oh philadelphia

Well. I did wake up at 8. Left the house by 9:30. But then...
I got lost! Surprise!
I was going to take the ferry to NJ so as to avoid that horrific pulaski skyway business, but I couldnt find the ferry!
When I found the ferry, I learned that it doesnt go to NJ on the weekends! Surprise!
Then I went looking for a train that would take me to NJ for under $2. I found one! Hours later.In downtown newark, I kept accidentally getting on expressways and it took me forever to figure out how to get on the one without getting on the 95. When I finally made it to the one, it was almost 2pm. arrrrgh!
What I'm trying to tell you is: I didnt make it to philly in one day. Not only did all that racket happen in the morning, but I broke a spoke that day (my first mechanical trouble) and then, around 6p, I was told I couldnt go through a toll. I wasnt very cooperative, and they called the sgt. He said something like, "oh, well. normally we'd make people carry their bikes down the stairs, but since you're a woman, you can just get off at the next exit." He basically patted me on the head, told me that I could get back on in about ten miles. I started fuming about how I'd been on the one for a week, I came up to ny through this exact area. He said something about the expressway being too dangerous and I wanted to scream, "I RODE ON THE MOTHERFUCKING PULASKI SKYWAY" but instead I just sniffled about how much MORE dangerous it would be if I had to ride on the one after dark.
I got booted off onto some shitty road with no shoulder, and I grumbled about it for hours.

I actually made pretty good time, almost 70m in about 5 hours. It's totally flat between nyc and phl. When it got dark out, though I was only about 7 miles from where it would have been safe and well lit enough for me to ride, I had to stop. No matter how many lights I have on, drivers still cant see me, no shoulder on that part of the highway, and everyone drives like 60mph.
I slept under a tree, woke up to a cliff bar breakfast with the realization that I'd left my only hoodie in brooklyn. damn. It is fucking COLD out here, y'all.I made it to the butthutt by 10:30. It feels good to be back. I think I could live here, and I think I might try in the summer.

Here are some pictures of the chickenhut.

It's almost impossible to describe the scale of this place. It's HUGE, like a whole city block. it has a woodshop inside, and the guy who uses it makes all sorts of awesome stuff. there's a huge roof that I slept on, a million cats and comfy, though mosquito covered, couches. there is a BEDBUG EPIDEMIC in brooklyn. BEDBUGS is the word. It's crazy, every retail outlet, every clothing store, all the subways, everything has bedbugs. bedbugs are a virulent pest, they will bite you hundreds of times in a night, and live in basically any porous surface, making them impossible to eradicate. None of the places I stayed in had bedbugs, but all feared them, and the chicken hut was recently sprayed, 'just to make sure'.

I'm leaving for Baltimore tomorrow morning. I'm trying to move this tour a little quicker, cause I'm running out of money pretty fast, and my knee problems are getting kind of bad. I have to buy another knee brace because my other knee hurts, too.

otherwise, I'm having a good time, eating a ton and trying to stay out of the rain. I stole some music from the chickenhut's itunes, my favorite song so far being Donna Summer's Hot Stuff.
seriously, nothing peps me up like disco. take away my punk card or whatever, I dont need it.
stayin alive
C

Oh, and if you like blogs about riding bikes really far and dicking off, you'll love my friend michelle's blog

www.brazeonlookers.blogspot.com