Dreams

The ride from Hamburg, NY to Niagara Falls took us through some.....'interesting'.....areas.  Leaving the city of Hamburg was uneventful.....well, almost.  We hadn't been on the road more than 5 minutes when we sighted an old locomotive parked on the tracks.  Of course, this meant of photo op....

"All aboard"

It's kinda fun slowing down and behaving like a kid.  Speaking of schools, the kids are still in session here--they don't get out of school until late June.  Leaving so early in the morning, I frequently see the children waiting to be picked up at the bus stop.  It's fun to listen to their comments as we sail by in our colorful outfits; the most common remark I overhear is "Is this a parade?"

Our traveling troupe draws a lot of attention and questions from the curious.    It is entertaining to watch the different expressions fleet across their faces as it soaks in that they have just been told we're riding from North Dakota to Maine.  I think most of the time, when we are asked where we're going and from where we have departed, they are expecting short distances of a dozen miles.  The amazement and incredulity of our answers is almost universal.  Upon receiving and fully comprehending the answer, the questioner will often tell a bit about himself....either something he has done that he is proud of or what he dreams of doing some day.  The most incredible story came from a man missing an arm, with a hook in its place.  He lost his arm, and almost his life, when he was working for the railroad and a locomotive ran over him.  His back was broken, he lost his arm and a kidney and his 'guts' were rearranged and exposed.  Upon recovering from that, and I am sure a good financial settlement, he took up car racing, and during a race hit the wall, flipped the car, which caught on fire, and injured his neck as well as suffering burns.  The man was 64; he moved like he was 80, but he still had a zest for life and was planning his next big adventure; it didn't include car racing or bicycling.  As I meet people on this ride who share what they want to do, I encourage them not to wait, to do it now; one never knows what the future holds and to live their life with no regrets now. 

What about you?  What do you dream of doing....