New York waits for a glancing blow from hurricane Earl. He's in decline.

Dealing with the Heat

It was 94 degrees in New York today. After walking fifty blocks to have lunch with my cousin, I looked like I had gone swimming when I arrived. Fifth Avenue is a toy city – every block filled with store sized brands. Could have been made of Legos or lifted from SimCity. Here's one that is being disappeared.

The house seal was here.

They just haven't gotten the stone cutters over yet!

Here comes another ... home town boys store.

The world ... is in New York!

In New York - holding the world up.

Outside Trump Tower. His goal post?

THIS IS THE MACRO PLAN

(This route  is on Ride With GPS. You can move around and zoom in and out there.)

After spending a few days in Amsterdam, where I will buy a bike (just as conveyance, nothing fancy) and explore the city, I'll then head east for Poland. Berlin will be the half way point and I'll hang there for a couple of days too. The total distance on the route illustrated is about 825 miles, with 18,000 total feet of climbing - 1500 feet a day ... not much compared to Northern Sonoma County. I hope to ride about half the distance, weather permitting. The rest of the miles will be by train. I have 12 (+/-) days to get to Warsaw. Rain, fatigue, breakdowns, or interesting places will alter the basic strategy.

PREPARING, REPAIRING, PACKING and REPACKING

At 7 AM this morning (4 hours from now) my mother and I leave for the San Francisco Airport. Now that I've set up this blog and know I can post from my iPhone or email, I am going to repack! Again.