It’s been a hectic month so far with no let up in sight.
A week ago my wife and I went to see KT Tunstall play at a small venue. KTT was terrific as usual. Her opening act, Martin Sexton, was super entertaining. Ya gotta love a singer who’s not afraid to yodel.
After the concert I spent a bunch of time rounding up more things for the tour, and getting my wife some Mothers Day goodies. I think I passed the audition.
Today I drove 400 miles from Mt Vernon VA to East Greenbush NY outside Albany. It occurred to me after growing up around here that there is no West Greenbush or even a plain, vanilla Greenbush. What’s up with that?
On the way here I stopped in Hyde Park to see FDR’s home. It’s a lovely place, not nearly as posh as I was expecting. The house has a manual (as in pull on a big rope) elevator that he used to get upstairs to his bedroom. Dang.
FDR and Eleanor are buried in the rose garden near the house. It’s only the fourth presidential gravesite I’ve seen. And amazingly Grant’s Tomb isn’t one of them. I could have stopped at Martin van Buren’s grave today but one dead President a day is enough for me. (Can you guess the other three?)
As it turns out I’ve now seen two presidential birthplaces. (Guess again!)
Hyde Park is very close to my planned route. It’s actually on New York State Bicycle Route 9 which, despite being on somewhat busy roads, looks like a decent place to ride. New York State highways have big shoulders that somehow seem free of debris.
Tomorrow I’m doing a rail trail bike ride near Albany. Tomorrow night I am having dinner with siblings about an hour away.
Friday I go to my 50th high school reunion. I had planned to ride to it but had to drive instead. It turns out that with temperatures in the 30s overnight I’m rather glad to be riding my Accord rather than The Mule.
Sometime between all these events I’m going to meet up with one of my sisters and visit family gravesites nearby. I’ve never seen my great grandfather’s grave. His name is Sylvester. He was married to Hattie. If nothing else this proves that Americans have lost their baby naming mojo over the past 200 years.
Saturday I drive home in the rain. Ugh.
Sunday I start packing for the tour, mow the lawn, and go see Crowded House.
Monday I finish packing.
Tuesday is liftoff.
A Few Spokes Shy of a Wheel 
I’ll guess JFK as another grave site. I gotta get ready to meet someone for a ride so I can’t think hard enough for the other guesses right now. Have fun at your 50th. I missed mine (delayed due to COVID). I was eating pizza by myself on the lawn of a dorm in Missoula, MT – sick with COVID and quarantined from the rest of the riders on my coast-to-coast tour. My classmates offered up a toast to me and sent me the video, which raised my spirits.
JFK is one
Just added a better pic of Arthur’s grave because I know everyone wants to see it.
50th reunion, wow. I skipped my 10year, and truth be told I’m not sure if I will go to any of mine. My HS experience was just fine, but there are so few people I would genuinely enjoy seeing again. I don’t know, maybe modern day social media took the excitement out of reuniting with people. That and I keep in touch with anyone I would want to see.
My mom went to a handful of hers and enjoyed them greatly. Anyways. I drove 450 miles last weekend to go for a hike with some friends I met in Germany. I was amazed I only filled my gas tank before I left. Highway miles are amazing.
It was an interesting experience. I hadn’t seen some of my classmates since graduation. I didn’t recognize a few. A few people didn’t recognize me too.
I actually ran into a guy from my oldest brother’s class. He was at our house a lot when I was in junior high. A very nice guy and it was fun catching up with him.
One thing is for sure, the 50th reunion was a whole lot less rowdy than the 25th.
Have a wonderful tour. I’ll hang with my friend Lynn Salvo at the end of her next TransAm in September. We’ll go across northern New England -Adirondacks, Greens, Whites — to where she dips her tire in Portland. Thanks again for stopping by at Bards Alley
Thanks David. Lynn is a marvel.