Favorite stations; final cycling report

Radio has really kept Gail and I entertained, especially during the long days of driving. Things sure are different from previous long trips across country when I was limited to traditional radio, which is often hit or miss. Also, there's the frequent phenomena where you land on an exceptional station, only to lose the signal too soon and have it replaced with some evangelical program or faux country station. This happened yesterday as we were leaving the Badlands—I was really grooving on the musical offerings on KILI radio, the non-commercial voice of the Lakota people, broadcast from the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. They played some terrific traditional music, followed by some great country music, including a snarky song about the B.I.A. Sadly the signal faded much too soon, and instead, we were being asked to contribute to some Christian radio ministry.

We have Sirius satellite radio in the van, and we've really appreciated this fine service, in spite of some  programming limitations. My favorite station throughout has been the BBC World Service, which has kept us entertained and informed with their excellent news and arts coverage (The Strand), as well as the call-in show World Have Your Say, not to mention their Olympics coverage. We haven't been able to see much of the summer games, but we appreciate the interviews and thoughtful analysis.

In the last few days we've been really getting into the Sirious Soul Town station, a fine mix of classic Motown and Soul. You can't go wrong with Barry White, Aretha Franklin, Stevie Wonder, The Spinners and The Temptations. Other stations that have kept toes tapping include Caliente and First Wave (mostly 80s techno pop and New Wave, think New Order, Pet Shop Boys, Duran Duran, The Cure, Elvis Costello, The Smiths, Kate Bush, Talking Heads, Pretenders and such). I'm so glad that we decided to continue our subscription, and I might hold onto Sirius because of the BBC alone.

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The cycling portion of our vacation is over now, and I really feel like I made the best of my opportunities, thanks to a very understanding family. On Monday evening during our very short Badlands visit, I went for a lovely 22 mile ride through the park with the setting sun as a backdrop. Someone told me not to bother cycling in the Badlands due to traffic, but they couldn't have been more wrong. Traffic was not at all an issue, and the temperature dropped down to the upper 70s, much better than 100+ and blazing sun.

Last night I managed to get a 20 mile ride in around Albert Lea. There's a bike path that took me past farms, along railroad tracks, along a lake and under a highway. It was a scrappy little ride, but it sure as hell beat sitting around a buggy camp site. That brought me to a total of 620 miles and 51,000 vertical feet on the bike on this vacation, far more than I thought I'd be able to do. In just a few days I'll be back to the familiar Ithaca area hill climbs, but I'll be thinking about all of the memorable National Park rides for a long time to come.

If we had to do it all again...

It's Wednesday, so this must be Shererville, Indiana. It's hard to keep things straight when your days are just endless stretches of I-90. We had to negotiate our way around Chicago today--Armin did a great job in the killer traffic and we landed here at Best Western a little while ago. Tomorrow we push on to the Cleveland area.

This week has been all about the driving, except for a quick stop in the Badlands to let the boys get their last Junior Ranger badges. We didn't hike, but we did enjoy the beauty of the place from our campground. Then we drove across the vastness of South Dakota to Albert Lea, MN. We found a state park and had our last night of camping. We got packed up this morning just ahead of the rain and headed off across Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, and here into Indiana.

On a trip like this, you always do some postmortem. Armin and I have been talking about what, if anything, we'd do differently if we were starting this trip over again. We agreed that we wouldn't change the itinerary, since we loved all of the national parks we visited. What would we change? Here's my list:

• I would pack fewer books and games. We didn't need the huge tub that I brought, and if I'd scaled back then we could have saved a substantial amount of room in the car.
• We could have done with fewer clothes for each of us. We ended up doing laundry about every 5 days, so I could have left behind another big bin if I'd scaled back on the shorts and t-shirts.
• However, we could have used more warm clothes. I wish I'd had another pair of long pants and maybe some gloves and a hat. Weather in the mountains tended to be chilly!
• The air mattresses could have stayed at home. Armin and I were happy with our Thermarest pads and the boys were perfectly contented with their thin foam pads. The air mattresses never even came out of the car.
• I wish I'd thought of some different lunch options. We are all pretty sick of bread and cheese.

That's a pretty minor list of changes, which leads me to think that we did a pretty darn good job of planning and packing. 

What were some of the things we were especially pleased about?

• Sunbutter squeeze packets! These little guys were an essential lunch item. Squeeze one onto a tortilla, add banana, and you have a happy kid. We aren't as sick of sunbutter as we are of cheese.
• Indian food pouches. Yes, I know we've blogged about these before, but they were perfect for when Armin & I needed something different, quick, and tasty. We bought a bunch in Ithaca, and were then surprised to find them pretty widely available in most mid-size towns.
• Our stovetop Bialetti espresso maker and Gevalia espresso. Essential for mornings. And afternoons.
• Our little MiFi device. We loved being able to stay connected to everyone!

Tomorrow holds more driving, and we'll be glad to see Ithaca on Friday afternoon. I hope I can finally get some sleep tonight. I've been so excited about the prospect of getting home that I've had a couple of restless nights. Of course, it could be that I'm just not tired enough--I've gotten used to the constant movement of camping and hiking, and my body is not happy to be sitting still for 8 hours at a time. I'll have to treat myself to a nice long run over the weekend!