Days 49 & 50: Rest day, and Belmont to Salem, MA

The Northeastern crew reunited: Dee, Chris, Karen, Josh, Kelly, Jessica, Lisa and Bob

One of the treats of this two-month adventure has been the chance to connect the dots of so many of my past lives. I enjoyed a wonderful dose of reconnecting Thursday night, thanks to a reunion of former Northeastern University colleagues.

Jessica Treadway organized the evening and hosted us at the Lexington home she shares with her husband, Phil. Three decades ago, I was editing the university’s alumni magazine and Karen Feldscher was editing the faculty/staff newspaper. We hired Jessica as one of our staff writers. We had good taste; Jessica has since published five novels to great acclaim and teaches writing at Emerson.

We shared lots of laugh last night, including rehashing the stories Bob loves to hear about me stalking That Guy Bob down the hall in our office building and reporting back to my coworkers on our brief hellos when we passed in the hall.

Thanks for a great night of laughs and memories and catching up, Jessica

This morning we said goodbye to Mark and Laurie, our hosts these last two days in Belmont, and rode off with another dear old friend: Andy McClurg. I met Andy at my first job in Boston, at the Metropolitan Area Planning Council. He and I and a few other MAPC guys took great bike rides out of Boston. Dee joined us for s few once I had left MAPC for Northeastern and met her.

Andy is now the transportation planner for Sasaki in Watertown. He told us about his latest work in Ho Chi Minh City when we stopped for coffee in Assembly Square, after a leisurely ride along the Charles River and along a beautiful new Greenway connection to Charlestown. It’s fascinating work involving modern skyscrapers and preserving urban housing for the working class.

When I think of my brief time at MAPC, I picture shelves and shelves of regional urban plans growing dusty with no means of executing any of them. I’m happy to think that Andy and I are both in more satisfying workplaces these days.

We said goodbye to Andy when the Northern Strand Community Trail, also known as the Bike to the Sea Trail, turned to gravel, too rough for his tires. The rest of our ride, a total of 35 miles to Salem, was largely on greenways, paved and dirt. In Lynn we rode on a Greenway along the water with a view back to the Boston skyline. On yet another stunning dry and bright day, it was a beautiful ride.

Dee on the Greenway in Lynn, with the Boston skyline behind her

Dee’s friend Arnold is our host in Salem. He’s holding Windex, proof that he cleaned the window in our guest room. He took us to dinner in Beverly with friends of his this evening; he can’t believe we are desperate to go to bed at 9:30 pm.