Arriving at Golden Gate Bridge, New Music

I want to tell you about arriving at the Golden Gate Bridge some. Last night I was so excited to tell everyone we made it, and to celebrate it! I feel really blessed and so thankful for the companion I have!

The biking was in cool temps, with fog hanging over us. We went up some hills and down some hills, and some were steep and some were not. There was little or no wind so the companion maintained good spirits. We were on the road for a long while, and unlike when we biked in Chicago, the cars were polite.

In fact everyone is friendly here. Such a nice place….more on that later.

The road to the Bridge had to cross a mountain first and the companion pushed the bike a lot. He was nervous, and hopefully that someone in the media would call and want to interview us, catch us as we arrived at the bridge. But no such luck.

I was so proud to hear him say: Antigone the neglect of the media does not take away the success of this journey for us! We did it! We did it!

I think he is starting to hear me more.

San Francisco is city, and forest. So much so it’s hard to remember at times that you are in a city, with cars, and trucks, and houses, and people. And this trail is an example of the forest. No cars near by, sounds of the woods, smells of animals all over.

One thing I am smelling a lot, and this makes me really happy, is The Smell of a dog with a companion. All over the place I can smell where a lucky dog and companion have been walking. And I see dogs and their companions all over the place.

We arrived at the bridge, but didn’t cross it because of the fog. Joining us were Jon and Amanda. John learned about us yesterday as we were coming into town from an email from Golden Gate Basset Rescue. John was involved with Guardian Angel Basset Rescue years ago ! Small world

Amanda is the companion to Puglet and Dutch, fun dogs both. She is also working on a project bringing awareness for rescue dogs and advocating for us! We need more people like her! Here we are: Puglet, and Dutch and me. You’ll notice that Puglet is sitting on me. He is a total ham.

But I’m the star!

Today I noticed that the companion has turned the TV, and put on music. This means he is doing something like writing or working on a project, and he uses the music to help him think. Most of the time it is classical. Today is no exception. But what has happened is he has changed the piece he listens to most of the time on the trip.

He’s been listening to “Our Town” because he says we are visiting the American Town on our journey. We are seeing what is America. Today he’s put in something else, that I’ve never heard. And he will play it over and over and over. It will be on working the magic it does, and pull him into some emotion or memory.

The piece is somber, meditative, quiet, at times joyous. But mournful.

Amada had a talk with him yesterday about getting depressed at the end of the journey. This is the second time he’s had that talk. Mark in Fresno did the same. The companion mention when he finished his first novella. How he was so excited for a few days and then felt empty in side, because he didn’t know if he could ever poor himself into another novella.


When the mournful melody starts, he looks out the window or walks out on the balcony and looks down at the bay, the city, and just thinks.

Then he comes back, winks at me, pets me on the head, and gets to work again. But before he does he says: thank you.