Overcoming F.E.A.R. or False Evidence Appearing Real seems to have been the theme for this first week of our trip. Whether it was realizing that some reactions to our adventure were the result of their own F.E.A.R.s or finding the strength to pull through when the hills were too steep and night was coming.
Day 1
D-day went off without a hitch. Even after only four hour sleep we still left on time and made it to our last Chinese classes on time! The principal invited me to talk to the students about our upcoming trip and listen to another student’s trip to Africa during the spring break. LP has also been asked to give a talk when we get back in September, so we’ve got an extra incentive for keeping his log!
After class LP and I had lunch at a park around the corner and while he played on the park I confirmed our directions to our first overnight in Stow, MA. I even had a small nap before we headed out. Arriving around 5:30 at our wonderful host’s home I collapsed next to their backyard pond while LP enjoyed hammock before meeting T and C who prepared an amazing dinner and entertained LP with a homemade Pokemon bingo and even a Staeryue costume for LP to try on! The night was perfect, moonlit, and LP and I were serenaded by nature on our first night on the road.
Day 2
I had read that the second day was one of the worst on a tour and… It was so true! I started out with the best of intentions and ideas of grandeur to get to Greenfield by the end of the day. Our second host was scheduled a month prior and it had been my intention to spend the first night halfway between Boston and this host. However, we ended up unable to a secure a host closer than Stow (17 miles from Boston), which ended up working out since I’d never give up having met T and C! Around 4:00 PM LP and I had climbed a number of hills and been reduced to walking up many of them by the time we reached Princeton, Ma and were only halfway to our intended destination. Then it became a matter of, “well, what do we do now?” And, “what do we feel capable of doing, as far as distance is concerned?” We were pretty close to being in the middle of nowhere as far as tourism and amenities for people not in cars are concerned. The closest possible hosts were about 10 miles north and south and no campsites were coming up on google. Finally, the search for a “motel” pulled up a Rodeway Inn eight miles away. I felt confident we could make those eight miles, and when I put it to LP that we could either do eight miles to the motel or 60 back home, he made the choice to do eight.
However, choosing and doing are two very different things, and about halfway in I was reduced to tears as the mountain just kept going up and all I wanted to do was pitch our tent and call it a day! I had a little boy who needed to be fed and I just wanted somewhere warm and dry for the night. But Massachusetts is not a friendly place to the stealth camper, or maybe the virgin-stealth camper. Both sides of the road were at steep grades or over ditches and were still fairly visible at 5 in the afternoon to the roadway. But, my little prince prevailed and turned my words back on me. So what could I do but get up and get moving?
An hour later Little Prince and I pedaled up another steep incline, registered for a hotel room, and found ourselves showered and exhausted eating microwaved dinner while watching the Mighty Ducks before turning out the light.
Elizabeth E. Yahn 