What A Long Strange Trip It's Been

Dave's long awaited fat tire bicycle has finally arrived! It's been a year since he saw it advertised on Craig's List and sent our friend Jim to pick it up in Guilderland, NY. It sat in our motorcycle emporium for the summer while Dave tried to come up with a way to get it to Hope Town. When we made our flight plans on Airgate's 7 seater plane, he asked if they could fit it in the plane as extra baggage. It was too big so he opened the box, took off the back wheel, wrapping that separately, and cut down the box to fit in the small cargo section. I had no clue how we were going to handle our luggage and the bike. Alas, an offer from friends who took pity on us! Graciously and oh so thankfully, Heinz and Jacqueline allowed us to put it on their boat for the trip over here. First though, we had to get it down to them in Stuart, Florida. We thought perhaps we might bring our van back down as we had the past few years, but that would mean it would be stored in Airgate's field for the entire winter. More friends to the rescue, as Rick, aka Mr. Manager, needed his parents' motorhome brought down to Florida and Dave offered to drive it, while I flew to spend time with my mother. 1300 miles later, the bicycle arrived in Daytona and was wrapped in plastic, so it could withstand any weather if left outside on the Gulf Stream crossing. Then it was loaded into my mother's Buick, driven the rest of the way to Stuart and transferred to the boat. Our friend's boat ended up having engine issues and they were stuck at their boatyard for several weeks while repairs were made. The bicycle slept nicely in its own guest berth though! Today they arrived and to get it out of their way, we brought it out of the guest room and into our skiff, then finally home. I'd say Dave's happy and ready to ride the rocky trails. He's only driven it about half a mile so far, and yet the bike has gone about 2000 miles "on its own". If only it could talk and tell us about its journey. I'm sure it would be saying, "What a long strange trip it's been!"