From Sippin’ Barista to Dunkin Donuts’: My Journey across the USA Part 2

I last left you with a recap from the weather shortened Boise 70.3  It has now been a little over a week since the race and I have since driven over 3,800 miles.  The first leg of my cross country trip back east after the Boise race was the drive to Penn Yan, NY (Home).  This journey in total was around 2,400 miles, but don’t quote me on that as I am purely making an educated guess.  I made the journey in three days of driving, stopping the first two nights at around 9:30 PM to get a mom-requested “good nights sleep” at a place other than my front car seat.  Rest assured mom and all those mom-types, I laid my head to rest at a Fairfield and Hampton in respectively.

The drive across the county was largely uneventful.  My days consisted of drinking water, stopping to pee a bunch, snacking and listening to hours on end of Adam Carolla’s podcasts and new book “Not Taco Bell Material” as well as listening to the classic book “The Great Gatsby”.  Listening to Gatsby was an absolute joy as it has been a couple years since I last read it and it seems every time I read/listen to it I pick up something new.  When I have time set aside for these types of drives (aka not having specific training to do) I really enjoy the alone time.  It is a steady straight drive and really allows for you to lock into the drive.  The miles went by quickly and before long I had made it back home to beautiful Penn Yan, NY, located on Keuka Lake.

Here are a couple photo’s from the drive:

I spent a couple days getting things in order once home.  This mainly consisted of unpacking my car, organizing my bike stuff and clothing and then re-packing for the next adventure.

Last Friday with great excitement I headed to Boston for the wedding of one of my best buddies, CJ who I went to school with in London way back during the spring semester of 2006.  I hadn’t seen him, his bridge to be or my other best bud from London, Joe in over 4 years!  Such a tragedy when life gets in the way.  Anyways, I finally was headed to Boston to spend time with them and see CJ get married.  It is a tribute to how good a friend CJ is that after all this time he still thought enough of me to share his wedding day with him.  My friend Joe let me crash at his place on Friday night and then on Saturday the festivities began.  The ceremony was in the city and following the saying of “I DO” we headed towards the cape for the reception.  Complete with bus transportation from the hotel to the party it made for a great time.  Lots of laughs and lots of dancing ensued.  I am sure some photos will surface soon and when they do I will be sure to share the good ones.  Even though I only knew a very small group of people at the start of the wedding I ended up having a great time with all the people whom I met for the first time.  Chuck, if you’re reading this man, thanks for having me!

Once the wedding festivities had ended and the hotel rooms cleaned up I packed up once again and headed to the shores of Connecticut.  But not before CJs mom presented me with my black jacket that was purchased in London and subsequently left behind in his dorm room when I hurriedly rushed to catch my bus to the airport that fateful May day in 2006.  The jacket had been in CJ’s closet at home since he returned home that same week in 2006.  I even made a trip to Boston in 2008 to see the guys and still managed to forget it.  Well last Sunday I was finally reunited with the jacket and yes it fit great, maybe even a touch large as I have become slightly smaller since then.  But fear not, my aptitude for forgetfulness did not disappoint as it turns out I left another article of clothing, a hat behind at brunch on Sunday morning.  I guess it just means that I have an excuse to visit CJ and his Mrs. in the near future…and I promise it won’t take another 4 years.

Plymouth, MA…you know, where the Pilgrims parallel parked the Mayflower.

That finally brings me to today.  Life is good here in Old Saybrook, CT.

I am here for a few days visiting with my grandma.  Old Saybrook has always been special to me as it was one of the first “destination” vacations I can remember as a child.  I spend many summer trips here and I always get excited driving through town and making my way along the Long Island shore as I head to grandma’s house.  A lot has changed since I started coming here a long time ago but I still get the same joy I did as a young boy in the back of a jeep.

Tomorrow I will be heading to Lake Placid for the weekend where I hope to regain some semblance of fitness.  The week of last week has definitely left me feeling “soft” but it did feel good to get moving in the pool and on the bike yesterday so hopefully by the end of the week I will be back in the swing of things.

I will check in with you all from the Starbucks on Main Street in Lake Placid this weekend.  Until then, train hard and be safe.