Date: Oct. 9, 2009
From: Ferguson, Missouri (Northern Suburb of St. Louis)
To: Ferguson, Missouri
Miles Today: 0 miles
TOTAL MILES: 2,367 MILES
Top Speed on this trip: 54.1 mph
Weather: Pouring Again
License Plates Collected: 5 Montana, 8 Wyoming (2 motorcycle) and 1 Idaho (found in WY), 2 Colorado, 1 Kansas (gifted from David of Baldwin City). 1 Missouri (To be sent to Grammy’s by our new buddy, Kansas City firefighter Shawn)
Flats: 7
Broken Spokes: 2
The weather sort of dictated our day today but that was OK because our computer started acting up last night and we needed to make a visit to the Apple Store at the St. Louis Galleria Mall and it also gave us an opportunity to run some errands including a trip to REI. Blue and her husband Craig are riding the Katy Trail next week and Blue needed rain gear and we were more than happy to accompany her to REI, one of our favorite stores.
On the drive Gregory said something that just really made me stop and think. It seemed rather poignant. We were driving along and he said, "You can get places faster in a car but I feel like I'm not moving." Wow. After all of these miles on a saddle and using his own power to propel himself across the United States, being in a car made him feel like he wasn't moving at all. On the bike we are in constant motion and we make the miles happen. Their is a great sense of satisfaction in that. It really feels odd to stop in one place for several days and use a car for transportation. The convenience of having a car is really nice and the stop is a much needed rest but we feel a bit stagnant when we are in the habit of riding every day and then we don't for a few days.
Even with an appointment at Apple, they spent 2 hours trying to diagnose our computer and then we still ended up having to leave it with them for the day. They ended up having to scrub our computer clean and reinstall. The good thing was that we upgraded to the snow leopard operating system and fixed the problem but the negative is that now I need to reinstall Microsoft Office and the discs are back home in California. They didn't finish until about 7 P.M. and by that time we weren't feeling like going out again. We'd pretty much decided to extend our stay with Blue and Craig at this point anyhow. We originally thought if the weather was good Saturday morning Blue and Craig would ride with us the 20 miles out to the Arch and send us on our way into Illinois. Now, with our computer situation and their schedules we will stay and do this Monday morning. I'm happy it worked out the way it did because the company is great and we are looking forward to watching Blue perform this weekend.
We got a taste of Blue's musical talent this evening when we attended a practice session in the living room. Craig broke out his drum, their friend Brian played his guitar and Blue played her guitar, mandolin, flute and Irish whistle. Craig brought out some shakers for Gregory and we had a relaxing evening filled with music. It was just what I needed after a day back amongst cars and shoppers. I'm telling you I feel almost uncomfortable in a mall now. It is hard to explain but I feel so removed from the lifestyle of accumulating things that I feel odd in that environment.
Another observation today was just how quickly Gregory migrated to the iTouch at the Apple Store. He and Blue were exploring the different games on the iTouch while they waited on Mike and I. Gregory was having so much fun that he was terribly disappointed when we had to leave. It really got me thinking about how addicting these hand held devices can be for kids and how quickly they can tune you out. I want Gregory to be computer savvy but I also want him to be present. This is one reason we chose not to bring an iPod. We want him listening to the rustle of the leaves, birds, cicadas, cows and other sounds of the road and to be interacting with us rather than tuned out with the iPod. Mike and I both love music but just felt this was the right choice for our trip and it has been a good one. Gregory's imagination has been active and I can hear him behind me making up adventures as we pedal along.
After we'd picked up Craig from work and been home to drop off groceries everyone decided to go to the bike shop to pick up our tire (that was in for the spoke repair) and then go to ice cream. I opted to stay home and rest and awoke to my son holding an ice cream for me. More specifically I awoke to pumpkin pie concrete! What is pumpkin pie concrete? It is this decadent frozen custard with chunks of pie crust mixed in. I thought I was being so good not going out to ice cream but I had no problem eating every last bit of this! I'll be dreaming about this heavenly concoction for a while.
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