Jonathan White,   What to say about Jonathan and our riding together and being together 24/7 for 16 days......  It truly was a real joy to ride with Jon.

We worked together to decide on where we were going to stay the next night, where the meal would come from, who got the couch and who got the air mattress, or fold out sofa bed, or which bed in a motel room with limited space for us and our bikes.  All disagreements were resolved without a battle.

Jon was so patient with my slow riding and would never leave me to get to where he wanted to be.  He was always thinking of the best route, and we most of the time were thinking about when and where to stop for coffee or second breakfast or lunch.

We are not only uncle and nephew, we are good friends and I look forward to riding another toure adventure in the future.

My stay this day is with Neal Teplitz in Bethesda, MD.  He has been a very generous host.  He's cooked for me, done my laundry, and told me many stories of his bicycling adventures (many of which were on his BIKE FRIDAY) in various countries all over the world. He's a young man just a few years younger than me and has many more adventures to come.  He speaks and continues to learn multiple languages and most of his stories are centered around friends he's toured with who speak other languages.  ... a very interesting man.   I'm extremely grateful to him for allowing me stay an extra day at his house.