Friday July 18 Day 63 Dawson to West Mifflin 48 miles, The end of two months

Got off from Dawson shortly after 8:00 on my last day on this trail. After about an hour I gained a riding companion, Armand, who rode with me for about 10 miles. I welcomed the conversation. It kept my mind off the mile markers. When we reached his town I stopped at an information office and there ran into a guy from Maine, of about my age, with a fully loaded bike, heading west in quite a similar endeavor. He had crossed the country a couple of times before and impressed me with his level of organization, and confidence. I have been pondering the fact that the back roads of the central states, while more pleasant to ride will presumably not have much by way of tourist accommodations. He spoke very assuredly about sleeping in small town parks, etc. There was no question that we would go together since he was following a southern route.

When he had gone I got into conversation with a pair of locals, out for their exercise and we ended up riding together most of the rest of the trail. The wife will be attending a conference in Seattle in March and our rapport was such that I invited. them to call on us and perhaps stay with us when they are there.

Both Armand and the couple, Rebecca and Art, rode a bit faster than I had ridden while alone so I got to McKeesport by mid afternoon. I called Joanne Yablonsky's sister Gail, who lives in the adjacent borough, and advised her of my coming. I got some directions, climbed a really steep hill, in high heat of the afternoon and finally came to her home by use of the GPS on my Blackberry. This was really the first time to use it to get to a specific place. Joanne and Gail's brother Mark saw me biking by and called out to me. Gail immediately began to care for my needs which included a shower, food, and most of all a plan for what happens next.

Have I made it known that I am wavering in my resolve? My first hour of the day had been spent in heavy consideration of the idea of flying home from Pittsburgh. There are still lots and lots and lots of miles between here and Wolf Point Montana. Does it serve any purpose to ride them? I am very ambivalent, but comments such as the one from Shoes On certainly encourage me to continue. With Gail there was no talk of stopping and much attention to how to get through and beyond Pittsburgh. As I write this on Saturday morning, that question is still not resolved, but progress is being made.

Gail, who is a vegetarian outdoors person, does not approve of me taking Myrtle from the wild.

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