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Best riding day of the trip

Arrived home Monday, January 15th. Total days away 18. Not bad for my first trip after retirement. My days in North Carolina were spent with Tammy and Rob Lathrop. I want to thank them again for their hospitality and company. Really was a great time with both of them.

Great smiles from an awesome couple.

I drove from NC to Damascus MD on Sunday. That was about a 9 hour drive with stops. I spent the evening with Jenny and Jenna Fitterer. We talked from 10:30 pm to 12:30 am and it felt like twenty minutes to me! Jenny and I had a cup of coffee together in the morning and she showed me her craft production facility. Very impressive.
The final drive was 5 hours from Damascus to Ithaca. Velocity above the speed limit is probable. Made the trip without incident despite the poor weather conditions.

Myriah came over with a lasagna that tasted delicious. Jacob, Zach, Myriah, Baxter, Juno and I hung out the first evening. Tuesday was spent unpacking and completing errands. Tuesday evening Alice treated me to a nice dinner at Antlers. Really was a trip back in time eating there. I felt like we were on a high school date. :)

Today, is more catch up and cleaning. I have a semi clean desk to work on and plan to clean up the rest of our basement man cave. This will take more than a few days.

Trip Report card

I've been contemplating how I did on this adventure and decided to give myself grades in various categories:

• Perseverance - A
• Attitude - B
• Social Interactions - A
• Introspection - C
• Safety - A
• Personal Hygiene - C
• Camping/Cooking skills - D
• Mountain Biking skills - C
• Route guidance - C
• Organization / Packing - D
• Videography - Incomplete (max grade D)
• Blogging - C

Perseverance

My trip was 18 days long in some serious cold. There were days that it was colder in the South than it was in Ithaca. If the weather was above 20 degrees I rode. It wasn't until I saw the forecast for this week that I decided to come home. 

Attitude 

Overall, I kept a positive attitude. I wish I had thought of hiking more than I did but I don't believe there was ever a day that I felt like giving up and heading home. The trip was enjoyable and most of the experiences very positive. Didn't give myself an A because I could have been more excited.

Social Interactions 

Met quite a few wonderful folks during my trip. Several are following me on Strava and also plan to come visit me in Ithaca. 

Introspection 

I really didn't do much conscious soul searching and I haven't really achieved "inner peace", so I don't have that going for me. I do feel better being home right now so I may have gained some measure of joie de vivre that I have been missing the last few months. My talks with Tammy were probably the closest I had to coming to terms with losing and missing Sandy. Tammy and I both agreed that Caroline and Sandy would rather we were happy and doing. Both women would not approve wallowing in grief and being unproductive. The losses are painful but remembering all the positive, and happy times is so important even if it makes us cry as I am doing now. Keep doing, that's my motto.

Safety 

Only two minor falls and no damage to vehicles. Calling that a win.

Personal Hygiene

On the really cold days in Chattanooga living and sleeping out of the truck, I didn't change my clothes as much as I should. I did use the YMCA two of the days so I guess I did ok.

Camping/Cooking skills

Never cooked outside because of the cold. Did great sleeping in the back seat of the truck even during single digit temperatures.

Mountain Biking skills

I didn't gain many skills as I was more interested in not getting hurt. Should have practiced wheelies and manuals more than I did. 

Route Guidance

I first gave myself a D but changed it to a C. The Garmin sucked for route guidance but that could have been me. I need to do more research on putting trails in the garmin. My phone did well except for Raccoon Mtn. So a C for turning around and retracing my route. Wanted to keep my A in safety!

Organization / Packing

The back of my truck was a mess. Near the end I couldn't find anything and just threw stuff willy nilly into containers! I brought too much with me and didn't have items sorted out like I should. I spent an extra day in the hotel just because I didn't want to repack the truck! I need to do a better job at packing. This will require more thought and research.

Videography 

My older laptop was acting up and I wasn't quite ready to move the editing program to my other laptop. I do have some footage and I plan to make a short film of the trip soon. The guys making a living from youtubing earn their money.

Blogging 

I can do better. Practice and more writing will help. Hope some of you enjoyed my rambling prose.

Keep the rubber side down.