Just When We Thought We Were Comfortable

A coyote howling in the night used to scare us into our tent. Rainy days used to bring our spirits down. A bear was something we'd fear enough to keep us awake throughout the night.

Now, we wake each other up to listen to the call of the coyotes and we smile, knowing they'll never make their way close to our tent. The rain just gets us wet. The bear has become a nuisance that would rather steal our bike shorts hanging to dry in the tree than find it's way to our tent.

We've come accustomed to living in the great outdoors.  Listening to the plethora of little critters run through the brush on the side of the road, peeling off layer after layer as the sun peeks above the horizon and heats up our world, and sitting down to a pasta dinner with a headlamp as our candle light and the background music of a soothing symphony of cicadas has become part of our daily life.

We may have been somewhat daunted about living with so little at first, but, just as we all learn to live with what we have, or don't have, at home, Adam and I have learned to live with the simplicity of our life today.

We've learned to live with it, and lately, even love it... dare I say we maybe even prefer it?

We set up our tent the other night, the only ones in the campground, and Adam smiled, telling me how much he loved living in a tent ... I smiled in agreement. As we sat down to dinner that night, I looked up at Adam to judge whether or not he approved of the macaroni and hot dogs I served up. 

Then, the light from my headlamp highlighted two eyes in the distance. I scanned the woods and found three more pairs of eyes. They weren't fazed by our shouting, charging, or rock throwing, but eventually they just moved on, realizing the food might be too much of a fight for them.

Still, it sure startled us enough to inhale the rest of our food and quickly hide in the safety of our tent.

Maybe I could get used to a house.

Christy and Adam are currently in Eureka, CA. That means they've made it from coast to coast to coast! Congrats Christy and Adam!!!!!!

To find out more, check out their blog at http://giveabike.blogspot.com/ or their Facebook Page at https:/ /www.facebook.com/giveabike. To see where they are, you can check out this map at Track My Tour. Christy will be writing occasional stories for Patch as she and her husband make their way through the U.S.

Madison Patch is proud to be the Connecticut sponsor for Adam and Christy's trip. If you'd like to sponsor their trip, visit this page on their website.