I could not cope, not even when I lived as a homeless person in Louisiana, when all seemed hopeless at times. There was always something that happened to help me out.

I decided to pack away my book and head off to find a grocery. They would be back by here soon , and I didn’t want them to leave without me.

I found a store and bought some canned peaches, pineapples, licorice, and a can of Copenhagen. the woman at the counter asked why a high school kid would be out on the road this far from home. I told her I was 26 years old and she seemed surprised. She said that she saw three other bikers in town this morning who said they were headed towards San Francisco. I just wondered if it might be the same three guys I met the other day, or the ones I heard about in Kansas. Who knows, but if it is, I must be making good time.

I found Rich and Chris down the street on the sidewalk working on their bikes. Rich was a dark haired, husky, ruddy guy. who seemed pretty outgoing. (I found him really attractive and had sort of a crush on him.) Chris, was taller, thinner, with short thin brown hair. He seemed to be a lot more quiet than and reserved than Rich. We met up and probably rode out of town around 9 AM.

We rode through some dry farmland area. I seemed to get pretty far behind them at first , but caught up with them later. We stopped in a town called Jamieson, which was nothing but one very odd looking store with some Mexicans lounging on the front porch with a hound dog. the store looked pretty old with advertisements plastered all over it. It looked like some old wooden tavern. Rich replaced a tube here. Farther down the road, we stopped at a ranch house and got water and sprayed ourselves down. The owner seemed very friendly and he had a Doberman dog too. As we sat and cooled off, I saw a few large dust devils whipping up dust and paper as it lazily crossed his fields.

After sitting a spell, we rode on down the road into Brogan Oregon. It had one big building that was a combination of Post Office, restaurant, pool room, and grocery. I bought a Popsicle, and ate a piece of my chicken.

After leaving Brogan, we climbed a very long hill called Brogan Hill Summit. it was here in this more desert like area that I found some hawk feathers and stuck them in my handlebars. We were riding through some winding roads through red rocky canyons and little scrubby trees.

The next town we came to was Ironside. It was another little stop in the road with just one store. It happened to be closed, so we sit down in front of the store. I ate the rest of my chicken and a can of pineapples. As we were sitting there, an old man popped out and said that it was all right to sit there as long as we didn’t lean our bikes against the window glass. There was a water fountain here and we filled our water containers up. We had a nice sit and talked for a bit before leaving town.

A few miles out of town, we hit Eldorado Pass. At the summit we crossed into Pacific Time Zone, and Rich and Chris took pictures. down the other side of the pass was a nice downhill where we went through a small canyon. We stopped near a small creek and took a nice, quick , cool bath. It felt so nice!

It didn’t take us long to ride into Unity where we stopped at the Water Hole Cafe and bought hamburgers, fries, and milkshakes. Rich said it would be a good idea to camp for the night at the elementary school grounds here. At the elementary school, there were some kids, well not all kids, playing a game of softball. RChrisich and chris went over to watch. I said I would watch their bikes. I am sitting here writing and getting ready to read more of the adventures of Bilbo Baggins in the quiet of a nice, warm, peaceful, Oregon afternoon.

Once the game ended, and Rich and Chris returned, we set up our tents. I sat outside and watched a very wonderful, colorful, sunset. I finally went to bed and dreamed that I went on another college trip out west and that I had gotten left behind and had to hitchhike back home.

Tuesday, July 12, 2005

Friday, July 12, 1985

Being that this is now Pacific time, I suppose we woke up fairly early. The birds woke me up, but I wanted to sleep more. I got up and packed everything away and I saw them doing the same. We rode back into town and stopped in front of the only store around. They weren’t open yet. We waited around till they opened and went shopping for supplies. they didn’t seem to carry much of the things I wanted, so I just bought a fruit pie and a Snickers bar.

We left town and rode uphill into the Blue Mountains. We went over blue Mountain Pass and had a nice downhill ride through green forested countryside. It is a bit cooler this morning, but the sun is shining pretty brightly. I hope it doesn’t get up into the 100 degree temperatures today.

We stopped at a a little crossroads town called Austin House. There was another old building that contained a restaurant, post office, and little store all in one. The prices of things seemed a bit expensive here, so I got the same thing I bought this morning. I can’t wait till I get to a store that has more to choose from. The guy who worked the front desk was a bored, high school kid with a bit of a cocky attitude. We were chatting him up a bit before heading on out of town.

We rode up over our second big obstacle of the day called Dixie Pass which was 5277’ above sea level. We had a wonderful view of the fir trees and the big snow covered Blue Mountains off in the distance. So far today I have seen a lot of hawks, a dead porcupine, and a badger.

We rode all the way downhill towards Prairie City. This town seems to be about the same size as my home town of Millersburg, but a bit more lively. It seems that people in Oregon really like bikers and are very interested in them. They also don’t have a sales tax. We found a store and I bought a box of granola and a quart of milk. Rich and Chris bought some munchies also. We rode over to the local city park and I ate my whole box of granola. The local people here ride a lot of horses around town, and a group of young boys came up to us asking about our travels. they said that they also bike for long distances. They talked about the big women’s cross the state race in Idaho. We sat and enjoyed the shady park for about an hour while I sat and read more of “The Hobbit”.

Back on the road we biked on towards John Day Oregon and the road was pretty flat, so we made good time. When we got to town, we stopped at a bike shop so Chris could have his bike looked at. He had some sort of rattle in his pedal system. After leaving the store, we all decided to pitch in and buy some steaks and have a cookout when we reached the state park of Clyde Holiday Wayside. They charge $1.00 for bikers and hikers and have nice hot showers. When we arrived, we met two other bikers going east. Chris and Rich decided to take a shower while I started a fire and watched their bikes. I also got back to reading “The Hobbit” again.

We ate nice steaks and macaroni and cheese for dinner. We sat around the fire and talked for a long time. They watched my things while I went off to take a shower. When I got back feeling all cool and clean, I decided to write in my journal before it got too dark. The mosquitoes are bad , but the weather is nice and cool. It has really been nice riding with Rich and Chris because now I have someone to talk to. They tend to go a little slower and don’t cover as much distance in a day as I was doing, but I am in no hurry. I am way ahead of schedule and still haven’t spent half of my money yet. The trip seems a lot more comfortable and enjoyable now. Oregon really is a very decent state. It is certainly one of the prettiest, cheapest and friendliest towards bikers that I have been to. Well I guess I will start to set up my tent now before it gets too dark and the mosquitoes eat me up. Today was certainly a great day.

Wednesday, July 13, 2005

Saturday. July 13, 1985

I heard what I thought sounded like coyotes early this morning. I got up fairly early and so far it looks like it is going to be a good day. It is kind of cool out this morning and the mosquitoes are out in full force. I guess we are going to head down the road for about a mile to Mount Vernon and get some breakfast.

At mount Vernon, I got scrambled eggs, toast, hash browns, and a short stack of pancakes. Rich got the same thing , but with a very large cinnamon roll. Chris just had pancakes.

After a nice breakfast, we rode mostly uphill till we reached Dayville. This was a nice, shady town with one store and a gas station/cafe. We bought a couple of snacks and headed on out for a long 39 mile ride through a more desert like area. Today was hot and we had a nice breeze, but not as hot as it had been when we had the 100 degree temperatures.

We stopped at a creek and we jumped in to cool off. It was nice to sit on the warm rocks beside the creek after a nice chilly dip and lie in the sun. I was looking for some nice pretty stones in the water.

After a nice refreshing dip we got back on our bikes and rode by Picture Gorge. The cliffs were made of volcanic rocks and some resembled the hexagon shaped rocks that I saw at Devil’s Tower, a volcanic neck of a dead volcano in South Dakota. it was a really nice ride and we saw a few deer and a coyote today.

After coming out of the gorge, we had another long steady climb. We finally reached the top of the long hill and had a nice steep three mile downhill ride into Mitchell Oregon. We were flying downhill and the wind felt good. Mitchell was another one store town with a $5.00 motel and a nearby park. Rich said he had been here before and that they loved bikers here. We went into the grocery and the clerk had us sign the guest book. I bought some pork and beans and a raspberry sherbet. Rich and Chris got some munchies themselves.

We took our snack over to the little park. I am sitting on a a picnic table. The little town is surrounded by mountains and seems like a possible place to stay the night. It is nice and hot out right now, but it feels good just to sit here in the shade and relax after a long ride. We were thinking to stay here at least two to three hours before we decide to head out or not. I decided to get back to reading my Hobbit book.

By late afternoon, we went back to that same store to get something for breakfast. We decided to leave town, and headed west towards Ochoco Summit. This turned out to be a very tiring ride for me and my back was killing me. I was straining to pedal up the mountainside. We kept riding way past dark and it was getting very hard to see. I was about to just get off my bike and push in the darkness, but we finally reached the summit and the campgrounds. It was much too dark to write and I was too tired to set up my tent, so I just got up on top of one of the picnic tables in my sleeping bag. I was looking up at the stars because they seemed so very bright this far from any city. It was nice, cool sleeping weather without any mosquitoes to be found. I slept well with pleasant dreams.

Thursday, July 14, 2005

Sunday, July 14, 1985

I guess we woke up fairly early this morning. I didn’t want to leave my sleeping bag, so I just lay there and ate my breakfast. Rich and Chris got all packed up, then I had to do a rush job to catch up. We rode to a rest area about a mile down the road and got water. I saw a little group of colorful birds called redstarts sitting around the fountain.

I enjoyed the ride down the mountainside. I saw lots of tall fir trees with nice shaded green grass under them. All the rocks around here look volcanic. We rode many miles all the way into Prineville, the oldest central town in oregon. They have a park full of artists painting and selling their paintings and drawings.

I went to a little cafe and I got a chicken dinner while Rich and Chris went to a grocery store and got breakfast. I couldn’t sit here long so I briefly jotted down a few things in my journal. They should be about ready to ride out.

Back on the road, we made it to Redmond, but just passed right on through. It didn’t take long before we were in Sisters. We encountered a lot of deer crossing the road in different spots.

Once we arrived in Sisters, we found it to be a very touristy town at the base of the Cascades. We decided to go in together and get a large pizza for dinner. We sat down at a little pizza place and had dinner. We decided to go in together and get a large pizza. This was the first pizza that I have had in a very long time and it tasted good. After sitting a while and enjoying the air conditioning, we went to a grocery store for some munchies. It was getting pretty late in the day and Rich suggested that we look for a campground and stay the night here.

The Cascades was a wonderful sight from a distance. Large snow covered mountains with high rugged peaks. A lot of these mountains are sleeping volcanoes with Mount St. Helens being one of them. We are at the base of the Cascades near an area they call The Three Sisters. It is a grouping of three tall snow covered peaks. I thought it was such a coincidence that I would first pass through a town called Redmond and then a town called Sisters right next to each other , because the Redmond sisters were two ladies that my boss named Doobie back home would often talk about.

We rode into the campground and found a campsite away from everyone. The sign at the entrance said $5.00 camping fee. When we went by the restrooms, we met a whole group of high school aged kids in some kind of summer camping program that their parents pay lots of money for. They would camp every night, then hike up into the mountains, go white water rafting, and visit and explore the national parks. I met a young girl from Louisville Kentucky. She was surprised to find another person from Kentucky this far out here in Oregon. then I met a redheaded kid from New Orleans. I talked to them for what seemed like a long time about my adventures in New Orleans and bike bike trip here. After reading “The Hobbit”, I felt a bit like Bilbo Baggins myself telling stories to a group of eager listeners.

Later Rich, Chris and I went back to our camp and sat around a fire talking about religion, politics, science, and travel. They are two really nice guys. Rich the husky guy, had just graduated from college, had biked across the country 2 or 3 years ago, and usually takes some sort of trip every year. He was telling me that he had biked up the highest road in the country near Pike’s Peak. he is usually the one we let lead the way, because he has been this way before, and it is nice to get a hint of what lies ahead. Chris the tall, thin, quiet one, was a runner in college and has a chemistry major. This is his first bike trip and he bought a brand new bike just for this trip. It just so happens that the KOA that I stayed at in Boise, is just up the road from where they both work. A plant that manufactures computer chips. I suppose it was fate that I drove from Boise to Vale and was lucky enough to be in the same park that these two guys would start their trip from. We talked late into the night and we finally went off to sleep. I had a very nice day and dreamed pleasant thoughts.

Friday, July 15, 2005

Monday, July 15, 1985

We woke up early and it felt cool out. We packed up and said goodbye to the high school kids and then rode out looking for a restaurant nearby. We found one and it was a bit like Mel’s Dinner on the tv show “Alice”. they even had a waitress who was flirting a bit like Flo, and was hugging up to all the local rednecks. We had a nice breakfast then headed out to tackle the Cascades.

The climb up the the mountains towards Mackenzie Pass was long and steep. The higher we got the more numerous, and taller the trees became. All was green and lush with lots of shade and ferns. It was getting cooler as we rose in elevation. The sun was shining brightly all day. We saw many deer crossing the road.

As we got closer to the top, the trees got shorter and more windblown. We could see great peaks and the tremendous lava flows which was about 10’ to 50” high. At the top of the pass we rode from forest to lava flow and found a road that carved a trail through the middle of it. At the top of Mackenzie Pass was a tower made of lava. We climbed up on it and discovered that it had a big bronze disk that had arrows pointing to the different peaks of the Cascades and the craters. We could also see the top of Mt. Hood miles away, which was just across the river from Mt. St. Helens. The sign here said that this was the most recent lava flow, about a million years old, in the continental United States except for Mt. St. Helens. We took pictures, and Rich told me I should check my brakes, because it was a pretty windy and dangerous road from here to the bottom.

On the way down, we hit rough, narrow roads, and very sharp curves. On one of the many curves, as I was breaking, I hit a bump, bounced, went into a slide, and wrecked. I was very lucky that I did not run head on into a rock wall. I picked myself up with minor cuts and bruises, and drove down very carefully and slowly. The other two guys, a bit braver than me now, sped on down towards the bottom.

A while later I met then farther on down. On this side of the mountain, i found it to be even more lush and green than the other side. Most of the rain gets dumped on the western side and the clouds loose their moisture as it passes over the mountains. The trees on this side of the mountains are the tallest Douglas Firs, spruces, and pines I have ever seen. I was totally overwhelmed by their height and beauty. Words can not describe the majesty of this place and the trip was well worth it just for a look at this place.

We rode further on for miles and saw wonderful mountain streams and lakes. We stopped at a grocery cafe that resembled a European Chateau with steep thatched roofs and stopped for a snack. I got some ice cream and they got some fruit and chips. We sat down in some little outdoor tables and chairs that looked like something in Paris France or the Black Forest in Germany. As we were sitting there eating, and discussing how much farther we should ride, a very obese, baldheaded man was sitting at the next table beside us with his wife and daughter. Suddenly the man tried to get up and fell with a tremendous crash and flattened the seemingly sturdy table. His little daughter started yelling, “Oh Papa! Papa! When we saw this, we were a bit stunned. Chris ran over to help the man up, but before he got there, he got up unhurt and looking terribly embarrassed. I know that I shouldn’t, but the sight of that flattened table was just too much. I had to turn my head away to keep from laughing. I can’t deny that I thought it was the funniest thing I have seen in a long while.

We all agreed that we should try to make it to Eugene before it got dark. It was 40 miles away and we figured it should take us a few hours since Rich said it was downhill most of the way. Rich and Chris said that when we get to Eugene, they would be staying with friends the rest of the day. I realized that it would be soon time to part company once we got to Eugene, so we stopped at a park and exchanged addresses, then made the long ride into Eugene.

When we got to Eugene, I wanted to find a buffet, and they decided to join me for a last meal together. Chris got two flat tires within minutes of each other, and also broke his air pump. We reached a streak of bad luck when we got to town. After much searching, we finally found a North’s Chuck Wagon and ate a huge meal. Rich and I were stuffed. After eating Rich and Chris met their friend in the parking lot outside the buffet. We shook hands for a last farewell. I went looking for a pay phone and called home. It was 9 PM here and 12 midnight in Kentucky. Mom sounded tired, but we talked for about an hour.

I rode on and found a park, but it had no restroom. I searched in vain, but found nothing suitable. I decided to just walk out of town because it was pitch dark after getting my directions straight. All the stores were closed so I just kept pushing.

On the way through town, I met two rowdy young drunk street thugs. They told me not to walk on their side of the street, so I went to the other side. They followed me over. I was getting scared and was expecting trouble. One guy came up to me asking for money and I told him that I didn’t have any and was heading for the mission. I acted hurt, tired and hung my head down as if I didn’t care about anything. I guess I looked like a bum with the holes in my shoes and messy hair. I just kept on walking hoping they would just ignore me. I heard them start to call each other names and throwing things at each other. they had soon forgotten about me and I kept gaining distance and pushed by bike off into the darkness ahead. I didn’t look back but just kept pushing till I reached the outskirts of town and found a bridge. I ducked under it when I was sure that no people or cars were around and found a nice spot to set up a tent. Sometimes like this, I feel that something is watching over me, like a guardian angel or something. Maybe I am just lucky.

I set up my tent and then dug a hole and took a dump under the bridge. I was so lucky to have brought toilet paper again. Somewhere up under here I heard a cat with kittens. I finally fell off to sleep and slept pretty well. Today was an exciting day.

Saturday, July 16, 2005

Tuesday, July 16, 1985

I woke up pretty early and found being under this bridge to be fairly secure, so I decided just to sleep a while longer. I finally got up a while later and headed west towards the coast. It looked like it was going to be a nice sunny day.

I rode up to a park near a reservoir a few miles out of Eugene and stopped to write in my journal again. I decided I was going to be in no hurry, because I should be at the coast sometime late this afternoon. All those years that I have talked about riding to the west coast on a bike is just within my grasp now. I feel sort of sad, and a little relieved to see the end of a long road trip and glad to know that I will actually accomplish something that means so much to me. Here I lie on a sunny morning in July, on the grass amongst a field of wildflowers and fir trees next to a cool lake. I am 26 years old already, yet I don’t feel that old in my heart. I have my aches and pains from riding, but I still feel young and alive. I feel like a kid in a body that is not so kid like anymore. Family and friends someone my age to soon settle down to a career, yet I still have no desire for this. I wonder why and where the years have escaped me. I find it sad and lonely to see friends my age go off and get married. I feel left behind on my own private road through the passage of time. It is a strange thought to ponder, but the coast lies before me now and I must be off.

Now I have finally gotten to Florence. It was a 60 mile ride and I passed through the Coastal Range. I even went through a tunnel through a mountain. It was so hot on the road here, until I got within a few miles of the coast where the temperature seemed to drop some 20 degrees. I passed through areas near lumber mills and smelled an aroma similar to bananas. I guess it was cut cedar wood that had smelled so sweet.

I am sitting in a seafood restaurant, but I have ordered chicken. I wish they had a McDonalds or something. I think this might be another tourist town with high prices. I think I will go look for a grocery soon so that I can have some munchies when I get to the ocean that I hope to see shortly. I found a park and noticed that my carrier had lost a bolt, so I found part of an aluminum pop top, bent it, and used it as a twist tie, and temporarily fixing it.

I can’t handle this! I have been here in Florence over 4 hours and I have yet to find a way to the beach. Either the roads are closed or it says “Private Property”. I have about had it up to here with all this stupidity! I stopped and asked some girl in a grocery store if she knew where the nearest road that leads to the beach was. She told me to ride about 5 miles north and I should find a road accessible to the beach. After fighting a very strong cold wind from the north, I made my way to a state park which I saw a sign directing me to the beach. I turned into the road and found a hiker/biker camp that cost $1.00. I wanted to camp here because it was starting to get late, but more than anything I wished to see the Pacific Ocean before it got dark.

I pushed and road around the park until finally I came to a place where there was a walk way to the beach. I pushed my bike up to it and saw the ocean from a distance, but couldn’t find a good way down. The wind was cold and it was getting dark. I was starting to feel a bit sick and tired , so I rode back to the campsite.

Here at the campsite, I couldn’t find any showers, only a toilet and sink. I tried my best to wash up a little. I looked like a wild man. My hair is turning light blond, even my eyebrows. I think it looks awful. I was only here maybe 5 minutes, and a man walks in and asks me where i am headed. I said, “Hopefully to see the beach”. He told me the water temperature of the ocean was 45 degrees. that was too cold for me to swim in, but I still planned to get wet. he sort of looked like a park ranger.

At the campsite, they have this thing where you fill out this form and put it into an envelope along with the money and put it into a slot. There seems to be no one around to make sure this fee is paid and a sign says violators will be prosecuted. I am contemplating whether or not to pay the dollar. I am much too tired tonight. I will think about it in the morning.

Sunday, July 17, 2005

Wednesday. July 17, 1985

I got up rather late this morning. My tent is wet with dew. I don’t really know whether I want to go north or south to find the beach. I plan to wade in the ocean draw some pictures, get some stamped envelopes and post cards. After the disappointment of last night, I am now thinking of finding an airport and flying home. After my bike lost some bolts that attach the carrier, the aluminum ring of a pop can top is still holding. I would like to be able to take my bike home, sell it, or maybe even junk it. Time now to try to get down to the beach.

I left the campsite and reluctantly paid the $1.00 fee because I felt guilty not paying it. I headed north. I kept riding for about 5 miles or so and the road kept going uphill overlooking the rugged, rocky coast. I could see people walking on the beach down below, but for the life of me I could not find a safe way down there. I was feeling kind of desperate to walk down there, but I saw no way, unless I toss my bike down off the cliff and scale down myself. I kept riding north and was cursing in absolute frustration.

I met a tourist at the top of the hill taking pictures. I asked him how much farther north I had to go before I would find a road that led down to the beach. He said at least another 10 miles or more. Damn it!The road was pretty steep and I was mostly pushing now. I might as well climb down or ride through private property. I was going to get there somehow.

I decided to ride back downhill to the south and try that direction next. On the way back, I discovered a tiny dirt road just to my right. I rode down it and it took me right to the shore. I found it pretty hard to push through the sand. I pushed over the sand dunes and then down towards the waves. Finally! At long last! I guess symbolically this was something that I felt that I needed to do. I dunked my bike right into the cold waves of the Pacific. Sand was getting all over everything. I guess my quest has ended right here at this moment. I don’t think it was exactly the kind of moment that I had imagined, but what is? The wind was just too much. It was cold and strong and it was hard to keep my bike upright. I tried to use my shoe for something that my kick stand could rest on, but the wind just pushed it over into the water. I guess that me drawing a picture of my bike sitting upright was just wasn’t going to happen. No big deal I guess.

The tide started to come in now, so I pushed up into the sand dunes and got behind them to get out of the cold wind and maybe lie in the sun for a few moments. I didn’t stay long because I was so cold. When I made my way back to the road, I felt so hungry. I rode back to Florence to find a restaurant or something. I pulled into a pancake house and bought a big bowl of chili, a hamburger, fries, and a salad. It really wasn’t worth $5.00, but I was so hungry. I left looking for a post office but stopped at a store because I was still hungry. I bought a lime sherbet and a banana. A nice(very cute) blond guy who worked there told me where I could find the post office. I sat outside and ate the sherbet and the banana. At the post office I bought 10 stamped envelopes to mail letters I had written to my close friends. I met a husky voiced woman who said she used to be an army recruiter from Kentucky when I said I was from Kentucky.

Just outside, just as I was about to cross the street to find some paper to write on, I saw Chris and Rich riding in from Eugene. They said they never expected to see me again. I was elated!

We rode down to the Dairy Queen and they had dinner as I told them all that had happened since I had left them. I told them about my beach ordeal and that I was so tired. I decided to ride with them a few miles down the coast and camp with them. It would be nice to see the beach together with them.

After they ate, we rode to a campground near Dune City and found a nice place to set up our tents. It had gotten pretty chilly and Chris had gotten another flat tire. We set up our tents and found some good dry fir branches for a fire. Chris and I decided to to take a run down to the beach while Rich wrote in his journal.

As we got down there, we saw that the fog was rolling in and the wind was very strong. We took off our shoes and walked down the beach looking for shells. Later we decided to turn back and we found it very hard because the wind was pushing us back. We found a spot where the waves were washing in lots of shells and we waded out into the cold ocean to grab them. The cold finally got too much for us and we started back to camp. The wind chill was so cold that I could barely move my mouth or my fingers. when we found our shoes they were filled with sand and Chris had trouble tying his.

On the way back, we could barely see for the fog, but it seemed beautiful. Up ahead we saw two deer crossing the road and Chris was very surprised to see them this close to the ocean.

back at camp Rich had found more firewood, and then we discovered that there were no showers to be found. We were so cold that we finally made a fire. It started up just fine and Rich said it was called,”Serving the Kahoona”. We kept putting on bigger logs and replaced them as they burnt down. It was a nice toasty warm fire and they ate their supper over it.

We sat for hours talking and telling stories of past adventures. They finally went to their tent and I sat up and fell asleep curled up in front of the dying flames. I finally woke up and went to my own tent.

Monday, July 18, 2005

Thursday, July 18, 1985

We all woke up pretty early this morning and I knew for sure that this was the day I was to part company with my friends. We rode south down the coast towards Reedsport to have one last breakfast together. It was very foggy and wet with dew this morning just like yesterday. I really liked the fog because it reminded me of the magical foggy mornings when I would walk to school in Torrance California as a very young child. We passed a nice swampy, foggy lake with geese and water birds barely visible through the mist. The town of Reedsport looked like an old fishing town and I could imagine that they might even have a lighthouse somewhere. This was a lumber town with lots of saw mills and logging trucks everywhere. The banana smell of wood permeated the air.

We found some cozy little seafood restaurant and had a big breakfast. I was feeling a bit sad. I really didn’t want my trip to end. Even though my ass was sore with blisters from sitting so long and my legs and knees were sore a lot and I had gotten too much sun, I just didn’t want it to be over. I wish that I had more money and more time to ride south with Rich and Chris. The coast here is so beautiful, and Rich told me that it gets even better as you go south.

After our last meal together, we stood outside of the restaurant and said our goodbyes again. I stood there with my bike waving and watching them disappear on down the road on their way to San Francisco.

I stayed in town for a bit and found a chain of stores and bought Tony a t shirt with a picture of the Oregon coast on it. I bought some more post cards and a writing pad. I also found a laundry matt and washed up all my clothes. I sat here in the laundry for almost three hours writing letters to all my close friends. the lady who worked at the laundry was nice and wished me a nice journey back home.

After leaving the laundry, the aluminum pop top that was holding my carrier together was coming apart, so I had to find a hardware store to buy a nut and bolt. By now it was 1 PM and I was hungry again so I went to a grocery and bought some things in case I couldn’t find a store later. I bought some bread, bologna, canned soup, and a watermelon for $4.00. I sat out and ate part of it on the grass.

A girl who worked at the filling station was busy painting some sign told me where I could find a Post Office. I rode there and mailed the letters and then asked where a hardware store was. I found one and bought a nut and bolt to fix the carrier. I was getting tired of the clanging noise. After fixing my bike I rode east leaving Reedsport and the Oregon coast for good.

Here I sit on some picnic area catching up on my journal and it’s about 5 or 6 PM by now and very sunny and warm. I guess its about time to get back on the road again and head back towards Eugene to find out when I can book a flight home and call Mom again to get some more money out of my bank account by tomorrow.

When I reached a town called Elk Creek I called home. It was 10 PM her time and 7 PM my time. The sun was still pretty high in the sky and it was dark back home. It feels so strange that I went so far that it is still sunny here and it is dark there. I got things straightened out with the money situation to get home on. I walked across the street to get an ice cream and met an older lady with a rough voice. “You aren’t from around here are you?” No. “Hitchhiker? No. Biker then? Yes. “That’s even worse being in the hot sun. You like the coast? Like Oregon? The people?” Yes very much. I love it here. “Enjoy your stay young man.” She was very nice.

I decided that I would at least try to ride as far as the 50 mile marker. On the way I crossed a bridge and saw a big tunnel ahead. I went down to the water off the road and cooled off then rode through the tunnel. Oh man! It was kind of scary, especially when the big trucks come racing through and there isn’t much room to get over.

I finally came to a larger town called Drain. I saw an ice cream restaurant and got a cherry shake. Just as I was leaving, and riding up the street, some local drunk stopped me and began to talk wildly and asking the same questions over and over. He kept asking if I smoked. I told him no, but that I dipped tobacco.

I decided that maybe I should stay here for the night because it was getting pretty late. I managed to find a a park in town to camp for the night. On the way I crossed a bridge and three pretty young blond girls blew their horn at me from their car. They stopped me and asked where I was from and where I was heading. they gave me very good directions to the park. Feels strange to have girls blowing at me. It just doesn’t happen much. (Usually girls tend to ignore me. I think maybe they can sense when a guy is gay or showing some interest.) It did feel good to be noticed in that way.

After crossing a pedestrian bridge and going under a rail road bridge on a dirt road, I found the park. I saw the three nice girls waiting there for me.” I see that you found it.” one of them said. they started telling about this town and how very boring they found it. I can’t believe that there is another town where kids are as bored as my home town of Millersburg. After telling them that my home town didn’t have a pool,or ice cream shop, or nice park as this, or mountains nearby, or the ocean just a few miles away, they couldn’t believe a town that boring existed. I said that Millersburg is pretty much like that.

A guy in his mid twenties with long shaggy hair, no shoes, a dirty, came by and sat near us. I could tell these girls wanted no part of this guy and started to walk back towards their car. As one of them was walking away, this cute girl gave me a big invitation to come by and get a donut where she worked at in the morning.

When they drove off, I sat and talked to this guy for a long time and he kept claiming that he was crazy. He said he had been kicked out of his home five years ago from his home in Michigan and had hitchhiked around the country and had lived on the streets since then. he said he has survived by eating food out of trash cans and bumming food and money. I offered him some of my food, but he said he wasn’t hungry. I sat with him and listened to many of his stories as he listened to the ones I had living in Louisiana. he was a very nice guy, but just a bit lost in this world. He said he loves the freedom of living on the streets and that he doesn’t plan to ever change his situation in life. In some ways I feel very sorry and wished I could help, yet at the same time I envy the quality of freedom he has now.

It was getting very late and cool outside. A policeman came by to check things out. I asked if it were all right to camp here and he said it was okay. The policeman seemed like a really nice guy. Well me and Tom(the street kid) talked a while longer as I set up my tent. he said he was going to head off and crash on someone’s porch he had been sleeping on. I wished him the best of luck as he walked of into the darkness. I got into my sleeping bag and fell off to sleep and dreamed some wild dreams.

Tuesday, July 19, 2005

Friday, July 19, 1985

I woke up later than usual and heard the sounds of people swimming in the pool. I got up and packed everything and ate my chunky soup in a can for breakfast. I sat around and wrote a bit in my journal. It seems to be a nice sunny day so far and I will be heading off to Eugene, which is just 40 miles away.

I promised the nice blonde girl that I would stop by and buy one of their big donuts. I crossed a remodeled covered bridge that was made back in the 1800s for stage coaches passing through. Just past the bridge I saw the pizza place called “Dough and Stuff.” It was a nice, cozy, rundown looking place on the outside, but they served big, I mean the biggest, cinnamon rolls I ever ate. They were at least as big or bigger in diameter than a paper plate and 2 to 3 inches thick. It was so good and filling.

Two older women were eating at the next table over and were discussing school and children’s problems. They were talking about the bad effect that professional wrestling has on the youth. I suppose they might be teachers or something. What’s neat, or maybe a curse, is that everyone seems to know, or gets to know, everyone else’s business in town. Everyone appears to be so outgoing and friendly here, and most people that I have met here in Oregon are very nice.

As I was sitting there, one of the women offered me her newspaper to read. She showed me a big article about the Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh and his attempt to take over the world. ”All the other religions want to help the poor,” Rajneesh was quoted in the article, “but I want to strengthen the rich.” The guy is evil, no wonder Oregon is so mad at him.

Once I finished that big roll, I complimented the blonde girl on her great big cinnamon roll. The other girl working there said that she thought it looked like a big piece of cow shit.

I rode on towards Eugene and it was getting pretty hot again today. I went about 38 miles and ran into Interstate 5. Most of the road was good, but once I left the town of College Grove, the left side was only one lane and it had very little shoulder to ride on, so I pushed about 2 to 3 miles and got very hot and tired. On the way I saw lots of aluminum cans so I decided to collect a few just to see if stores in Oregon actually give you 5 cents per can. I pulled into a store in Saginaw and got a Popsicle and a stamped envelope. I was hesitant to ask about the deposit on the cans. I took a small road into the town of Creswell and found a supermarket there. I asked someone there if they actually pay 5 cents a can. “Yes we do. How many do you have?” I said six and got 30 cents and felt stupid for not gathering more. I bought a lime sherbet here. They really do hit the spot.

I got back on I-5 and rode on into Eugene. I hit one big hill and rode right past the park that was near North’s Chuck Wagon that I ate at a few nights ago. The guy at the desk recognized me from before and asked me where I was headed next. I said that I had been to the Pacific Ocean and was now ready to go home. I think it was amazing that he remembered that I was from Kentucky. I pigged out quickly and knew that I had to hurry and check on getting a plane ticket.

I found a telephone booth and checked the yellow pages. There were so many listings for airlines that I felt overwhelmed. I couldn’t decide who I should call. I walked into a grocery and asked someone if they knew a good airline to call. He knew just about as much as I did. I decided to call United and they said it would cost me $430.00. I couldn’t believe the price of that ticket. In absolute confusion, I called home. Mom told me to go to the airport and check out each one. I got off the phone and called Greyhound. They said it would cost me $142.00. It was a lot cheaper than the airline ticket, but not what I wanted. I rode all the way to the airport and a nice man from American Airlines checked his computer and found nothing in my price range. He did ask me about my trip and was nice enough to help me.

I got on my bike and rode back to town. I saw a Berean Christian Store and asked if they had anything to do with Berea College, where I went to school. Nope and they didn’t even know where the bus station was either. I kept riding west and found nothing, so I asked a woman walking down the street and she said to head back east towards town.

I finally found the Greyhound bus station and a nice guy told me it was $142.00 and that I could count my bike as one piece of luggage and I could have another one. Right then I decided it would be easier and cheaper if I were to take the bus. I got back on the phone and called home. Mom said she could send the $200.00 by noon her time, or 9 AM here. Well, I guess if all goes well, I can get up early, find the Western Union, then find a bike shop for a bike box, eat a big meal at North’s Chuck Wagon again, take apart my bike, and be on the bus by 3 or 4 in the afternoon. Only now, I am going to have to find a nice safe place to camp that is near enough so that I can leave on time tomorrow. My luck has been good so far. Maybe just one more night of this trip.

I found a park and sat at a picnic table and wrote my friend Rebel a letter. I finally decided it was dark enough to look for a place to camp and rode up a bike path. I found a small patch of trees and just parked my bike and camouflaged it with branches. I got out my sleeping bag and crawled in. There were a few mosquitoes and I wasn’t completely hidden from sight. I could be easily seen if people were walking this way, but I was hidden from the road. There were lots of bikes and people going by, but no one bothered me. I finally fell off to sleep.

Wednesday, July 20, 2005

Saturday, July 20, 1985

I woke up way before the sun came up and got packed quickly. Hopefully this was going to be my last day here. I went looking for a Western Union. I stopped at a McDonald’s. A cab driver gave me fairly good directions, except that I got lost. I finally found my way, and when I got there, I discovered that they wouldn’t be open until 10 AM. I will have to rush all morning if I want to leave by 1:00 and I have no idea what time it is now. I rushed to the south part of town after eating at the McDonald’s and asking a young server where I might find the 31 Oak Street Mall. She said that I had to retrace my tracks and go all the way back to the other end of town. On the way I saw a sign for Ferry Street Bridge and went off in that direction.

I finally made it to the mall and rode around it. I walked into a Winchel’ls Donuts place and asked directions to the Western Union. A customer finally told me it was near an insurance company under the stairs. The sign said that it wouldn’t open till 10.

I waited about an hour and bought a book and a can of Copenhagen. After the place finally opened, it didn’t take the guy long to punch in the names. This was a lot quicker than the other guy at Western Union in Idaho.

On the way to the bus station, I found a bike shop and they gave me a bike box. It was very awkward and bulky to carry on my bike, but somehow I managed to cart it those few blocks.

When I got to the Greyhound bus terminal, the guy told me that the fare would cost $160.00 something. I was shocked and said that I just talked to a guy twice yesterday and he said it would be only $142.00. Well this snotty man finally referred me to Trailways just around the block. I think they must be related or something. After cursing and partially dragging the box around the block, I found the Trailways. The price was $142.00 but they said they couldn’t get me to Lexington, Kentucky, till Wednesday night. I asked where I could get some tape and a young blond guy in his 30s referred me to a grocery a few blocks up the street.

At the grocery, a young, dark-haired clerk with a mustache was pretending to be a disk jockey, talking in a loud voice and announcing imaginary records he was playing. He was nice but strange. I bought two bananas, a candy bar and some packing tape. I rushed back, frantically put my box together, and in a state of anxiety began to tear my bike apart. I tugged and pulled, and sprayed WD-40, finally loosening nuts that I thought were immovable.

By 12:30 I had somehow managed to stuff my poor bike into the box. Now the trip felt violated, poisoned. My adventure reduced to the very type of travel I hate most. On my bike I felt different and special, but now with it stuffed in a box, that something special had died and maybe would never return.

I was reduced to just another face in the crowd. The sense of adventure had gone, fleeing on the wings of my guardian angel who retreated to only a memory of a dream. On the bus I felt as if part of my soul was injured.

I took my book and read most of the way as Oregon rushed past me. How long and tiring it had been to conquer the miles, but now within just a day, I was in Idaho.