Home Sweet Home

We're home! (Well, we've actually been home for a week, but I'm just now getting around to writing our Welcome Home post.) The final week of our trip (a.k.a. The Week of the Rental Car) was as relaxing and air-conditioned as we'd hoped it would be. We were so happy to be rid of the bikes! And better yet, we were super happy to spend so much time with friends in our final week on the road.

From Cleveland, our first stop was Niagara Falls. Truth be told, I thought Niagara Falls was going to be one huge, over-rated tourist trap. And it is swarming with tourists, but it's also totally awesome! Instead of riding the Maid of the Mist boat, we took an elevator down to the base of the falls and walked around on a series of observation platforms that led us ever closer to the falls. The final platform is called the "Hurricane Deck," and it's so close to the falls that when I walked onto it, the force of the water felt like it could knock me off my feet!

After Niagara Falls, we spent a day driving south and visiting two of Doug's Peace Corps friends who live in Pennsylvania. Matt greeted us and took us to coffee in Bethlehem, PA...


...and Justin treated us to a scrumptious dinner at the aptly chosen California Pizza Kitchen in Philadelphia.



The next day, we spent some time wandering around Philly before driving to Baltimore. Among other things, we discovered that visiting the Liberty Bell is rather boring. Here, after walking past a series of overwrought, gushing historical placards in the Bell's visitor center, Doug feigns excitement at having reached the bell:

From Philly, we drove to Baltimore to visit my friend Melinda, which, despite the rain we encountered, was loads of fun. Doug and I spent one rainy afternoon reading in Barnes & Noble, while the next day's sunniness meant Melinda & I could enjoy a walk in Patterson Park (see yellow sculpture photo below). Then the three of us took our books down to the harbor and read on a dock. Add in some yummy Thai food and long conversations about West Africa and oral rehydration systems, and you've got one great visit! (In other less savoury news, we also saw the movie Inglorious Basterds. Stay home and save your money, folks.)

Our last stop was Washington, D.C., where we spent a really fun day hanging out with Doug's friend Krissy (also from Peace Corps) and her roommate, and then spent our last day exploring the Capitol Mall and its surrounding museums.


My personal favorite was the U.S. Botanical Garden:
Doug avoided an attack by the stuffed tiger at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History:

Our flight home was smooth (thanks, Jerry, for the late night pickup!), and we've had a fun week of reunions with family and friends. I was particularly happy to reunite with a particular kitty who I've missed terribly:

We'll be resting at home during September, so call us if you want to hang out! And I'll probably take a break from blogging while we're home, but be sure to check back in October to read the next chapter of our adventures: "Where in the World are Jen and Doug?--International Edition!"

Counting down the days

Let me guess: the last blog post left you, like Jack, wondering where the heck we are. Well, instead of telling you straight out, let me lead you to our location through a photo montage...

On Friday, August 14, we rolled into Indianapolis and spent a lively and eventful weekend with our friends Jeff and Louise. We kicked off our visit by crashing GenCon, a board game convention, where we bumped into Jeff and Louise's friends and snuck inside to play a board game called "Betrayal at House on the Hill":

The next day, after hitting up a few bike shops (as always!), we decided to sample something that's quintessentially Indiana: the state fair. After nearly gagging on the overpowering aroma of deep-fried everything, we escaped to an indoor display about local agriculture, which included the Dairy Council's 1,418-pound cheese sculpture, an intricate sand sculpture of cows frolicking on the beach (sponsored by the State Beef Council, of course), and --I kid you not-- a glassed-in area where you could watch veterinarians perform spaying and neutering operations. I mean, I know spaying and neutering is important, but is watching an actual operation really supposed to help convince people to spay their pets?!? Ew! Luckily, there were no surgeries in progress when we walked by.

My favorite part of the fair was when we found the animals! We saw cows and steers, horses, and goats of all shapes and sizes. (A note to fellow city dwellers: we learned that a steer is a castrated bull. Ouch.) We especially enjoyed watching the pygmy goat competition, which involved people parading their goats around in a circle, and the judge petting them to check their bone structure. (It was all very reminiscent of the movie Best in Show, minus the owners' theatrics.)

After bidding Jeff and Louise farewell, we spent a hot, muggy day riding to Muncie, Indiana, where we celebrated the end of our long and humid ride by taking a cab to a heavily air-conditioned movie theater and watching District 9. (Verdict: it's intense and violent, but also really good. Not for the squeamish, though. I looked away from the screen a lot.)

The next day, we rode for about 30 minutes to the Muncie city limits, then turned to look at each other and realized that neither of us wanted to keep riding. It was too hot, too muggy, and too monotonous; we just couldn't bear the thought of another 5 days of corn and soy fields. So we high-tailed it to the local Budget Truck rental facility, where we scored a 10-foot moving truck (smallest one-way vehicle rental we could find) to drive ourselves and our bikes to Cleveland. Along the way, we drove through rain so thick that we could barely see a dozen feet ahead of us, and the truck's roof sprung a leak that gushed right down Doug's back. As he navigated the storm, I squirmed around trying to keep him dry with raincoats and plastic bags. Needless to say, we were super-happy to check into our hotel, get clean and dry (always a source of much happiness!), and then lounge around reading (Doug) and watching episodes of True Blood (me) for days on end. Downtown Cleveland is... well, it's pretty boring, but that was fine by us. It meant we didn't feel a whit guilty for lounging around inside instead of exploring the sights, unlike the way we felt guilty staying inside when we were in Chicago.

After gorging ourselves on relaxation, we got some great family time. My mom and Jerry flew out for a long weekend, and we've all been staying in Westlake, a Cleveland suburb where my mom grew up. We had a nice picnic in a park along Lake Erie one afternoon, and today, Mom's childhood friends threw us a fun party that involved copious amounts of yummy food.

We also got to spend a day with Doug's cousins, who took us to a delicious vegetarian restaurant and then introduced us to two radically different Cleveland attractions: the Lake View Cemetary and indoor glow-in-the-dark mini golf! Normally I'm not much of a cemetary person, but this one was amazing. It was filled with ornate monuments and statues (including the Rockefeller family obelisque), ivy-covered crypts, and a huge memorial to President James Garfield. We peered in the crypts at the stained glass windows, and we marveled at the fact that Garfield's memorial felt exactly like a secular church. (It was a multi-story structure with domed ceilings, mosaic walls, stained glass windows, and a crypt, but all of the images represented political figures or the 13 colonies instead of religious figures.)

My favorite part was seeing the gravestones of a family who'd eschewed the traditional block lettering in favor of carving each family member's signature into her or his gravestone. The adult signatures were all written in various styles of cursive, but the name of one teenager was written in slightly untidy and childish printing. I felt like I had a small window into the lives and personalities of each person, which made them stand out as individuals in the crowd (so to speak).

Sadly, we forgot to take pictures that day, so you'll just have to imagine the goofy way our t-shirts and socks glowed under the black lights at the mini-golf place!

In case you hadn't guessed from the song I included in the previous post ("I Wanna Go Home," by Michael Buble), we are both eager to be home again. This summer has been spectacularly memorable, but one of the things we've learned is that August is not the most appealing time to be biking through this part of the country. Next time we plan a bike trip, we'll definitely keep in mind that riding in cooler weather makes us happier cyclists! (Other key rules to remember include: no more than one milkshake per day, no french fries mid-day, and never pass up an opportunity to pee!)

Logistically, this means that we're sending our bikes home with Mom & Jerry tomorrow, and finishing the final week of our travels in a rental car. (No leaky Budget Truck this time, though, thank goodness!) We'll hit up Niagara Falls, visit friends in Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington D.C., and then we'll be HOME! For those of you who live in the Bay Area, I'm excited to be able to say: SEE YOU SOON! :)

Song of the Week

This song got stuck in my head somewhere in Indiana: it's a bit too sappy for my taste, but it has still managed to become our unofficial anthem this past week. We've been known to break into song, spontaneously and sarcastically, with melodramatic gestures and facial expressions. Oh, can we perform this song with flair...

A Day of Firsts in Indiana (plus Chicago photos!)

Ah, what a day of firsts it has been! We're en route to Indianapolis, where we'll visit Doug's friend Jeff and his wife, Louise. While much of Indiana has been unremarkable (save for its shockingly awful pavement), today had a few memorable moments:

1) First pregnancy-related road sign:

Doug and I are rather fond of highway historical markers, since we had fun reading them when we were following the Lewis & Clark Trail in the West. We've only seen one historical marker since Minneapolis, though, so we were excited to spot a sign signalling the imminence of an Indiana historical marker. This was no ordinary marker, though. Somewhere between Lafayette and Lebanon, IN, on State Highway 52, there is a marker that highlights the spot in which the first successful caesarean section was performed in Indiana. (Not the first one in the world, mind you. The first one in Indiana.) I am 100% serious, people. Sadly, we did not get a photo of the sign, and we didn't even slow down enough to read more than the title. But even the title was weird enough that we talked about it for the rest of the day! And what a long day it was...

2) First 70+ mile day!

We rode 71.2 miles today, from Remington, IN, to Lebanon, IN! Despite the thrilling oddness of the aforementioned historical marker, today's ride was actually, for the most part, a dull and uneventful ride on isolated country roads. Well, there was the one mile where we had to ride on nasty gravel because the pavement ran out. Ugh. And there was our pitstop in Lafayette, IN, a decent-sized town. But for the most part, things were pretty boring; Doug was so bored by the scenery that he only took two riding photos instead of his usual dozen or more:

3) First time we've been pulled over by the police:

In the last mile, though, the ride livened up considerably! Our quiet county highway merged with Interstate 65. After searching fruitlessly for alternatives on Google Maps, we merged reluctantly onto the interstate, and rode as far to the right in the shoulder as we could. Our luck ran out 1/4 mile from our exit, when a sheriff's car stopped in front of us. Not one but two sheriffs emerged to tell us we weren't allowed to ride on the interstate. Gee, really, officer? (In our defense, there was not actually a sign stating "no bicyclists" at the point where our highway merged with the interstate. In contrast, we did see and disobey one such sign the day we left Minneapolis, when we found ourselves in similarly dire straits. Sorry, parents--these are the stories that give you grey hairs, right?)

In any case, I amped up the sincerity and contrition when answering the sheriff's questions, explaining that we definitely hadn't planned to ride on the Interstate, that we knew it wasn't a good idea, that we were getting off at the next exit, and that, no, of course we were not planning on doing it again. Result? No ticket. Score!

4) First time I've changed a flat tire by myself:

As we reached the off ramp and pedaled off the freeway, still a bit giddy at the thrill of not getting a ticket, I heard a saddening thunk, and realized I had a flat tire. Thank goodness it happened on the off ramp, and not on the freeway itself! We walked our bikes down the ramp and across the street to our Super 8 Motel, then decided to put off the inevitable in favor of (what else?) taking showers and eating large quantities of food at Denny's. (For the record, Indiana is the most pedestrian-UNfriendly state we've visited so far. The only way to get to the Denny's, which was just on the other side of the interstate from our motel, was to walk in the shoulder of the overpass, or to walk in the right-hand turn lane when the shoulder disappeared. There were no sidewalks or pedestrian walkways for getting across the freeway. This was also the case two days ago, when the lack of pedestrian access across a freeway interchange prevented us from eating at the only Indian restaurant in Merrillville, IN. (That is a crime, I tell you, keeping a woman from her Indian food!)

Once we were clean and fed, though, I was ready to tackle the tire. I wanted to do it myself, since Doug has changed all of our other flat tires, and I figured it was high time I try it alone. It was a good way to learn, too, because it had several complications: it was the back tire (read: fiddling with the chain and gears), and I had to change the tire as well as the tube, since I'd managed to wear through the tread on my old tire (by some combination of riding and walking on the flat tire). And I did it! I'm so excited! Check out how dirty my hands were at the end. And that's after I'd wiped them on a tissue!

Tomorrow we'll ride a measly 27 miles to Jeff and Louise's house, then relax and hang out with them a bit before turning northeast toward Cleveland. And because I didn't post any earlier, here are some fun photos from Chicago!

The Joy of Sitting Still

We made it to Chicago! Not only is it great to be here because we get a break from riding (we'll probably stay about a week), but it's also satisfying because, ever since we left Glacier, Chicago has felt like our Next Big Destination. When people would ask where we were headed, we usually told them Chicago. And now we're here, and damn, does it feel good! But before I get into the joys of Chicago, I want to share a few pictures of our visit with my great-uncle and great-aunt, since we had a great time with them in Wisconsin.

We got to tour the old Hennings family farm that my great-great-grandpa started in 1884. Pat, one of his great-granddaughters, gave us a tour of the farm and the farmhouse, and I'm really glad we got to see it, because they're preparing the property for sale and it probably won't be in the family much longer. This is the stone they recently removed from wall of the dairy building. Apparently, Henry and Mary Hennings argued about which to build first, the house or the barn. Mary apparently won, since the stone on the house is dated 1884, while the barn wasn't finished until 1889.

This is a picture of us in front of the Hennings farmhouse. Having now seen the house and the farm, I feel a bit sad to know that this piece of my family's history is for sale. I wish I had the time and means to buy it and restore it. (Although when I think about the practicality of that, I don't really want to move to Wisconsin. Snow and I aren't really on the best of terms...) I do hope, though, that the people who buy it will preserve and restore the house instead of gutting it or turning it into a McMansion.

After we saw the farm, we visited the Hennings family monument at the nearby cemetary. My great-uncle told us that my great-great-grandpa wanted to have the tallest monument in the cemetary, and it's still the tallest one there!

We finished off our visit with some great conversation, a tasty dinner, and a few rounds of Rummikub. The next morning, we were delighted to find that the first 10 miles of our ride were along a lush bike path (see below), which somewhat made up for the fact that the next 50 miles of pavement (in and around Milwaukee) were the crappiest stretch of road that we've come across so far. I'm talking nonstop potholes, huge cracks in the road, and the bumpiest attempts at repaving that we've had the misfortune to ride across. My arms and shoulders were even sorer than usual at the end of the day from absorbing so much shock!

The following day's ride into Chicago yielded 25 similarly awful miles of road, followed by 32 happier miles that included lots of bike paths. Along the way, we picked up an impromptu fan club for about an hour of the ride. Three 20-something guys were returning from an overnight bike trip and rode up behind us as we approached Chicago. Instead of having the 30-second chat over the handlebars that we usually have with passing cyclists, the trio were super-excited about our trip, and insisted on following us into Chicago. This may sound sweet and cute, but it quickly became annoying. As Doug put it later, we suddenly felt aware of, and semi-responsible for, three extra cyclists. Our normally constant stream of nonsensical riding banter came to an immediate halt, since we felt self-conscious around the other riders. And we also felt pushed to come up with a specific, direct route into Chicago, when what we really wanted to do was just meander our way through the leafy neighborhoods and enjoy the last few hours of our Big Arrival. We parted ways with them after about an hour, since they chose to ride a more central bike path into the city, and we opted to head closer to Lake Michigan instead. I'm glad we got to spend the last 90 minutes of our ride on our own: our banter returned, and we both realized how happy we were to simply wind our way into the city without a particular plan, zigzagging across the Northwestern University campus, exploring streets lined with impossibly large lakefront mansions, and finally, cruising down a lakefront bike trail into the heart of the city. (You can see the city skyline in this photo from Evanston, IL.)

Now we're happily tired after our first full day of city living. Doug's friends offered us the best possible travel gift: our own apartment in the city! (They have other friends who are out of town, and we get to be housesitters, wahoo!) It's so wonderful to be in a real apartment after weeks of motel life. The simple joy of scrambling my own eggs exactly the way I like them, and then sitting down to eat them at a cozy kitchen table, makes me immeasurably happy. Not that we're just eating eggs, though; check out the giant slice of pizza we discovered today. It is, by far, the largest slice of pizza I've ever seen in my entire life. Lest you feel skeptical, know that what you're seeing in this photo is a mere half of a single slice! Needless to say, I think it's going to be an awesome week.

Shaking Things Up in Wisconsin

A few days ago, in Onalaska, Wisconsin, Doug looked at me and said, "Honey, I think we need to talk."

My heart sank as I turned to look at him. "What's wrong?"

"I've been thinking..."

"Yeah?"

"It's just... well, I think it's time we faced the truth. I don't think we're going to camp anymore."

And as much as I didn't want to admit it, I knew he was right. For the past two and a half weeks, we'd avoided camping at every turn, even though we'd had plenty of chances to sleep on the ground. And as much as we still held illusions of ourselves as camping cyclists, the time had come to accept the truth: we're not going to camp anymore.

So we rode to the Onalaska post office, bought a huge box, and filled it with 30 pounds of camping gear: tent, sleeping bags, sleeping pads, camp stove, etc. As we rode away from the post office, we whooped and cheered at the new lightness of our bikes. We also held a small funeral for Jugsy, our 1-gallon bottle, whose lid we lost during our train ride to Minneapolis, and whom we decided to recycle. But never fear, Jugsy's loss opened the door for a new level of innovation...

As soon as we realized how light our bikes were without our camping gear, we rode to the Onalaska Target to fulfill a long-held dream. (Well, OK, just getting to go inside a Target was a dream for me, since I do so love the feeling of being in Target, and we hadn't been in one on the trip yet. But it gets better...) Doug and I are pleased to introduce Boxy, our 4-gallon Igloo MaxCold cooler!

Boxy now lives on the back of Doug's bike, and he gives us the chance to indulge in cold milk, juice, water, and fruit at all hours of the day. During one Wisconsin lunch stop, Boxy offered us ice-cold milk to go with our PB& J and cherries. It was awesome! (As a side note, we hope the patrons of St. Mary's Church in tiny Lyndon Station, WI, will forgive the dribbles of peanut butter that we left on their front steps!)

With Boxy safely in tow, we followed the siren call of roadside billboards to Wisconsin Dells, WI, the self-proclaimed waterpark capital of the U.S. We were overwhelmed by the level of tourist tackiness that oozed from this town. It looks like Fisherman's Wharf, Raging Waters, Waikiki, Great America, and the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk produced some sort of love child and then set it loose out here in Wisconsin. But despite the suffocating aroma of cotton candy and the barrage of neon t-shirts that is downtown Wisconsin Dells, we did have a lot of fun at Noah's Ark Water Park, "America's Largest Waterpark." Sadly, we don't have any photos to prove it, although Doug did catch a shot of me devouring some frozen yogurt in a candy shop at the end of our tiring but entertaining day.

We've nearly reached the eastern edge of Wisconsin, and have enjoyed the rolling green farmlands; somehow the farmlands here are more interesting and varied than the farmlands we rode through in Montana. We've even seen a few Amish buggies on the road, which has been cool.

Tomorrow we'll arrive in the town where my great-uncle lives. I'm looking forward to seeing him and getting to tour the area where my (paternal) grandparents grew up. I was also really, really excited to spot a brand of cheese at the Piggly Wiggly grocery store that bears my name! (Check out http://www.henningscheese.com)

Minnehappyolis and beyond

Ten Reasons Why We Loved Minneapolis (Saturday 7/25):

1. We got to see my friend Sara!
2. Sara gave us a fun driving tour of the city: we saw the Spoon Bridge Cherry statue, a big cemetary where Hubert Humphrey is buried, and a scenic road around the City Lakes. Oh, and a computer store for Doug. ;) (So sorry about the parking ticket, Sara!)



3. As we rode out of town, we stopped for lunch at Whole Foods (!), where we stocked up on vegetarian gummy bears (!!) and canned Indian food (!!!!).
4. We got to ride on several bike paths on our way out of the city.
5. We saw a whole bunch of awesome fancy houses along Summit Drive in Minneapolis (or maybe it was St. Paul by then; I'm not exactly sure).


6. People on the road were SUPER-friendly: we got a whole slew of honks, waves, claps, and cheers! (It doesn't get old.)
7. As we left the city, we hit luscious green fields of corn and vegetables, which managed to feel comfortingly rural sans the stifling feeling of isolation of the prairie.
8. We rode 40 miles to Hastings, MN, and didn't get bored once!
9. The few hills we did hit along the ride were low-grade and went by quickly.
10. Our waitress at dinner put our order in late, and brought us a free slice of peanut butter chocolate pie as an apology. Oh, darn!

* * * *

Today (Sunday, July 26) we rode 56 miles southeast along the Mississippi River from Hastings to Wabasha, MN. The ride was lush and green, and full of great bluff views and river views.

We especially liked stopping for lunch in downtown Red Wing, of Red Wing Shoes fame; it had charming brick buildings and a cheerful garden with statues of kids reading books.



This evening, we splurged on a slightly pricier room at the AmericInn so we could take advantage of the indoor pool and hot tub, as well as the guest laundry machine. We've discovered that it's important to savor life's simple pleasures, like getting cool and getting clean. ;)

Tomorrow we'll cross over into Wisconsin!

* * * *

P.S. Bike Trip Awards Addendum, as per Mom's and Melinda's suggestions:

Cutest Animal So Far: "Mr. Squeaky" from Glacier (This is our name for all of the ground squirrels that hang out in Glacier and squeak mightily. A squeak shakes his whole body!)

Funniest Town Name: Greenough, Montana. This sparked numerous exchanges between the two of us along the lines of: "Is this meadow greenough for you?"

Best Vanity License Plate: The jury's out on this one. Oddly enough, we haven't seen that many vanity plates. We saw two public service SUVs in Minneapolis whose plates read "POLICE" and "FIRE," respectively, but I don't think those are funny enough to warrant this award.