Canada 2021 Trip – Index

Day 1 – In The Dark
Day 2 – A Little Culture
Day 3 – Gettysburg, PA
Day 4 – Lancaster
Day 5 – Sites of the City
Day 6 – Sunday in Conneticut
Day 7 – Cape Cod
Day 8.1 – Plymouth, Mass
Day 8.2 – New Hampshire
Day 9 – NH – Maine
Day 10 – Rockland, Maine
Day 11 – Cadillac Mountain
Day 12 – Acadia Park
Day 13 – Moosehorn Wildlife Refuge
Day 14 – Whale Watching
Day 15 – Dispense with the Lobster, and St Croix
Day 16 – Oh, Canada!
Day 17 – P.E.I.
Day 18 – Prince Edwards Hill Country & North
Day 19 – Take The Ferry!
Day 20 – Nova Scotia
Day 21 – Finding Bullwinkle!
Day 22 – Boulangerie!
Day 23 – Cross Canada Tour!
Day 24 – Au Revoir, Quebec!
Day 25 – A LOT of Water!
Day 26 – Land of the Browns
Day 27 – Land of the Browns Fanatics!
Day 28 – Let’s Rock!
Day 29 – Flight 93 Memorial
Day 30 – Country Roads, Take Me Home

2021: The Year

The 2021In Review. Nobody actually  reads this stuff, right? In 2021 I rode my bike a lot, fell off my bike a lot, worked a lot, ate a lot, went to church a lot, traveled a lot, goofed off a lot, and met a lot of women online. And a few off. I’m still alone a lot.

As the year began I pursued a lady I was crazy about. It seemed to be going pretty well until she told me she needed to figure out her feelings about her ex. Then she started dating some dogfaced guy with a motorcycle. 

I made another winter trip to Florida to ride mountain bikes alone and with friends.

In May I fell for a woman who happened into my life, despite living 256 miles away. I spent three days with her and had a wonderful time. Then it blew up after I came home. It still makes no sense to me.

In May I attended my honorary son’s wedding. They are now expecting their first child.

I donated blood plasma a dozen times.

I sold my 1998 Camry for salvage. Nearly 350,000 miles on the odometer.

In August my friend GW helped bolt solar panels to the roof of my van! Now I camp with a refrigerator and a microwave, and can recharge my bicycle and run a coffee maker!

In September I traveled internationally! I saw a lot of Canada, especially Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia. I saw the Statue of Liberty, Niagara Falls and visited the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame. I ate lobster rolls and a lot of other good food. I saw a moose up close in the wild.

I did a lot of food delivery work, think GrubHub / DoorDash / Uber Eats. I was also blessed to start a job doing rapid delivery. I do mostly in-state deliveries, but once I drove to Florida and back. 1300 miles in 26 hours!

I was invited to a High Point Rockers baseball game, and I saw Ace Frehley and Alice Cooper.

I hosted my friend Morgan and helped him court his girl. Then he disappeared.

A great lady named Linda took me to see the play Wicked! Then I saw it again! 

I was diagnosed with skin cancer, for which I am undergoing treatment.

In November I spent a few days at Myrtle Beach with my BFF. We walked on the beach, saw a Christmas light display, played mini golf and ate steak!

During the Christmas season I  attended three Moravian Love Feast services. And now it’s time for a New Year. As great as 2021 was, it was also hard. I didn’t get closure on some things, and other things still remain to be resolved. All in all I’m ready to give 2022 a chance!

The year in photos…

Day 30: You CAN Go Home Again!

And I did! I had a very restful night at a picnic area in the Monongahela National Forest of West Virginia. Some of the photos really show how the fall leaves are evident there, it was beautiful. The rest of the drive-thru West Virginia was very twisty, but beautiful. It also included the George Washington National Forest.

Day 29: In Remembrance

My destination was the Flight 93 Memorial, located at the site of the crash in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. The first thing you come to is the Tower of Voices, a huge Tower with a 40 chimes, one for each passenger and crew member. You then drive several miles to reach the visitor center, and then another drive takes you down to visit the actual crash site. The memorial is very hard to visit emotionally, but I encourage everyone to visit it. It is also very educational and I am very grateful to the park ranger who shared so much information. The actual crash site and debrisfield are off limits, except to family members of the victims.

Day 28: Hey, hey. My, my.

It’s hard to tell Cleveland ‘Goodbye!’

Day 27: Not What I Had Planned!

I woke up, made coffee and found a Denny’s on the way to the church that I had picked out for today. All I was there I talked to a lady at the next table about what to do in Cleveland. When I went to pay the cashier told me that the lady had paid my bill for me. I was shocked but was able to catch up with her in the parking lot, and asked her why she did that? She told me it was to thank me for the conversation. I was really surprised but grateful to run into such a nice person. I wondered if it was because she thought I was broke. Thanks again, Heidi! I went to 9:00 a.m. service at Cleveland Baptist Church. It was the first day of revival and they had a really good speaker from Florida. I spoke to the pastor after the service and he was very nice.

A real lesson in selfishness

I was sitting in my car at McDonald’s, in Cleveland today, eating my lunch. I saw him in a winter coat walking down the sidewalk it was right in front of my car. First thought that came into my head was “I hope he doesn’t ask me for money.” You never even looked at me, but he did look into the garbage can by the sidewalk right in front of me. He pulled out at McDonald’s bag and seemed to be looking through it. I don’t know if he found anything to eat or not, but I felt about one inch tall for my selfish thoughts. That point I would have loved for him to ask me or something. I think I would have bought him anything he wanted to eat. I’m so fortunate, I’m able to go on a month-long vacation and do just about anything I want and I worry about someone asking me for a few dollars. I even had a stranger by my own breakfast, this morning. I pray that things go well for that man, and I pray that I have a less selfish attitude in the future. I’m humbled. Thank you for the lesson, Father.

Friends Wherever I Go!

Stopped for a big breakfast on the way to church and ended up picking the mind of the lady at the next table about places to go in the Cleveland are. When I went to pay the cashier handed me back my bill and said “Your bill has been paid!” I was shocked to learn that the lady I had spoken with had paid my bill for me! I chased her down in the parking lot and asked her why she did that. She said it was to thank me for the conversation. I told her that I should have been thanking her. and did thank her with a big hug. Thanks Heidi, you’re a good person!

Day 26: On To Cleveland!

After a pretty good night’s sleep I messed around and had a good power breakfast before finally getting on the road, covering the last few miles taking me to Cleveland. It actually seems like a very nice city, very large with a beautiful downtown. A number of stadiums, due to their professional sports teams, and museums.

Day 25: Maybe the best day!

Niagara Falls. What is there to say? Everyone has seen images of it but there is nothing like seeing it with your own eyes. So big, so much power. After a quick stop by the visitor center I went down to the falls and parked. The first thing I saw was a black squirrel. Crazy. I walked past the power station and over to the falls and that’s when the amazement begins. I took about 300 pictures and went on the boat tour and took some more pictures. Incredible! Only a 10 hour drive from home, everyone should see it.