Day One – May 2

Day One – May 2 – Maplewood, NJ to Charlotte, NC —–Daily total travel 632 miles – 11.5 Hours. Got off to a stumbling, bumbling start this first day. One of the basic tenets established for this adventure is to engage interesting people in conversation wherever and whenever possible and appropriate. Well, my first stop was for a classic “heart healthy” breakfast at a Cracker Barrel restaurant close to Allentown, PA on I-78. Here, I was served by a bubbly and very nice young lady. From this point, I started my first stumble/bumble. All seemed swell until I attempted to explain to this young lady how I was on this bike adventure and that it would really be nice to get a photo of her and some of her coworkers for a blog that I had started. The young lady seemed to change her demeaner and immediately ran to the kitchen leaving me holding my camera and waiting for my first photo op. Ten minutes later she reappeared, very business like, and told me that everyone was busy inside the restaurant and that maybe someone would help with a photo outside. I started to try and explain myself a little better but, then figured that her perception of me might only get worse with a second explaination and so I just thanked her and left. Hence, the attached photo of me standing beside the dry goods display outside the Cracker Barrel in Allentown, PA.