Week
One:
July 1
to July 7, 2004
Well, Barefeet2004 is underway. The intensive
planning over the past few weeks has paid off. Massage appointments for all 38
days are booked, all lodging accommodations reserved, routes mapped out,
packing finished, and the bike ready for a good workout. Last minute chores on
the home front were taken care of yesterday, and last night, two hours before
July 1st arrived, the web site for Barefeet2004was launched. That in
itself was no small task, having to be squeezed into the midst of all the other
trip details. Fortunately the site building skills hadn’t escaped me and so it
should be relatively easy to keep up, time permitting.
Anyway, back to the trip. Christine and I said
our goodbyes for a few weeks, as did I and Rudy, the 3-year old chocolate lab,
and Pumpkin, the 16-year old cat. I had been concerned about leaving Christine
on her own, given some health issues she’s been dealing with, so we’ve arranged
for our pet sitter to come and stay at the house when no one else is here. That
will relieve her of dealing with the pets, and give her the security of knowing
someone is there if needed. Tomorrow, Bob and Natasha are flying up from
Washington to spend the July 4th weekend with her. Then a week from
Sunday Sue and her boyfriend will be here for a week.
But now it was time to get this show on the
road, which I did about 8:30. You never know in Maine in the summer what kind
of traffic problems are likely to crop up. But the earlier in the day you
travel, the fewer problems, as a rule, and that was the case today. Getting
down coastal Route 1 and then the Maine Turnpike to New Hampshire was a snap.
Today’s first stop was Salem, New Hampshire,
for the first ashiatsu session of the trip. It was administered by Dianne
Jezak, a therapist I had only met back in February. She’s one highly talented
barefoot massage practitioner. She also recently added lomi lomi to her
credentials, and skillfully blended a little of that along with her top-notch
barefoot treatment. What a grand way to start the trip. She’s also scheduled to
give me the grand finale session of Barefeet2004 on August 7th as I
head home from Plymouth to Bristol.
After my session with Dianne, it was a quick
trip to our daughter’s condo in Plymouth, New Hampshire, about a 1-1/2 hour
ride from Salem. The evening was one of relaxing with Sue and her young Anna,
and sharing some pizza with her next-door neighbor Julie. Nice way to end day
one of this latest motorcycle odyssey.
Friday, July 2nd:
Today’s honoree on the therapist list was
Marie Straiton who practices in Concord. It’s only about a 45-minute drive to
her studio, so easy enough to get to. This was only my second session with
Marie, but I had booked early so I could get her lined up. My previous session
was such a good one I wanted to be sure she would be a part of this adventure.
And this one lived up to my expectations, as I knew it would. She also gets
another crack at me at the end of the trip. Wow, two fantastic performances –
yesterday and today – to start the trip. I’m glad I don’t have to follow these
acts.
Friday evening Sue took me out for a belated
birthday dinner – her gift to me. What a nice gesture, and at a beautiful
hillside restaurant overlooking one of the popular local lakes. Great food,
great weather, great company. Nice way to end the day.
Saturday, July 3rd—
The therapist on duty today was Danielle
Pettengill, who has been working at Regina Burtt’s studio in Plymouth. Danielle
has an eclectic mix of modalities in her therapeutic portfolio, and is a lot of
fun to work with. She’s game to explore and experiment, and she’s got a very
polished barefoot massage routine, thanks to Regina’s expert tutelage. Turned
out I was the last client she would be treating at Regina’s, since she’s about
to move downstate to Nashua. The silver lining in that, for me anyway, is that
she’ll be a little bit closer to me, so she’ll definitely be seeing more of me.
The rest of the day was spent on various
errands and preparing for a barbecue hosted by Sue and her boyfriend Jamie at
Sue’s condo. Two of Jamie’s little girls, Willow and Tina – both six years old
– came along. What a couple of charmers they are!
Sunday, July 4th—
Would you believe that Regina, the one who
started me down the ashiatsu path, was such an angel that she performed an ashiatsu
massage for me at 9 a.m. on July 4th? What a sweetheart. And it was,
as always, superb. How could I have asked for anything more special before I
head west tomorrow? And of course she’ll see me again at the end of the trip,
the day before I return home. As captain of this team, I know she’ll want a
first hand account of how they performed and I know I’ll be full of glowing
reports.
There were no local parades nearby, but in the
afternoon a couple of Sue’s friends invited us to a barbecue at their camp on
Squam Lake (the lake where “On Golden Pond” was filmed). It was low key and fun
– just the right mix.
Then back to Sue’s for the evening and making
sure all was in order for tomorrow’s departure. Once I hop aboard the Trophy
and start the next leg of the journey, there’s no turning back.
Monday, July 5th—
Colorado, here I come. Today is the real
beginning of the traveling part of this trip, and for the next several days
I’ll be logging 200-350 miles daily. Every four or five days I plan to take a
day off, as I did on my 48-state tour in 2000. But the first of those breaks
won’t come until this weekend, in Davenport, Iowa.
From my daughter’s place in Plymouth, it was
an easy ride down the local roads to Route 4 and shortly after a brief ride on
I-89. I will be spending more time than I’d like on the interstates this trip –
probably a 50/50 split between them and the national and regional routes. But
they are handy to have available when making good time is important.
After entering Vermont, I exited again onto
Route 4 for the trip across the state. A low and heavy cloud cover largely hid
its spectacular beauty today. There were a couple of rainy intervals, one
fairly heavy, but that was it and for the most part it was a dry ride to my
destination of Albany, NY.
My lodging at Red Roof Inn was fine –
inexpensive but comfortable with all the basics. The desk clerk even gave me a
complimentary upgrade to a “business” king, whatever that meant. Anyway, she
rates a picture on my web site as a reward.
Today’s barefoot massage was provided by Karen
Meyers, and what a great job she did. So far I couldn’t have asked for a more
professional and highly trained group of therapists. And I fully expect that to
be the case throughout. Any massage therapist who is motivated enough to become
qualified in ashiatsu has to be special, in my book. Karen was exclaiming about
another ashiatsu therapist in the region she’d like me to meet and suggested a
return engagement sometime when both of them could work on me together. That
sounds like my cup of tea.
Dinner tonight was at a seafood restaurant
across the street from the hotel, recommended by the front desk clerk. It was
fine, although a really heavy downpour during dinner made me wonder if I’d make
it back without getting drenched. I did.
Tuesday, July 6th—
Today’s ride would be a long one – 330 miles
or so – to a little town on the shores of Lake Erie at New York’s western end.
There were several route possibilities. The straightest was to take Route 20,
but that was full of potential delays – summer tourist traffic, seasonal road
work, and just slowing down to get through the many small towns, and a few
bigger ones, along the way. So I decided to play it safe and stick to the New
York State Thruway. The trip wasn’t bad – long and tedious but a few rest stops
along the way broke it up.
My first stop was in Dunkirk. This was where
today’s therapist, Lucille Bryant, practices. I got to her office a little
after 2, and since my appointment wasn’t till 4 p.m. I took advantage of the
extra time to explore a little bit of Dunkirk. Strolled down to the lakefront,
got a few digital photos to record the surrounding street and lakefront
scenery, and then went back for my 1-1/2 hours of ashiatsu with Lucy. What a
treat! She really knows her stuff, and when she wasn’t working with her feet,
she was applying conventional shiatsu strokes. Great combination.
Lucy and her husband share space in a building
her husband, David, owns. He’s in real estate, mainly, I gather, as a property
owner/investor/manager. They had been nice enough to invite me to be their
houseguest for the evening, which I had readily accepted. Before heading for
home, though, they took me to a newly opened Mexican restaurant just up the
street from their offices. Another couple, good friends of theirs, as well as
their office receptionist, rounded out the group. Nice time – excellent food,
good conversation, fun people to get to know.
Then it was on to their home in the little town
of Brocton. My sleeping quarters were in the loft of the garage/barn, and were
just right for me. I was even able to park the bike in one of the garage bays –
a rare luxury. A little more socializing and then it was time to retire.
Tomorrow I had to be in Columbus, Ohio, for a 2 p.m. massage, and even though
the travel would be almost entirely on interstate highways, I wanted to get on
the road by 7 or so.
Wednesday, July 7th—
Up at 5:30, dressed, packed, and ready to go
by 6:30. Had a very light breakfast (I’d have more during my mid-morning rest
break), said my farewells to Lucy and David, who couldn’t have been more
charming and welcoming hosts, and hit the road about 7:15.
Today’s forecast had been for a good day, but
it was pretty unsettled for most of the trip. A few bands of showers had to be
endured, but nothing serious. So far the weather pattern is following the
course it’s been on for most of the spring and so far for the summer – a day or
so of fine weather, followed by a few days of not-so-fine stuff. I don’t
necessarily mind the rain, unless it’s a really drenching downpour, but much
prefer a dry ride. We’ll see what the scorecard looks like at the end of the
trip.
The ride was pretty uneventful and I pulled
into Columbus in plenty of time for today’s appointment with Suzanne Korner.
Got to her office about 1, and she was with another client, so I just relaxed
in the breeze outside till she was ready. Suzanne more than lived up to her
reputation (she had been recommended to me by another therapist north of
Columbus) and gave me what I told her was one of the most impressive ashiatsu
sessions I could remember. She even combined some Thai-yoga stuff with her
ample arsenal of barefoot techniques. My kind of gal! She’s already earned her
place in my personal hall of fame. And at the end, she invited me to come back
so she and one of the therapists who works with her, and is also
ashiatsu-qualified, could work on me together. That’s the second such
invitation in a week, and I can already see the outline taking place for my
next ashiatsu motorcycling adventure.
After our session, did the usual digital photo
ritual with Suzanne, so I can get her on the web site with her teammates, and
then headed northwest about an hour from Columbus to Bellefontaine. The only
thing that attracted me to this location was it was not too far out of
Columbus, but was headed in the direction of tomorrow’s destination of
Chesterton, Indiana. Got checked into the Woodland Hotel, took pictures of a
couple of gals at the front desk and was able to get a room where I could park
right outside, and have direct access to my room. That sure makes it easier
when moving stuff from the bike in and out. The hotel is fine – part of the
Holiday Inn chain I think – and had a restaurant, which answered the question
of where I’d be going for dinner. My waitress and her assistant (a waitress in
training I’d guess) both willingly posed for photos to go on my web site.
And that’s it for Week One. Hope to get this
launched before I get too far into Week Two. As I write this, it’s Thursday
morning, so I’m about to go grab some breakfast, then come back and see if I
can get this and the accompanying photos on the web site before it’s time to
leave.
Trip
Statistics at end of Week One
Miles
ridden this week: 1,272
Miles
ridden this trip: 1,272
States
visited: 7