Monday, August 9, 2021

Day 58 - A birthday for the books

Today is my birthday and not surprisingly, one I will never forget.  I don’t have a lot of pictures to show and you’ll understand why in a few minutes…..

The day started out fantastic in the Fairport Brewery Parking lot in the industrial section of Rochester NY.  What more could you ask for!  We were looking forward to leisurely morning with coffee and maybe a nice walk around the warehouses.  As I walked outside, I noticed a group of about 20 people gathering and I wondered who told them it was my birthday.  I walked out to find out what was really
going on and Mal (city renewal task force member) told me there were doing a photoshoot to publicize all the projects they are kicking off in the city.   Though they didn’t say it, I don’t think the RV was welcome in their shoot and surprisingly they didn’t care that it was my birthday so we left to Genesee Brewery to start the days ride.  

As I got my gear ready Cheryl surprised me with a nice birthday card!  Now I’m fired up to get pedaling. Since we are actually a little ahead of schedule, we didn’t need to put in a lot of miles today so we headed toward a nice RV park on Lake Ontario called Hughes Marina and Campground about 31 miles away.  There was nothing special about the ride.  Fairly flat on decent roads through some rural area (pictures will have to wait).  We did get some bad news in that the check engine light came back on!  We verified it was still the P0300 code.  Well, we were due for a fill up so we will get some premium gas and add some injection cleaner like my buddies at Coffman told me.  Damn it!  

Of course that didn’t ruin my appetite.  Next on the list?  Where to eat lunch.  We had to hit another local drive-in, this time it was Orbakers.  Been around since 1932.  Great food and they even had red velvet cake ice cream.  Red velvet cake is my birthday tradition. (pictures will have to wait) 

We pulled into Hughes to check in and somehow my phone fell out of the compartment I keep it in on the front of my bike and I didn’t notice it.  After we checked in and set up, I couldn’t find my phone and my watch said it was out of range.   Damn.  So, I retraced my steps and as I approached the office where the RV was parked I saw a man with what appeared to be my phone in his hand.  A sigh of relief that he had my phone turned to horror as he handed it to me.  It had been run over and was completely smashed.  The new case I purchased a few weeks ago said it was good for drops up to 6 feet but didn’t mention anything about being run over by a truck.  Phones are so important these days and even personal, so standing in Hughes Campground in Williamson NY, holding this smashed phone was a little emotional.  

Well, here we go, one more thing to figure out.  Fortunately, I still have my iPad and Cheryl has her phone.  I contacted my colleagues at Nike and not surprisingly they jumped into action and wheels were turning to get me a replacement (oh did I mention it was Sunday?).  What tremendous people I work with.

After a delicious dinner and a couple Margaritas (thank you Cheryl!), we had a wonderful FaceTime call with the family.  My mom just recently changed from an Android to an iPhone and can now join in.  Welcome to the club mom but remember, iPhones are amazing, but they don’t like to be run over.  

So, all things considered, I had a great birthday.  Sure, the RV isn’t running great and my phone is a smashed piece of glass and metal but I’m doing what I love with the one I love and have a tremendous support system.  Things could be a whole lot worse.  I am very grateful.

Tomorrow, we ride to North Volney and try to figure out how to get a phone.  I’m confident it will all come together!


Until then….




3 comments:

  1. First glace at today's post and I'm thinking: "What the ....?" No barn picture. No Chris and Cheryl signature closing selfie. Of course now that I've read the post I understand why. Yikes. That's too bad. I hope your photos of your adventure are in The Cloud. They are priceless. Also hope the premium gas and injector cleaner does the trick for the RV. I like your positive attitude.

    Oh, by the way, HAPPY BIRTHDAY! Pretty awesome that you are doing what you love with the one you love. Can't get any better than that!


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  2. Correction: There is a signature Chris and Cheryl closing picture. Don't know how I missed it. I guess I couldn't get passed the picture of the crushed cell phone.

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  3. Happy Birthday young man. Definitely need to write with a phone so that you can phone a friend if necessary.

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