Spring 1997 - Cincinnati to Yukon
Journals - 7 May 1997
Day 37 - Traverse City, MI
7 May 1997 (sunny and warm; clouds -- late PM; mileage = 25.7) -- A - I
woke up 30 this morning. I kept going back to sleep to try again, but I
kept waking up 30! Finally we got up, even though it was really cold. (I
think it went down to 30 degrees in my honor -- water bottles were
semi-frozen -- guess in that case, I'm glad I'm not 20!) We got to do some
hill climbing and then down a really huge hill. Top speed: 36 mph! Of
course, I was completely blind due to the tears pouring from my eyes, but
it was fun anyway and it was the descent into Traverse City. We stopped at
the post office to mail letters and buy stamps and toured a little. We
found the camping store and Chris got the stove base and a baby MSR bottle
and #2 OR cell so the fuel can go on my bike with the rest of the cookware
and the pump will be protected. We found a hotel and set out on foot for a
Mexican restaurant -- after a shower and clean clothes, of course! It was
further than anticipated so we decided to walk back and get the bikes. We
found a bakery thrift store where we stocked up on some high cal/low $
food. We stripped the bikes and flew back toward the Mexican place. We
dropped off our film and found our restaurant. We both got absolutely
stuffed and then set out for another bike store (in search of a Jandd trunk
bag, so Chris can stop wanting it). They didn't have what we wanted, but I
did find out we're a day behind a couple on a tandem towing their dog.
Someone told me a couple days ago he'd seen them -- we must be catching up.
We went downtown and checked out the few stores that were still open (5-6
was the cutoff and we got there at 5). Yes, Chris, it was goofy, touristy
stuff, but I wanted to look at it anyway! I did find a little set of rubber
stamps to send my mother. We came back to the room and got ready to go
swimming -- in the OUTDOOR pool! The clerk assured me it's heated and not
too cold to swim in. I'd wanted an indoor pool and a jacuzzi, but this
outdoor pool and sauna seemed OK, too. We went and put in a load of laundry
and then hit the pool. It was getting quite cool outside and hard to
believe this would be a pleasurable experience, but we were both game. It
felt great! The water was 97 degrees and steam was just pouring from the
pool. We played in the there and then got in the sauna. Then time to change
the laundry around. I wanted soda and brought $s to put in, but there was a
dollar jammed in there, which I got out! Free soda! Only the second soda I
tried to get wouldn't come out, so I only got a quarter free and no second
soda! Oh well. We pooled some more and sauna'd and decided it was time for
another shower, so we went out in the 41-degree air, soaking wet, back to
the room. We showered, finished the laundry, had some coffee from the
lobby, looked at (and Chris labeled) our pictures, had a snack and are
close to being ready for bed.
So gosh, I'm 30 years old. (Chris got me a compass, by the way, let's see
if I can improve my sense of direction.) Do I feel any different? Not
really. Not yet anyway. I guess I feel antsy to get on with my life and DO
something productive, but that's pretty vague. What does feel different is
that I'm naked right now and I'm really WARM!! It's nice to be warm. I am
really tired of being cold every morning and night. That is definitely the
part of this trip I'd change if I could. X - Not me! My memory is too good.
The only thing worse than a hot, humid, sweaty, bug-infested night of
camping is ... there is nothing worse! So I'm glad the mosis (mosquitoes?)
are on ice for now. It does get mighty cool sometimes, though.
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