Erie, Pennsylvania

Erie seemed to be a repeat of Buffalo. A tired, abandoned industrial city. After walking around downtown, I holed up in the hotel. And that might have been my opinion of Erie. But before heading out, I decided to take a look at Presque Isle State Park. It is beautiful! I suspect it is jammed full in season, but in mid-November it was sparsely attended. Fantastic views out over Lake Erie and surprising history from the War of 1812.

While not from Lake Erie, the phrase “Don’t give up the ship” originates from the War of 1812. And Pogo’s derivative aside, “We have met the enemy and they are ours” comes from Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry’s battle on Lake Erie in ships built at Presque Isle.

A change in plans

Up and down. Up and down. What a difference a day makes. Thank you to all that have expressed concern and support in my struggles. I have found myself sinking into a malaise after I set out on my own, with no “hosts”. I have been both stewing about my fate, and stewing about stewing. If I had any common sense, I would have just gone to WWJD. It took a few days and some good advice, to remember the golden rule. Whether I say that I don’t have the mental toughness and discipline right now to carry out my original plan, or I listen to Janelle who would have said, “You can’t do fucking everything, cut it in half”, I end up needing to make changes.

The plan was to drive “Everywhere”, listen to our music collection en route, walk, exercise, study for school, and sleep in the car. That clearly not doing good things for me right now. First, the music – it is just a new reminder every three and a half minutes, as songs change, of my loss. It isn’t a pleasure, its a punishment. I’ve stopped that until a future date.

I’m committed to the song-cities. So the route stays. But I’m going to slow it down a bit. I’ve turned off my alarm, so no early starts. I’m going to focus on walking and exercise at the start of the day. That isn’t just important physically, it helps tremendously with my state of mind. Especially the walking. I found a city park in Erie and walked a mile this morning before hitting the road. Then another 3-1/2 miles in Cleveland.

After exercise is study. An hour or two before I hit the road. Reinstating the balance of the original plan that I apparently threw out the window on day one. Subbing Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for study tomorrow. Point is, not driving.

That leave’s sleeping in the car. I still think it is workable, but not now. Sleeping in the car is currently disruptive enough that it throws the exercise and study into complete disarray. That is too high a price. I started sleeping in hotels a few nights ago, and plan to continue until I’ve developed solid road habits for the other things that are more important to me.

After a couple of days sleeping in hotels and getting much more physical activity, I feel much better. Or maybe I feel much better because I’ve taken some action. Anyway, I feel much better. Thank you again for all of your support!

Cleveland, Ohio

I don’t know, I suspect I can’t know, if I find Cleveland more appealing because my outlook has improved, or because Cleveland has turned a corner that Buffalo and Erie have not yet found. I walked three and a half miles around downtown this afternoon and plan to hit the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame tomorrow morning. A thoroughly pleasant afternoon.

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