Mennonites rock my world...

I know, I know... I disappear for a week and suddenly Mennonites?? Honestly, I know next to nothing about Mennonites; it's just that the international guest house that I'm staying at in D.C. right now is run by Mennonite volunteers, and it's very homey and nice. We had tea and cookies at 9p.m. tonight, and chatted with one another and yes, it was lovely.
So, wow... it's been a while. I guess I posted once while on the trail from Pittsburgh to Washington, D.C., but that was brief and relayed no details whatsoever. However... I have neither the time nor the inclination to fill you in on all the great stories right now. Plus, you know, I have to leave something for the book ;-).
Some highs, then, and some lows, in brief:
I left Pittsburgh last Wednesday. I fell on the trail around 7:30p.m., and scraped and bruised myself up a bit--I still have a huge bruise on my left thigh--but still decided to try to bike 17 miles to the next town. Since it got dark early (with the leafy canopy overhead), I ended up biking for a while in the humid dark. Every time I stopped to look at a map, my glasses fogged up. At one point, a huge insect (I'm assuming...) hit me in the neck. It felt like a bird, but I sort of doubt it. Anyway, that night, I ended up setting up my tent directly on the trail. It was one of my rougher nights.
The next day, I rode over a small mountain to go see Falling Water, a fairly famous Frank Lloyd Wright house. Pretty awesome. That night I hung out with Bob, who was biking from D.C. to Pittsburgh--I think I mentioned that in my last entry.
The following day--we're at Friday now, I believe?--I crossed both the continental divide, putting me officially in the east, and the Mason-Dixon line, putting me officially in the south. That night I stayed in Frostburg, MD, which invovled going up many steep hills. My lasting impression of the town wasn't one of friendliness. As I was walking my bike up the main drag in town, checking the town out, a girl--roughly my age--actually asked me if I had a staring problem. Apparently because I was looking at her side of the street? Elsewhere, my smiles were met in kind, but there, they were seemingly met with suspicion. I also got shouted at in an unfriendly manner by people in passing cars. More than once. I got the distinct impression that it was not cool to be a young woman with very short hair, wearing no makeup, and riding across the country by herself--but maybe I'm being paranoid?
Either way... Saturday I passed through Cumberland, MD, where the Great Allegheny Passage ends, and the C & O Canal towpath begins. I stopped at a farmer's market in town, and a coffeeshop as well. It was a neat little town to pass through. I spent the night at one of the (free!) hike & bike campsites along the C& O with a Girl Scout troop.
Sunday, I biked all day... and spent the night at another of those neat campsites that they had every five to ten miles along the canal... No company that night, though.
Monday, the C & O Canal towpath intersected the Appalachian trail for about 3 miles, and I ended up hanging out with a hiker for a while. Her trail name is Topo, and in addition to the book I'll be writing about my trip, I think I'm going to write a Choose Your Own Adventure story called "The Adventures of Topo and Zem" or maybe just "Topo and Zem," so, stay tuned for that as well.
After she and I parted ways, I got about 3 miles before deciding to take cover under a bridge for a storm. Unfortunately, the storm proved more than the bridge could provide cover for. Luckily, once the storm was over, I found a nice fisherman, who drove me to a motel. Because of the storm, when I got there, the motel had no electricity, and no running water (yeah, it was an intense storm--more details in the book!). So, I went to bed, and some time in the middle of the night, power was restored.
This morning, I got back on the trail. For maybe half a mile, everything was fine. Then there were some tree branches, which I surmounted easily enough... Then some trees... I had crossed, with increasing difficulty, maybe five or six obstacles (trees) on the path, when finally, I got to a stretch of maybe fifteen or twenty feet that was entirely covered in trees and branches. That's when I resigned myself to going back the way I came.
Yet again, nice people came my way, and drove me further down the trail, past the wreckage, which is how I now come to be sitting at this computer, clickity-clackety at the keyboard... pretty ready for bed.
Tomorrow I'm going to check out the D.C. stuff that one should check out, and hopefully have lunch or something with my friend Becka, and then... I'm going to take a train to Philadelphia. Don't be too disappointed--I'm not--It's hot, and I'm ready for a break. But!! Don't worry! There will be more adventures, and more stories--I promise.
I'll keep you posted. In the meantime, be well.

Meyersdale, PA

This'll be a quick update, because I'm still hoping to make it about 15 more miles today, which should put me on the east side of the eastern continental divide. My thoughts are scattered about...
Last night I camped in Confluence, PA, and ended up hanging out with Bob, who was heading from D.C. to Pittsburgh. We have tentative plans to bike in Nova Scotia this fall. We shall see.
I've had tons of experiences over the past couple days, some good, some bad, but of course, the bad makes for better stories. I think I'll have to write a book.
Sorry for the lack of details. Next time, more details. And, you know... stay tuned for that book.

Pittsburgh, cont.

Alright, Bob, Shana... this one's for you. ;-)
Tuesday: woke up, Pittsburgh. rode: several miles around city.
Wednesday: woke up... unsure how many miles rode as of yet.
Okay, maybe that's not quite what you're looking for, but I'll see what I can do in the future. One of the reasons that I haven't been posting my milage is that I don't have a cycle-computer, which would easily tell me my milage. But according to my maps, I've been averaging maybe 55 miles a day.
Last night, I had dinner with Janet and Marty, friends of my friends, David and Terry, and two of Janet and Marty's friends, Wendy and Warrick. I then spent the night here, at J & M's, and am currently supposed to be checking out the weather forecast. What I can see from the window does not look promising, but it's not actually pouring yet. I will be checking the weather forecast soon.
Despite the heat, I've been having a great time in Pittsburgh. It's very hilly, but this makes for fantastic views of the valley, and a challenge to find less steep hills to bike (even going down them, in the city, is a pain in the ass, because it involves more hard braking than anything else). Not that I've been doing a ton of biking. Yesterday, I biked downtown, where I checked out the courthouse, because it had interesting plaques--including one of the ten commandments. I was very amused to see that the part about not coveting your neighbor's wife also included other things that you're not supposed to covet, like his ass. So I took a picture.
Yes, I did bring a digital camera, and yes, I am taking pictures, which I would love to share, but alas, I have no current way of posting anything. Forthcoming eventually, I promise.
I've been reading a lot (Misfortune, by Wesley Stace), which reminds me, I should update my goodreads.com, and hanging out with people from couchsurfing.
Today, I will either head out on the trail that connects Pittsburgh to D.C., or be postponed by thunderstorms. Until next time...

For whatever reason, this computer doesn't want to let me type in a title for this post, but it would be: Hills and Heat.

They both sort of showed up at once. It's ninety here, now, in Pittsburgh, and is going to be tomorrow as well. I got here last night, after a long day in the saddle. At one point I took a 45-minute nap in the shade of a tree on some country club property.
If this post is lacking my customary exuberance/oozing good feeling, it's not because I've lost good feelings... it's more like they've gotten lethargic in the heat.
Today is a definite rest day. I'm staying with Kelly and Bill of couchsurfing, yet more awesome people. They also have some adorable animals. After they left their house today, I was lying around looking at the local paper for shtuff to do, and Lois, their cat, came and curled up with me, and we ended up taking a two-hour nap. She's so sweet, and she makes me miss Fred and Clovis even more than I already do.
As far as hills go... they are great great fun to zoom down. Not so much fun to climb up. I feel like I've been running x-country, and all of a sudden someone said, "Okay, you're still going to go long-distance, but now we want you to sprint!" My legs are definitely getting more of a workout than they had been.
So... like I said, today is a rest day. I don't know if I'll be able to summon enough energy to go tomorrow, as the weather is supposed to be the same as today. However, then the heat is supposed to break a bit on Wednesday. We shall see.
Send cool thoughts my way! And as always, thanks for your comments and encouragement.

Cleveland Heights, OH

I feel like my heart has been incredibly open since I started my journey, with lots of love flowing in and out, like oxygen... must be all the exercise I'm getting :-).
Last night I spent the night with some awesome people that I found through couchsurfing.com. Their house is called The Groovy Bungalow, and they're the epitome of good people. I only wish we could have hung out longer, but I feel certain that we'll keep in touch, and maybe share some adventures down the road.
Not to get all sappy on you, but last night, finally going to sleep in a stranger's comfortable guest bed, I felt so full of warmth and light that it was almost hard to sleep... for a minute, and then I crashed hard, as someone who's been biking all day should.
I feel like everywhere I go, I run into Good People. It's a testament to the fact that if you put out good energy, it will return to you, and then some. Riding along, I could choose to see the faces that stare at me as unfriendly, but I suspect they're mostly just curious, and when I smile and wave at them, they smile back.
I've had plenty of people ask, "Aren't you afraid to travel alone?" but I've had just as many say, "It's awesome that you're doing this/ I'm so excited for you/ I wish I could do that," and to them I say, "You can! You should!"

I think I've decided to head to Pittsburgh from here, and then to D.C., and from there to Philadelphia.

Vikash, Lilia, Alvin, and Laura--you rock! Take care!
Tom and Carol--thanks again for everything! You went above and beyond and then some...

Maumee, OH

This is going to be a quick post, because I'm hanging out with people and don't want to be lame and anti-social too long... also, I'm having a great time hanging out with Dana and her friends, Pooka, Louise, and Liz. They're awesome. I also got to see Andy and Phillaine during my time here. Dana's parents have been amazing, and I've had more than 24 hours off of my bicycle. I also saw fireworks last night.
Like I said, quick post, just to let y'all know that I'm well and still alive. Back on the road tomorrow!

Defiance, OH

Again last night, I biked into the night... This time I was with Von, though, who scored us a free room at the Defiance Inn in Defiance, Ohio, by offering a donation receipt in exchange. However, the woman at the gas station, Mary, who Von stopped to ask directions of, was like, "Why on earth would you want to go there? They couldn't pay me to stay there." Apparently this place was really sketchy, in a bad part of town. Mary racked her brain, made a phone call, and scored us a place to stay with this awesome couple, Kasey and Bilal.
We pitched our tents in their yard, took hot showers, ate, and stayed up way too late, sharing pictures and stories. Bilal recently returned from two weeks in Israel, so we got to both hear about that and see photos.
They also clued me in to the fact that I could take a direct route to Maumee, which would be about as long as the trek to Bowling Green. Seeing as how that's where Andy and Dana will actually be, that's the plan.
Thanks Mary! Thanks Kasey and Bilal! You rock!

Monroeville, IN

This city is amazing. But let me first recap the last several days.
The family that I stayed with in Momence rocked. Friday morning, they drove me to Iroquois to pick up the Norther Tier Route, where I met Von. I saw his bike and trailer outside a local pub, so I walked in to introduce myself and see where he was going. We greeted one another like old friends, both of us belonging to the secret society of brightly colored jerseys and tight black shorts... He's biking from Iowa City to Washington, D.C., in honor of his mother, who died of cancer earlier this year. Get your colon checked!
We biked together Friday, and camped in Buffalo, IN. It was nice to have company, and he brought a travel guitar, so we joined a campfire and sang some songs. Saturday we biked together for about 50 miles, and then I broke off the trail to join Betsy, Debbie, their families, and Shana, for a hog roast. Oh yeah, you read that right. I ate way too much food, and passed out early. Sunday morning though, I woke up fairly early, and chatted with Betsy's mom, who is also a cyclist, as is Betsy's stepdad. Then I went for a swim in the lake, which was fabulous.
Eventually, I said my goodbyes, and Shana drove me and my bike back to the route, stopping for brunch along the way. She dropped me off around 2pm, and I got to bike through this amazing state forest... I could have spent a lot longer there, but my legs were well-rested and itching to pedal. I had decided that there was no way I was going to make it to Monroeville last night, since it was 68 miles away, and I got such a late start... but then at some point I decided I could do it... and I did, though I did spend the last eight or nine miles biking in the dark. There was still a sliver of orange on the western horizon...
So, on my map, it said there was a free, indoor shelter for cyclists, with a shower and washer/dryer in the city park. I located said shelter, but it was locked, and my cell phone didn't have reception, so I couldn't call the numbers listed on the building. But, as luck would have it, a van pulled up next to the park, and was kind of lingering. I walked over, and asked if they happened to be people who could let me into the lodge.
"We're on the park board!"
Sweeter words, my ears have never heard.
So, I spent last night in this shelter, where I took a nice hot shower, did a load of laundry, and slept in.
This morning, I unloaded 7lbs, 3.5oz. at the post office (doesn't sound like I got rid of a baby?). I spent some time at Monroeville News, chatting with Lois and waiting for the library to open at noon. Oh, and I ran into Von again, who's also currently updating his blog/internetting!
I love this town.
I'm probably going to leave today, but make it a short day of biking. I should be able to reach Bowling Green by Tuesday afternoon/evening, but I have not managed to make contact with Andy or Dana yet...
So, Von is taking a route from Cleveland to Pittsburgh to D.C. I'm leaving that as a possiblity, depending on how I feel when I reach Cleveland. Otherwise, it's all the way to Bar Harbor, ME, before heading south to Philly.
I'm having an amazing time! I feel so lucky to be able to do this, and encourage anyone thinking about doing something similar. It's incredible, and I want to thank everyone who has offered positive feedback along the way.
Keep the comments coming, and call me! I'll try to return calls as my reception permits.