Phonecia to NYC

We departed Ithaca early Saturday morning, leaving a unsightly pile of discarded motorcycle sidecars, motorcycles, unwanted camping equipment, tools and chemicals on Chris' parking strip. We drove to the Catskills, where we secured last-minute camping in the town of Phonecia. I had forgotten that it was a weekend day, and we were lucky to score any camping at all, much less a great spot on a festive, well-tubed river. Nina and Elle, two friends of Chris' from Manhattan, took a train out from the city and joined us. They are both doing their residencies at a hospital in NYC, and even though they had both been on call the night before and hadn't slept at all, they did a great job recreating on the river and around the campfire. Respect. We were further joined by Jan and John, two guys at the neighboring campsite who were out from the city celebrating John's 40th. It was the most social camping of the trip by far.









Once in Manhattan the next day, Chris, Jeff and I rented bikes and tore all over the island, leaving Nina and Elle to digest the news that Chris had planned on having us crash at their small apartment. We did Central Park, Times Square, Greenwich Village, SOHO, Tribeca, Chinatown, the Brooklyn Bridge, Brooklyn, and dinner at a great Peruvian chicken spot back near N&L's place. We went to bed tired.

The next day, Jeff had had it with the dirty heat and biking, but he still stepped up and helped me do some critical bit of shopping on 47th street. All went well.

Even compared to the bad days on the road, continually laying in parking lots wrenching on misbehaving bikes in the hot midwest, I never felt dirtier and more uncomfortable than the two days I spent drenched in sooty, oily sweat while hanging out in Manhattan. Whew! One look at Jeff while we were out and about in the city, and I'm very sure he feels the same.