Disaster Moves You Forward

Yesterday was a day that started in disaster.

With great anticipation I gathered the boxes of tent poles and contact lenses that had arrived the day before- the last two items on my "big item" checklist. If you've been following along you know I've been giving an inordinate amount of time and energy to thinking about my tent. What you don't know is the contacts have been backordered for weeks and I am down to my last two pair. Great, I thought. I am in business.

I opened the contacts box first. I'd had them shipped overnight at great expense (relatively speaking), and was surprised to find they were for the wrong eye. I called the company as soon as they opened- spoke with a very pleasant rep who said I could ship them back and once they were received they would send the other eye. Timewise that's a non-starter.

We went back and forth, with me becoming ever more confused about why they sent the wrong eye. I felt stuck.

Next, the tent. I have worked to rehab the one I have, in part because it has good reviews online and also because Greg thinks the world of it. I grabbed the new poles, eager to test them out. Spoiler alert- the new poles did not fit, being 3" too long. And in checking the length against the one good pole, I found that said "good pole" was also broken. I made a call to Tammy at Johnson Outdoors for next steps. Full disclosure- she was wonderful and was flummoxed as to why they weren't the right size. She had me dig inside the tent to find the lot number- and low and behold, the tent was from 2008, not the 2011 version I had told her. I asked about the life span of a tent- she said it was about 8 years. I said out loud "Then why am I even bothering to try to make this work?" to which she said "I can give you a discount on a new tent" which I declined but thanked her anyway.

I'll admit it was all a bit overwhelming. I was in the muck, ready to cry. I had a few minutes of pity party followed by a new resolve. I went back to the contacts prescription and remembered I'd actually had to go back for a newer prescription earlier this year. I dug that one out and sent the correct information to Contacts Direct. I'm happy to wait for my refund- just give me sight without glasses, please.

I then headed out the door to get my Covid booster (#3), followed by a trip to LLBean where one tent was too small (and pretty expensive) and one was too big. I trudged on to REI in Westbrook where George hooked me up with a Half Dome 2+. I am NOT looking at reviews- I have made my decision and used what I know about what makes a good tent for me. I've set it up twice this morning and it's goes up and down easily. It will work.

All this before the booster slapped me upside the head and gave me crazy fever dreams all night. Tomorrow will be a better day.

Comments

Day 58- St.Augustine FL

To our utter surprise we woke up to dry skies with the sun peeking through the clouds. No rain in the forecast — what a gift! We enjoyed a leisurely breakfast at the hotel and set off around 9 o’clock. Family and friends had been given an arrival time between 1130 and 12 so the pace was leisurely. We rode mainly bike paths. No spectacular scenery, just quiet miles with lots of introspection. As we neared Saint Augustine I started to feel the excitement grow. I was ready for the ride to be done, to see Greg and Gemma and the rest that would be there to join me. It wasn’t quite time to stop paying attention, however, because our route took us right through downtown Saint Augustine’s narrow streets and traffic was both heavy and unforgiving. It wasn’t till I turned into the state park that I got a little emotional. I’m not sure why. Maybe it’s the realization that this adventure is truly over. I rode in and spotted Greg’s truck right away - and next saw Sarah and Walt and Gemma with a b

Day 33 Smithville Texas 53 miles

If you had asked me at the beginning of the trip which state would have had the steepest climbs, I would not have guessed Texas; however, that seems to be the case. Today I felt right at home. We had our map meeting this morning at breakfast and all seemed doable. I did one last check with the front desk to see if my absentee ballot had caught up with me. It had not. Greg, your vote will not be canceled by me this year! We headed out through sidestreets to leave Austin, a city I can highly recommend. We traveled bike lanes and bike paths out to some rural roads. Of course we had to stop for second breakfast burritos! We were riding in a group of about six when we came up on a stretch of road that had house after house with loose dogs. All of them ran at us. We must’ve made a crazy sounding group. Some of us hollered. Some blasted air horns. Several of us have “dog dazers“ which is a little clicker device that is supposed to repel dogs. I’m not sure how well it really works but no on

Day 51- Eastpoint FL

I would never have guessed our coldest night would have been in Florida! I woke up this morning to 38°. In a tent. And pretty comfy inside two sleeping bags. I’ve been hoping for a little adversity. Florida certainly stepped up! It warmed up pretty quickly and I was on the road by nine. It was supposed to be a rest day, but tomorrow is looking wet and thundery so we broke up that 75 miles and will do 45 today, stopping just over the Apalachicola River in Eastpointe. Since it was a short day I took it pretty easy, enjoying a bike path it took us along the beach in WindMark. We wandered along until we hit Port Saint Joe where some stopped for a second breakfast. After Port Saint Joe we had a straight 19 miles which gave me a long time to think and get philosophical. What rolled around in my head is that we spend lots of time anticipating and working towards milestones; births, graduations, new jobs, marriages, retirement. And while those milestones are exciting, what we really cherish i

Search This Blog