Packing up and shipping out

Wow. After all these months of waiting the time is almost here. Today is our last full day in Milwaukee, then it's off to Philly tomorrow. We've spent the last week getting our affairs in order, visiting and saying goodbye to friends, and packing what we'll need for the next 2 years into 2 bags apiece. It's amazing when you see how little you can really get by with! Yesterday included a necessary trip to Kopp's for a fix of custard and a visit to our barber Karen, who gave us each our shortest haircuts ever and wouldn't take a penny for it. Today, before putting the finishing touches on packing, we'll get out for a good, hard bike ride before storing our bicycles. Marti's cell phone service is disconnected; the post office box will be closed, and everything here that we've not packed will go to its home in a friend's basement or garage.

It's likely that this is the last post we'll have before our Peace Corps training ends. We'll be in Philadelphia until Wednesday, July 26, at which time our state-side orientation ends. That morning we'll bus to JFK with our group of South Africa trainees, and after waiting in the airport for about 5 hours, we'll fly to Johannesburg with only a refueling stop in Dakar, Senegal. After that twenty hour flight we take a 3 hour bus ride to our training site in the province of Mpumulanga. For the next two months we'll be PCT's (Peace Corps Trainees) where we'll have language, culture, safety, and job training. During that time, until about September 25, there will be very limited communication of any kind. We've been told there will be pay phones available, so with a phone card we will be able to call home to check on family, but not often. Internet access will be almost non-existent. Once we "graduate" to Peace Corps Volunteers (PCV) we'll be sent to our permanent post and will get a cell phone and have some internet access.

So, our only real communication for the next couple of months will be snail mail. If you are so inclined, we'd love to get notes from home. Write us at:
Dave and/or Marti Fine, PCT
US Peace Corps
PO Box 9536
Pretoria 0001
South Africa

Thanks to all of our wonderful family and friends for your encouragement and support; we miss you already!

Marti and Dave at their farewell party

Cycling back to Wisconsin

After spending the week in Detroit with Dave's family we are now headed back west. We left Southfield on Monday, late morning and rode to Ann Arbor, along some of Oakland county's so-called bike paths (think sidewalks with lots of bumps). The closer we got to Ann Arbor the better the streets were. There had been some paths built along I-275 but they weren't maintained and so felt like obstacle courses. The nice surprise was yesterday, riding from Ann Arbor to Jackson. Though it was very hot, the ride was one of the best we have done anywhere. Riding a scenic route along the Huron River and then through Waterloo Rec Area was terrific. We had been told this was the local route for cyclists, and being July 4 we saw several cyclists, including many breaking in the town of Chelsea. Today was also nice riding, even with a head wind. It was cooler which makes a big difference. I have to say it's been pleasant and such a relief to leave the nasty cycling conditions of SE Michigan behind us.

We didn't do anything special for the 4th; we missed being in Milwaukee with friends. I tried to think of the last time I didn't do something for the 4th, and I honestly can't recall a time when I didn't celebrate somehow. Even the restaurant we walked to for dinner didn't have any decorations, and most of the stores were open. So we just relaxed by the motel pool and read. Relaxing is always good, since we know we'll be very busy in the weeks and months ahead.

We are now sitting in the public library in Battle Creek, just before finding a pizza joint for dinner. These have always proved to be the best places to use the internet for free; we've never been told we have to be a resident, and it's typically cool and quiet.

So tomorrow we'll head north to Grand Rapids, then on Friday ride some more roads before picking up a bike trail for the last 27 miles to Muskegon for the afternoon ferry back to Milwaukee. This has been a great way to get our annual bike trip in before our July 23 departure for the Peace Corps. Let's hope the weather holds out for a couple more days, which it looks like it will. (We've been very lucky over the years with the weather during our bike trips.)