Ayer, June 12-13

Gerry accompanied me on his bike back onto the ACA route this morning.  Their lakeside house is about two miles off-route.

The morning was glorious and the air heavy with the sweet scent of alfalfa and the honeyed smell of clover. Outside of Upton I stopped at an intersection, as I have done many times on this trip, trying to figure out if I was headed in the right direction on the correct road. Was this unsigned road the one my map said I was supposed to be on?  

Up drove Jerry Cote in his pickup. “Need help?” he asked. In short order he had me headed the right way. He is only second person to offer me help over the more than 2,300 miles I’ve covered. Thanks, Jerry.

As I approached Ayer I saw the word “honey” on a sign in front of a long, low building. I turned around and rode into the driveway of the Maxant Honey Equipment Company.

Jake Heinemann, company CEO, laughed when I explained how on my ride across the country in 2010 I had visited the Walter T. Kelly Co., a large international bee equipment company, in Clarkson, KY. “Oh, yea, they’re one of our big customers,” he said.

Maxant makes honey processing equipment—extractors, bottling and storage tanks, uncapping machines, liquefying and wax melting tanks, filters, pumps, trays and clarifiers.

The White House uses a Maxant extractor to harvest the honey from its hives. Last year the hives produced 134 pounds of honey.

To understand why I'm riding and raising money, please go to the first post--April 26.
To make a donation to the ALSA, please go to: http://web.alsa.org/goto/deirdresride

My soul was happy that I passed on by.