My favorite time of night. The bars are just shut and all the
happy/horny couples head for bed. Groups of failed hook-ups laugh off
their failure as they wait for the bus. Then, there he is, the lonely
loser walking home alone. No one will ever miss him.
His fancy shoes clip
clop unsteadily down the empty sidewalk. My sneakers squish in the
last remnants of the earlier rain, but he’s to drunk to hear or
care.
Then I curse myself.
A nearly silent electric car passes me and slows near my meat. He
stumbles in. God, I hate Uber!
Road the bike to Enterprise in Rehoboth to pick up the rental car. It was hot, but the ride was much easier than last week’s hillfest.
10/3/19
to 10/6/19
Bad stress and depression. Nothing to write.
10/7/19
– Feeling Better
Today, I have words in my head and they made it all the way to my fingers. We are in Virginia.
I’ve driven in most of the states. So it is with some authority when I say that Maryland has the worst drivers in the country.
10/8/19
– Somewhere in Virginia
Two days ago we were in the North. Now everyone is saying y’all. The amount of change in so few miles is startling.
10/9/19
– Lost in VA
My sense of direction was off today. I kept making wrong turns. Not sure why.
We did eventually arrive at the correct campground. A KOA at King’s Dominion amusement park, which is closed for the season. The amusement park, not the campground.
Abigail got to meet an army of Totos. She ran at them, barking. Then got nose to nose with the bravest of the four little dogs. Then they both just kind of wandered off. She’s so viscous.
We’re finally near roads with big wide shoulders so I’m hoping for a good bike ride tomorrow.
Last night I dreamed I was in Worcester, standing on a corner wearing a shark costume. Pat drove up in Dad’s old Chevy Impala wagon and asked me what I was advertising. I didn’t know so I woke up.
Speaking of Dad, my sister Mary found a six-pack of his old favorite cheap beer, Black Label. In his memory I bought myself a six of my favorite cheap beer, Mickey’s. Yes, the one with the picture puzzles under the caps. Yee Haw!
10/10/19
– Bad Hip
It seems I hurt my hip when I tripped over the gas hose yesterday. I wasn’t able to ride my bike because it was pulling on all the wrong muscles. It didn’t hurt that much but I figured I should take it easy. Getting old sucks.
Many more people came to the campground today. Turns out the amusement park is open Friday-Sunday.
10/11/19
– Virginia Beach
We were here late last October but it is much warmer now. It’s a biker weekend so the campground is full of angry old men grasping the ghosts of their youth. Makes we want to join them.
10/12/19
– Virginia Beach Beach
I had a good bike ride this morning. Ten miles.
Then we went out to lunch and to the beach. We took Pat’s scooter. She road up and down the boardwalk while Tonya and I played in the accessible playground. Last year it was cold and we had it to ourselves. This year it was covered in kids.
10/13/19
– The last Sunday
I overheard a conversation while riding today. It seems that Columbus Day is the last day for most of Virginia Beach. Nearly everything seasonal will be shut on Tuesday.
10/14/19
– VB Squished Pennies
We ventured out today in search of squished pennies. This task has become much easier since Pat found a website that lists where the machines are and what designs they provide.
Other than that I got a pile of writing done.
10/15/19
– North Carolina
If the North Carolina Welcome Center wasn’t closed for renovations we would have gone to a different WalMart.
10/16/19
– Cotton Comes to Enfield
We are at a camp on a dinky back road outside Enfield North Carolina. Looking at the road on the map you would not, and I did not, expect much traffic. The trucks are constant, day and night. Something weird is going on around here. Unfortunately the roads are too narrow and busy for bike riding.
The local news suggests it’s the late cotton crop. Seems there aren’t enough people to handle the harvest. Something about immigrants being scared away by ICE raids.
PIX
Dad’s favorite cheap beer
My favorite cheap beer
Nothing says “camping” like having a manhole cover in the middle of your spot
Her face looked like carved marble but was soft as cotton. My pursuit
of her was pure folly. She wasn’t just out of my league, she was
playing a completely different game.
I was drunk and
barely coherent when I saw her at the bar, sitting alone, and went
over to ask her out. It took a couple tries before she understand
what I was trying to say. She took my phone out of my pocket and
entered her number.
My friends tried to
convince me to wait to call her. I ignored them. We went to dinner
that night.
Checkout time is 11AM. Pat was the first one awake, at 10:20AM. Rush, rush, rush. We were only a few minutes late out the gate, but now we’re all exhausted.
We stopped at a WalMart which turned out to be in New Jersey. The problem with that is they charge you $6.50 to leave New Jersey. Cause nobody would pay to get in.
9/26/19
– Fixins
I fixed a couple things around the RV today. Got some errands done online. Pat did some cleaning. It’s not all fun and games in the big yellow truck.
9/27/19
– Amish Country
We’re in New Holland PA. Just east of Intercourse. We saw buggies and honor-system produce stands and lots of hefty women in long skirts doing yard work. And big horses. Like, can pull down a barn all by themselves big.
Because of the nice weather the campground is full and we are stuck on the back lot which can only be reached by going the wrong way down a one way street. No cable or wifi on the back forty, just drainage ditches and darkness.
9/28/19
– Black Vultures
Walking Abigail in the woods today we were swooped upon by what I thought were giant crows or ravens. We weren’t being attacked. They just wanted to scare us away. Turns out the birds were black vultures. They have five foot wingspans and tiny heads. A bit smaller than turkey vultures but way cooler-looking.
9/29/19
– Intercourse
We drove through Intercourse PA today. My inner teenager insisted.
9/30/19
– Yo Yo Weather
We are in a strange place. Rather than a continuous temperature arc, it wanders up and down all day and night. Dress in layers, y’all.
10/1/19
– October
The summer is gone. The month of my birth is here. We are in Delaware. Not far from where the rest of my family had a get-together last year. I couldn’t make it then. Bad timing.
Seriously, we are at the Sodom Mountain Campground. Pat has yet to turn into a pillar of salt. That means a lot to me.
I tried climbing the mountain but only made it about half way up. Above that the trails were too steep and loose rocky for me.
Next stop Gomorrah Valley?
9/20/19
– Hopewell Junction
Hopewell Junction is not a town. It is a “hamlet” within the town of East Fishkill, which is of course, just east of Fishkill New York.
9/21/19
– Writing Day
Got a whole bunch of writing done today. Perfect day for a bike ride but no safe roads around.
Pat is making pumpkins.
Abigail complains that we aren’t feeding her enough but the vet says she’s a good weight.
I’ve been sitting in this chair for too long.
9/22/19
– Pennsylvania
We are in Stroudsburg Pennsylvania. No two people pronounce it the same. When you point that out they all say that they pronounce it correctly and the other people must be from New Jersey. New Jersey is two miles away.
The woman checking people in at the campground is extremely bored and makes jokes to pass the time. The old couple in front of me were not amused. She was so happy when I joked back.
9/23/19
– Bonking
Went for a long bike ride today. Too long. I had to change my route due to poor road conditions. This happened a couple times and added many miles to my trip. Oh yeah, 90 degrees. In addition the hills were again much larger than Google Maps suggested.
I finally got to the bike trail I was aiming for and it was wonderfully flat. For the first five miles. Then it was a nightmare of impossibly steep hills with horrible surface. The trail was dirt, covered by gravel, covered by moss, covered by rotting leaves.
When I got back to the paved road it leveled out a bit, but I was so worn out it took me over an hour to go the last five miles. Such fun.
9/24/19 – Rest Day
Took a day off to nap and do nothing.
PIX
Ice cream truck in a childless campground
Someone ignored the no grills on the wooden table rule
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