Fair winds to my crew members on board. I'll see y'all in HI.
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
Ship Shape
It was a busy two weeks with Robert C. Seamans but she is refit, repainted and ready to take on the Pacific Ocean.
Fair winds to my crew members on board. I'll see y'all in HI.
Fair winds to my crew members on board. I'll see y'all in HI.
Sunday, September 2, 2012
Oceanfront Real Estate
It has been a while since I've been able to sleep in the same place for more than two nights. I'm tempted to pack my bag each morning and put on a spandex suit but I'm slowly starting to realize that the B&B lifestyle is now a thing of the past.
Instead, I awake to a silent ship with the sun peaking through my bunks porthole window. For those of you unfamiliar with sea jargon, portholes are the small round windows on the sides of ships and if one happens to be stationed in your bunk then life is good. Life is good.
I'm still trying to get reacquainted with the shipboard lifestyle but it's all starting to come back to me. The floor is called the sole, kitchen is called galley, and every night at sundown the flags must be lowered and folded into a triangle with thirteen stars showing on the outside to represent the thirteen colonies.
I'll be volunteering aboard the Robert C. Seamans for a total of 18 days at which point I'll need to find a new place to call home. As for now, food is great, people are interesting and the sea is omnipresent.
Fair Winds,
CS
Instead, I awake to a silent ship with the sun peaking through my bunks porthole window. For those of you unfamiliar with sea jargon, portholes are the small round windows on the sides of ships and if one happens to be stationed in your bunk then life is good. Life is good.
I'm still trying to get reacquainted with the shipboard lifestyle but it's all starting to come back to me. The floor is called the sole, kitchen is called galley, and every night at sundown the flags must be lowered and folded into a triangle with thirteen stars showing on the outside to represent the thirteen colonies.
I'll be volunteering aboard the Robert C. Seamans for a total of 18 days at which point I'll need to find a new place to call home. As for now, food is great, people are interesting and the sea is omnipresent.
Fair Winds,
CS
Wednesday, August 29, 2012
Coast To Coast
I'm not really sure how else to say this but, holy shit. What a fucking summer! 10 weeks ago I left Portland, Maine with 32 strangers to cycle tour (which I'd never done) across a country (which I'd never seen) to support a cause I new nothing about.
I guess when you get to the end you really start to think about the beginning. The uncertainties, the discomfort, the daunting task that stands in front if you. Really the only constant throughout it all were the 32 other people crazy enough to join me. We struggled, we reveled, and we proved to any and all that anything is possible.
It won't be long until the intimate details of each town will begin to fade but there are some things I'll just never forget. I've seen beauty and disgust, tears and laughter (lots and lots if laughter). I've seen what an impact 33 young adventurists can have on a home, a family and each other. I've seen mountains and deserts, oceans and forests. I've seen the toughest people in the country work their asses off to feed their families. I've seen what generosity lies in the most unexpected places. I've seen growth of character, growth of community, and growth of thigh muscles. I've seen the winding roads that make up the circulatory system of this great country. I've seen the heart and soul of America.
Thank you to all who made this journey possible and to those who made it with me. Though this great adventure has since come to a close, I would encourage you all to never stop exploring.
I guess when you get to the end you really start to think about the beginning. The uncertainties, the discomfort, the daunting task that stands in front if you. Really the only constant throughout it all were the 32 other people crazy enough to join me. We struggled, we reveled, and we proved to any and all that anything is possible.
It won't be long until the intimate details of each town will begin to fade but there are some things I'll just never forget. I've seen beauty and disgust, tears and laughter (lots and lots if laughter). I've seen what an impact 33 young adventurists can have on a home, a family and each other. I've seen mountains and deserts, oceans and forests. I've seen the toughest people in the country work their asses off to feed their families. I've seen what generosity lies in the most unexpected places. I've seen growth of character, growth of community, and growth of thigh muscles. I've seen the winding roads that make up the circulatory system of this great country. I've seen the heart and soul of America.
Thank you to all who made this journey possible and to those who made it with me. Though this great adventure has since come to a close, I would encourage you all to never stop exploring.
Sunday, August 26, 2012
Personal Presents
The rents flew to Santa Barbara to surprise me on my 22nd birthday yesterday and will be joining the revelry today as we roll our bicycles into the Pacific ocean. 
Wednesday, August 22, 2012
Monday, August 20, 2012
Vegas Baby, Vegas
The Bike and Build team took advantage of our one night in Nevada and headed up to sin city for a night of revelry.
We put 27 people in a 25 seat bus and sang our way up to Vegas. Upon arrival, we fell asleep. The thing about bike and builders is that we are not that interested in big cities and large crowds of people. Having to walk anywhere seems wildly inefficient when we know a bike would have gotten us there in half the time. Most of us are broke and if we weren't before, we are now. We look like a bunch of losers with the most juxtaposed tan lines on the planet. But most of all, we can sleep anywhere. Lawns, driveways, sidewalks, gas station floors, you name it we've probably napped on it.
So here we are in arguably the most entertaining city in the country and we are just so exhausted and so uninterested in what was going on that we take naps in restaurants, lobby floors, and even at the slot machines.
What really got us jazzed however, was the epic day to follow.
Our bus got back to the host at 1:30. Wake up was at 5 a.m. Morning coffee was a must to shake the hangover. We loaded up on sunscreen and water and embarked on a 103 mile day through the Mojave Desert to get to Baker, California. That's right, California, our 19th and final state of the journey. A beginning to and end if you will.
This is how I know the Maine to Santa Barbara crew is a bunch of crazy people. We party on the way to Vegas, catch z's while we're there, and wake up on 4 hours of sleep to bike 100 miles through the 113 degree desert on what we deemed, "The most poorly paved road in America," for no better reason other than the fact that we are willing and able.
This is our idea of a good time. This is our Vegas.
We put 27 people in a 25 seat bus and sang our way up to Vegas. Upon arrival, we fell asleep. The thing about bike and builders is that we are not that interested in big cities and large crowds of people. Having to walk anywhere seems wildly inefficient when we know a bike would have gotten us there in half the time. Most of us are broke and if we weren't before, we are now. We look like a bunch of losers with the most juxtaposed tan lines on the planet. But most of all, we can sleep anywhere. Lawns, driveways, sidewalks, gas station floors, you name it we've probably napped on it.
So here we are in arguably the most entertaining city in the country and we are just so exhausted and so uninterested in what was going on that we take naps in restaurants, lobby floors, and even at the slot machines.
What really got us jazzed however, was the epic day to follow.
Our bus got back to the host at 1:30. Wake up was at 5 a.m. Morning coffee was a must to shake the hangover. We loaded up on sunscreen and water and embarked on a 103 mile day through the Mojave Desert to get to Baker, California. That's right, California, our 19th and final state of the journey. A beginning to and end if you will.
This is how I know the Maine to Santa Barbara crew is a bunch of crazy people. We party on the way to Vegas, catch z's while we're there, and wake up on 4 hours of sleep to bike 100 miles through the 113 degree desert on what we deemed, "The most poorly paved road in America," for no better reason other than the fact that we are willing and able.
This is our idea of a good time. This is our Vegas.
Saturday, August 18, 2012
Turn Left
I can't smell the salt air quite yet but I'm starting to get the impression that we are pretty close to Cali. 
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