I decided to wait out the rain storm here in Mount Joy. It rained a lot in the early morning, but was nice and sunny by 11am and I probably could of taken off, but really glad that I stayed another day and hung out with Alan and his wife Laurie. I actually didn’t realize how much rain came down until I saw how high the water was in the river.
Alan has his own business installing auto glass and was able to take some time off to show me around town. We stopped at a B&B / commercial dairy farm and I let a baby cow suck on my hand (pic). I had to stop him as he was getting up to my wrist since he probably could of gotten my whole arm down his throat. Being a city guy my first thought upon seeing animals is, “cool another pet I want to take one home.” I can imagine as I was saying hi sweeting and petting the cows that a farmer would think I was a bit strange. They do have triple digit number tags on their ears for a reason and even though I’m an animal lover I also like eating them. Probably would do well to eat less of them.
We also stopped by 90.3 WJTL, a well known Christian radio station that Laurie used to work at. They are a mostly music format and have plans to build a large theater on the property to host musicians that currently perform in a tent on the property. I’m not up on my Christian musicians, but it looks like they get a lot of high profile talent stopping by to play.
Alan is an interesting guy – he was born in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe and spent most of his first 16 years there since his parents were missionaries. We connected because he is really into cycling. In the early 80s he did over 15,000 miles of riding over several tours throughout the US and this was before cell phones, GPS and the internet. He would ride into town and ask the police for a good place to set-up his tent or ask around until he found someone that was interested in hosting him on their lawn or more often inside. Even though I have the benefit of technology to help plan and find places to stay, I’m attracted to the spontaneity and personal connection of approaching people once I get there. It’s something we do much less of now – especially with strangers.
Alan is also really passionate about breeding and showing budgies – think of pet store parakeets, but through breeding they are about twice the size and much more diverse in color, pattern and feather type. They originated in Australia (I actually saw lots of them in the trees when I was there) and have been bred since the 1850s (WIKI). At the moment he has a bit more than a hundred in a small garage at the back of his property. It was interesting hearing him explain the breeding process and world of competition. He’s won a lot awards nationally, maintains a website (http://awbbudgies.blogspot.com) and has connections to other breeders all over the world.
I shot a bunch of footage of Alan showing me his birds that I’ll be putting together into my first mini-doc. It was my first use of all the gear I’ve been hauling around to do some doc work. I’m excited to put it together.
Laurie is a special education teacher in the Elizabethtown School District and I can’t be more thankful to her for letting me stay in her home at the same time that she had both of her kids home from college – you too Alan, but we’re bike dudes so Laurie gets a little extra thanks 🙂 Although Laurie did a ride from New Jersey all the way to Florida when she was younger.
I really enjoyed learning about Alan and Laurie and there family and life. Much more than I could ever get into this blog post. I think we could of easily talked a couple of days straight. If you are ever in the Mount Joy area – which you should come and see because it’s beautiful, ask about Alan about his birds, his bike trips or get that chip fixed in your windshield. You could also get some good advice about teaching challenged/challenging kids from Laurie (not to put you on the spot Laurie) or just pet their really cute dog Max.
Comments
3 responses to “Day 006 – Mount Joy, PA”
ham, christian rock, autralian birds, getting sucked off by a cow — the journey, just the way you imagined, i’m sure
keep on finding surprises. yo!
Thanks Adam, you really were listening to what I was saying. Ha ha! I think you made it easy for us to share the part of our life we think is interesting. The things we talked about are heart felt. We really enjoyed your company. Laurie mentioned to me that if more cyclist traveling through are as nice as you that she would enjoy hosting more. I feel connected to your journey in a more personal way, we’re a part of it, yet I know we are just one of many interesting experiences you will encounter. I know I did traveling across our great land. Keep posting and again thanks for the kind words…
Alan & Laurie Bundy
I really am a curious person and get great satisfaction talking to people and moving about. The big struggle for me being a video editor was the lack of human contact and being confined to one place for so many hours a day. I’m trying to find a better fit between how I earn money and my personality. I strongly believe that work should be mostly satisfying since we spend so much time doing it.
I’m glad I made a good impression on Laurie for traveling cyclists. I hope you have many more good experiences with those traveling through. We do seem to be a good bunch of folks – as you know from your own tours.
I’m excited to hear about your upcoming ride and how touring is different at this point in your life.