It is late, and I am tired, but I wanted to write to let anyone and everyone know I am safe and still pedaling. Tonight I sleep in a town called Pittsford, just east of Rochester. I am staying with a girl named Tate, who is a friend of Liz, the girl I couchsurfed with two nights ago in Syracuse. I just watched Phelps conquer his eighth gold. What a stud. This is the first chance I have had to see the Olympics. What a glorious event, all these athletes realizing all their hard work and living their dreams. I can empathize somewhat.

Lately the weather has been dry, which is great. My stay in Syracuse was fun. I watched Flash Gordon, a cheesy but fun film from the 80s with a score by Queen. The next day I made it to a small town called Clyde. There was a carnival going on and fireworks. The people were mostly rowdy and obnoxious, but I made friends with some volunteer firemen, who shared some food and drink tickets with me. The fireworks were okay. They lacked any passion, I felt. I spent the night at a park right on the Eerie Canal. After midnight the town finally got quiet and I was able to sleep. Surprisingly the mosquitoes were not too bad, although I think I got bit around the eyes, as they were swollen when I woke up this morning. And yes Bill, I am wishing I had let you buy me that mosquito headnet.

Today was mostly a nice day with some wicked headwind at the end. I feel that a calm is finally beginning to come over me. Part of it must have to do with the rain finally letting up. Boy am I thankful for that. I’ll take the heat any day of the week over rain, I tell ya. Also, I am coming to terms with what this trip has begun. My mindset during the first leg was focused on a destination: Rhode Island. That was the primary purpose of the trip. I knew where I was ending up, and I just had to get there. Now, I have no final destination set. I have plenty of stops along the way, but I don’t know where this will end. I left Rhode Island with the mindset still of having a destination. I can’t do that anymore, however. The focus has to change. Now, this is just life. For the next couple months I will be living on my bike, and that is the extent of this. I have no where to be, just places I want to go. Realizing this, I find a lot of comfort and relaxation.

I feel that I can finally begin to answer the questions that everyone has been asking lately that I haven’t had good responses to. I’m biking around the country because I want to, because I love adventure, I love nature, and I seem to love adversity. I like meeting new people and seeing new sights, and I have a natural inclination to explore. There’s no larger cause and no final destination yet. It’s just adventure, plain and simple.

I must get to sleep. I’m very excited to think that I will be at Niagara Falls in two days. I will be crossing into Canada at that point for a few days. I will have to turn my phone off, otherwise I may get charged four dollars a minute or some ridiculous amount like that, as I did last year without knowing it. I don’t want another $150 phone bill. I’m not even sure yet how I’m going to pay this month’s bill.

Feel free to call me anytime in the next two days. I would love the good conversation. Good night.