Fixing our budget woes.

There are a handful of reasons to avoid major metropolitan areas while on tour, but our 'homelessness' is the predominant factor. Cheap or free parcels of land are few and far between in heavily populated areas; D.C. has one surprising exception. Just 10 miles out of town is Greenbelt National Park, which provides the safety and seclusion of any national park campground for $16.00 per night. No youth hostel, at over $20.00 per person can compete. It's a wonder this camp ground isn't consistently full of D.C. sightseers on a budget.

When we departed in April, we could foresee the looming debt crisis and the stifling political split our government was facing. Although our trip has been told as a mission to see and learn about the continental US, this was merely a guise to distract from our true mission: To make an offer to Congress, of which no politician could refuse. Unfortunately, mere days before our arrival, the stalemate was ended and the session closed, leaving us without a forum in which to solve the great debt crisis. I suppose there will always be next time. As our consolation, we enjoyed free ice cream provided near the Capitol Building as promised by one of our great legislators, to celebrate the solution, like it or not.

In addition to the typical Washington Mall sight seeing, frisbee in President's Park, and a casual museum visit; one of the greatest anecdotes of our day in the capitol happened by chance near the north side of Obama's fortress. As we turned right onto Pennsylvania Ave., a sizable group of cyclists were turning left from the opposite direction. We naturally grafted into the group, joining the Friday evening Critical Mass. This turned out to be an extensive, relaxing view of the city from the inside of a crowd of pedal powered locals. This kind of experience can't be planned.

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The four hundred miles between D.C. and New York City led us through Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey. In this stretch, we saw more than enough highly traveled thoroughfares to satisfy any trip across the country, too few campable parks, and not enough interesting scenery to document. We did, however, sleep in an old Quaker schoolhouse, and learn much about Goretex as a brand and as a miracle material; all thanks to the unconditional generosity of complete strangers. I can't show enough gratitude for the people out there who understand and want to be a part of this experience.

In our time between D.C. and NYC, I felt the need to rest and spend some time away from the painstaking task of IPhone typing and blogging. I'm now recovering my journalistic motivation, and will bring you thoughts, stories, and most importantly, photos from the big apple shortly.

Thanks for reading.