Paris, Norway and Maine - Around the World in 10 Minutes

I'm in Paris, Maine. Slept on the shores of Lake Pennesseewassee last night, near the town of Norway, Maine.

Norway, Paris - I'm getting the feeling that this is another state that didn't want to bother with the naming of their towns, so they too just whipped out the globe, spun it around its axis and where it stops - why that's the name of our town!

I saw the sign for Lake Pennesseewassee and immediately slammed on the brakes and turned left down the road to the boat launch. Some things are no-brainers, such as the opportunity to sleep near a lake called Pennesseewassee.

There was misty fog enveloping the lake this morning. Once the sun came up, the illuminating light danced around with the water molecules, do-si-do-ing its partner round and round a carousel of magic morning light.

Oh - speaking of lakes - I saw Lake Winnipesaukee on the map the other day!
It actually exists! In central New Hampshire.
I was so excited. Doctoooor Leeeeeooooo Marviiiiiin - you cured meee, you geeeenius!
And if you haven't seen What About Bob - then you should.

So, it's time for my mind to hit the rewind button, to 3 days ago. Hop in its 'time. machine.'

Is it too much to ask to get sharks with freaking laser beams attached to their freaking heads?!?

After staying with Barry in the backwoods of Vermont, I backtracked 5 miles to Waterbury, where the Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream Factory was. I had missed it the first time through, but how can you pass up a chance to take a tour of an ice cream factory and eat free ice cream?
You can't.
I am good at eating ice cream. People ask - have you lost a lot of weight on your trip?
I say 'well, I've had many MANY different cheeseburgers (Commendant Lessard speaking), mucho de ice-cream cone-os and numerous six packs of beer, so no, not really.'

Upon learning that Ben and Jerry's sold their company to Unilever a few years ago 'to expand their global reach', I asked the tour guide what he thought of Ben and Jerry cashing out.

'Oh, they didn't cash out, they just figured that Unilever was better positioned to take Ben and Jerry's global.'

Whatever man, they cashed out. It's ok, I would too.

Hmmm, thousands of pieces of paper indicating your majority ownership of a company...
or, selling those thousands of pieces of paper in exchange for millions of other pieces of paper with Alexander Hamilton's picture on them. I will take Door #2 please.

They are now owned by a company that can clean you and all your 2000 body parts.
Lever 2000 - for you and all your 2000 parts. Right-o!
So now you can slop yourself up silly with Chunky Monkey, then wash it all off with soap made for your 2000 parts. One stop shopping!

They do have a lot of good social programs though, buying coffee from local growers in South America, buying brownies from an inner city bakery in the Bronx. Supporting local Vermont farmers.

Anyway, after that I went back through town, where the Red Cross was having a blood drive. I always give blood whenever I see a blood drive, so I stopped.
The Green Mountain Coffee company was giving away free coffee to donors. They had lots of representatives who were very interested in what I was doing. Eventually we got the maps out, then the Red Cross people had me rolling up my sleeves, tapping my veins - declaring them super healthy and ready for donation. The one lady was hesitent since I was cycling each day, but she relented and agreed when I told her it was not a big deal and if I felt light-headed while riding that I would stop. Before fainting and crashing.

This giving blood became an all day affair. You had to fill out an initial form, then go downstairs and wait in the waiting room, then you got called into another room to have your iron checked and blood pressure taken, then they asked you 1,374 questions about the last time you had sex with a penguin from Zambia -

Question: 'So, between 1974 and 1986 - did you travel to Tasmania and have sexual contact with any midgets?'
Answer: NO.
Question: 'In the last 6 months, have you shot heroin with anyone known to be HIV positive?
Answer: NO.
Question: 'Are you a biological male?'
Answer: Um, I took Biology in 9th grade, Mr. Warner was my teacher, is that what you mean? Oh, you mean - did I have a sex change? Ha. Um, no. I am a biological male.

Good lord! Where do they come up with this stuff???

So, after this long bizarre questionnaire, you then go upstairs and sit in another chair! Waiting to give blood. Stage 4. Finally I get to the chair. I talk with the guy taking my blood, he says 'so you were the biker outside earlier, right?'
Yes.
Where you headed again?
Bar Harbor, cross country.
Wow, that is so cool. I understand what you're getting at. It's not about the bike. It's the self-discovery, learning about self. Seeking truth.

This guy was into martial arts, very cool guy. He understood.

After giving blood, one of the Green Mountain guys stopped me and introduced me to a guy from the local radio station. He wanted to interview me on the radio. Live coverage!

I agreed, and next thing you know the radio guy is on the air, talking about the blood drive, then starts asking me questions. How many states have you been to? Where are you headed? What has been your favorite part? Given what you are doing, why in the world would you decide to give blood?

He concluded the interview by telling the people to come on down and give blood. You may very well save a life by doing so.

I never think of it that way. To me, you sit in a chair, try not to look at the red tube and bag for five minutes, then you stand up and try not to fall over, drink some juice, and on you go.

But, if you think about it, blood is pretty personal. It is unique to you. It flows through your veins and arteries, delivers vital oxygen to cells and organs and muscles. Why would you want to give that away?
You certainly don't have to. As the radio guy and I looked around the room, pondering why all of these people wanted to give of themselves, I didn't have a good answer. I think human beings are good, at the core, that's why.

The Green Mountain people gave me a Ben and Jerry's water bottle and a Green Mountain t-shirt as a thanks, and sent me on my way. Send me on my way, badddya say baddddyum. That's Rusted Root.

As I pedaled up a hill and instantly became out of breath, with 5 quarts pumping through my veins instead of 6, I wondered if maybe I shouldn't have given blood...
Oops. Oh well. I had similar thoughts later, as the night chill got the best of me. 'Maybe some extra blood would've come in handy for warming purposes...'

But the great thing about blood is that it recreates itself. Amazing.

Wouldn't you think - that if we can recreate entire sheep! - that we could recreate blood?
You would think...

On I went to Montpelier, where I met Rachael. We talked for awhile, she invited me to camp on her land. Well, her landlord's land. She called her landlord and got the ok.
I ended up talking to the landlord for hours. She lives in an old farmhouse built in the 1800s. An older lady, she shared stories about the good old days, including a car fire that happened in the backwoods of her property, during her son's graduation party. She was laughing so hard that she could barely breathe, although she claims it wasn't funny at the time.

Then, there was a knock at the backdoor of the farmhouse. She opens the door and in walks this shivering kid with no shirt on, dripping sopping wet, out of breath, his soaked pants were barely hanging on to his slight frame. What the hell?
He says 'Hi Mrs. Slatery. It's Sam.' - it was a friend of her sons. He wanted to borrow some clothes.
Apparently, he had been hopping freight cars, and was spotted by the conductor. He told the conductor 'this is my stop' and jumped off the train. But not before the conductor called the police with a physical description of him.
Poor Sam was so spooked that he ran and crawled through swamps and fought his way through thickets and forests, then came out onto a road and realized that he was close to his friend's house.

He wanted to borrow a hat too, as a disguise.

I hear helicopters circling overhead, I ask Sam if that was for him.

'No' he said, 'I hope not anyway.'

Sam called a friend and the friend came and picked him up. I liked this kid, simply because he was hopping freight cars. To me, there is a certain romance in hopping freight cars, a pursuit of the fleeting. A desire to be 'mad'.

As I lay in my tent on the front lawn of the farmhouse, I heard another helicopter overhead. Maybe Sam did more than just jump off a freight car!!! I suppose I'll never know. I'll just remember his dripping shivering self sitting in the kitchen of a Vermont farmhouse.

Did you know Vermont has a Socialist senator? Yeah, neither did I. Apparently he's a legend in Vermont though, Bernie Sanders. Great name.
This girl I met in Montpelier said she saw him shot out of a cannon at a local event.
That's when you know you're famous, when they're shooting you out of a cannon.

I don't know much about Socialism, but I do know that Vermont is one of my favorite states so far. It is rustic and beautiful, the towns are very well-designed - having a modern look to them but small town feel - the people are friendly, health-conscious, open-minded, intelligent, and easy-going - it really is a great state.

I was flying down a steep Vermont hill on my way to New Hampshire, it was a beautiful fall day, when a gust of wind caught me. Upon last glance at my odometer I was traveling 38 mph. The gust of wind made my bike swerve, and almost took my hands off the handlebars. Luckily I was able to hang on and right the ship. I swerved the other way and eventually regained control, but needless to say it was a nervous few seconds.

And that is my random story of the day.