Time and Money

It would be a lot jazzier to say that George and I were going to cut our trip short because of... I don't know -- swine flu in Mexico, or forest fires in Santa Barbara perhaps. But, yes, we are going to cut it short, and no, those are not the reasons. The reasons are time and money.

We lost almost a week in the beginning, hanging out in Vancouver waiting on George's bike to arrive. Since then, we've had a few rain days when it was just too nasty out to ride. Unfortunately neither the clock nor the cost stopped running when those things happened. And George has to be back to work in Williamsburg on the 20th of May. We won't make it to Mexico by then.

We've also had to face the fact that the budget for this trip has run out. I've always been one to try to squeeze every penny I could out of a dollar. But our budget calculations were off by quite a bit for this trip, it turns out. There haven't been as many $40-$50 motels as I was told there would be. And for some reason, George and I are eating a lot! So, we're spending about 50% more per day than we planned.

As a result of all of this, George and I have decided that we can feel okay about making San Francisco our final destination, at least for now. We have about a week. We're feeling strong. And the weather forecast is pretty decent. We're in Northern California, and we should be able to make it at our current pace of about 60-70 miles a day on average.

I'm tempted to be upset. ("Why do things like time and money have to have so much power over our lives?!"). Another part of me is relieved. (Been having nightmares about climbing Big Sur! -- well, almost). But, I have to admit, as great an adventure as this has been and continues to be, I'm about ready to be home for a while, be with Carolyn, sleep in my own bed -- and yes, not have to climb any more mountains on a bike for a while.

I haven't blogged here for several days, so there are a million little things I haven't shared. Biking the coast of Oregon was an amazing experience. I LOVE OREGON! Just when we thought we had seen "the mother of all coastal Oregon views," the next day we would see something just as or even more gorgeous. The pinnacle just might have been on our last full day in Oregon when we rode through Humbug Mountain State Park along the coast and through the coastal mountains of the park. It didn't hurt that the roads were I, with nice wide margins for bikes -- and that they had been swept of the winter's sand, which was not true everwhere. But the views were absolutely spectacular, from the many rock stacks just off the coast, to the deep blue of the Pacific water, to the wide sandy beaches and rocky cliffs, to the mountain streams and waterfalls making their way into the ocean -- not to speak of the birds and other wildlife speaking to you from the forests -- one surprising thing after another.

I definitely found lots of joy on that ride -- and on so many others,
too, during our ten (or was it eleven?) days in the state. I feel so
lucky to have a daughter and son-in-law now living there (Duncan, of
course, is a native), so I'll definitely have excuses to return!

So, with all of this, how can I possibly be disappointed? Time and
money can't take away that kind of joy.i