It's true. And while it was supposed to be a sort of belated honeymoon around our first anniversary, the expansion of the garden, the cat's intestines, and a few other things of less consequence put me in a position where there was no grown up way to take the trip. If we'd gone, we might have met Heather and Mr. Heather and his homemade wagon. I met them on the ride home from work and they were really excited to test out his PVC wonder in preparation for the Peddler's Jamboree. He built it as a budget way to haul their camping gear after pricing things like Surly's Bill and Ted trailers. Bike touring is about as affordable as travel gets, but when you sleep with a CPAP (I do), you pay camping fees to get to an outlet most of the time. Then there was those Amtrak tickets, heavily subsidized but not free, and even if you buy groceries and cook by the camp, it's never quite as cheap as eating at home.
Years ago I worked with a guy who always seemed to be buying nice stuff. The car I envied (a Scion xB like I now drive, though he bought it 100,000 miles earlier and didn't pay cash), a flat screen TV big enough to play football on, the newest, fastest iMac, etc. He was in the same job as me, and I wondered, so I asked, 'How do you do all that?' He said, 'Fuck it, just sign.'
Don't I know how that turns out? I don't think I was ever as casual about it as he was, but my signature has gotten me in more trouble than everything else in my life combined. Ever. And I'm not all the way to Dave Ramsey perfect budgeting, but I have no non-mortgage debt, I carry no plastic except a debit card, and I'm damed if I'm going back to paying double-digit interest, ducking collector's calls or applying to the Bank of Mom for a bailout. I'm past that now, so I'm not going to be on the Katy Trail this week.
I still have some time off slated for the coming week and I'll figure out some epic miles on the bike, I'm sure. And maybe I'll bet on the Katy next year for the Jamboree.
1 comment:
Missed you two being there. There were many sights to behold and take pictures of. Hope next Memorial weekend all the grown up things don't get in the way again. Here's their link, so you may begin your plan for next year. I too plan to pull my things on a trailer to avoid the $40/60 fees for the 1 or 2 night stay. It was $20 ($15 earlybirds) to get into Kemper park for the concert and camping. Didn't do the 2nd night, so don't know how the camping or fees work for Hartsburg area. Fun with friends, great memories, riding the historical Katy Trail and all multiple music venues along the way was free. More types of beer to try than I can remember. Photos of all the unusual people and bikes... priceless.
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