The day was fine. Our folks carted us over the bridge. It was a terrifying feeling riding in a car. Everything moved so fast. Breaking was a nightmare. It seemed as if my Dad was waiting to the last second and then jamming on the breaks. Of course he wasn't, I was just used to the slow and steady pace of my bike. It took a few weeks to get used to driving.

We arranged a meeting in Salem for lunch. We rode easily to Salem. Our parents were carrying our bags. My bike was sixty pounds lighter than normal. It felt fast, and ready for the Ocean.

In Salem we proved our road skills. We met the folks on the West Edge of town. I predicted that there would be a diner on the East Edge. We met a short while later at the fifties style diner, exactly as I had imagined.

After lunch our parents headed to the shore, planning to meet us on the Beach of Avalon. The ride flew by. We were both excited, and I was now sixty pounds lighter than ussual. It was strange how accostumed I had grown to the big rig. The mass and momentum of it felt perfect to me. All day I had to control my exilaration, or end up sprinting all the way across the state on my light light bike. I was glad of the few supplies I brought though. I got two flats and Patti's tire ended up with a slow leak.

The farmlands, forests and sandy marshlands of southern New Jersey flew by under the warm and friendly sun. It was good to feel the sea air and smell the salt water mid way through the day. It reminded me of riding out of Astoria. Pulling in to Avalon I could hear the ocean. For one reason or another, our elders wouldn't let us rush to the ocean right away. You can imagine my impatience. I had travelled three thousand miles. Nothing had stopped us, not mountains, rivers, storms, hostile motorists, cities, a heat wave, headwinds or stinging rain. Our parent's will was more powerfull than all of these. At one point I waited fifteen minutes alone in the parking lot, one hundred feet from seeing the Ocean, while our parents got out camera's. It was Ironic and extremely funny.

They finally let us go, so we did, biking off the walkway, flopping over in the impassable sand dunes. We dismounted and walked to the harder wet sand. We got back on at last and rode right in. Hurrican Hugo had whipped up the sea into angry waves. It was as if the earth was daring us to go on.

I'll never forget the confidence and serenity I had that day. I could do anything, nothing could hurry me. There was time enough for everything, life's troubles would be overcome all in due time. I looked back west from the water and knew exactly how far, and how high, or continent was.