day fifty-five: lums pond state park to trap pond state park (138km)

Today's ride was sponsored by the numbers 71, 13 and 24.

Rose at quarter till six. Had to make several trips back and forth to the toilet block. Not only was this the most expensive public campground so far this trip; it had the longest walk from the tent-only sites to the toilets.

Had second breakfast over the Summit Bridge and on to Middletown. Couple at the next table asked where I was riding from and to. "Oh, I could never do that! ...Though my husband did a lot of riding when he was younger."

Low-grade fever continued from yesterday. Bought a ridiculously overpriced pair of Advil tablets at one gas station, which took a while to kick in but did help.

Made the mistake coming in to Dover of staying on US13 rather than taking Alt13. So instead of seeing the capitol and downtown, I saw one long business strip. After that I realized that "Alt13" meant Old 13, so when Alt13 would veer off, so would I. On one of those diversions I stopped at a thrift-shop-and-grocery, where I bought what had to be the cheapest vegetables of the trip. The cashier just looked at my pile of vegetables and said they'd be a dollar.

Had to cycle the last 10km to the campground on two-lane roads in the dark. More often than not, the drivers would switch to high beams when they saw me. Must be some instinctive reaction. The shoulders were extra wide -- thank you Delaware! -- but oh, my eyes.

Tonight is -- barring mechanical breakdown -- my last night on the road. I am tired (from the low-grade fever, I'd suppose), sad, excited and pleased, all at the same time. When I started this journey 17 July, I was expecting to finish around 21 August. By 10 August I had only reached the geographical center of North America. I lost three days from broken spokes and consequent freewheel problems (two full days and two half days), one day for illness, and two-and-a-half days due to heavy rain (having not been rained on once on my bike the whole way till I reached Pennsylvania). I dealt with stomach problems and long long long climbs (and equally mad descents!) in British Columbia, swarms of vicious black flies in Montana, crazy winds in Minnesota that had me wanting to quit, obnoxious drivers in Ohio, flattering admirers in Pennsylvania. I have met incredibly generous strangers and visited with friends and relatives, most of whom I had not seen in years. I have seen (and smelled!) some of the sobering effects of climate change, and I have seen (and heard) the sobering reality of just how badly this country is divided, its inhabitants living in (at least) two nearly noon-intersecting realities. In one, Clinton is a Commie traitor, and Trump has made America great again, while the spirit of the Confederacy burns on, brightly. In the other, Clinton is a flawed but intellectually deeply competent leader, Trump is a pathological liar, and the Civil War (which was really our second civil war, as my history professors at university pointed out) is a closed matter. One side is seething with hate, the other all but trapped in despair. Both sides are so very afraid and angry, in their own ways, and intolerance is all around: every time I see (as I did again today) a sign in a store saying "we reserve the right to refuse service to anyone"; every time the fear and anger get in the way of dialogue. So many of the problems I saw seemed like unhelpful distractions from the very real problems this country, and world, are facing -- problems that are rarely acknowledged never mind addressed.

I started this trip needing to find myself again and remind myself why it is exactly that I'm alive (a question that too many people, I think, never bother to ask). I'm not sure yet -- after all, the trip isn't *quite* over! -- but I think I've found the answers I needed. If nothing else, I have had some truly wonderful moments and life, of course, finds its truest value in a scattering of such moments.