Day 66: Sebago Lake, ME

We've had another one-day preview of summer: it was 70 degrees when I headed out this morning, with a high in the mid-80s.  But it will cool off again tomorrow.  The bulk of today's route was on Hwy 35, so there were no worries about taking any wrong turns.  For the most part the traffic wasn't bad, but the roads sucked at times - lots of frost damage and rough pavement.  Our route is swinging us west and north of Portland, ME, most likely to avoid heavy traffic, though it probably isn't that bad right now with the tourist season still a week or more away.

It was only a 36 mile day today, and with the early start we were able to cover that distance and do our grocery shopping before noon.

We had decided that we wanted to check out a Maine state park, even though by the time they add on the non-resident fees they are no bargain.  So we drove quite a ways off route to Sebago Lake State Park, only to discover that no pets are allowed there.  And it sounds as though that might be an issue at many of Maine's parks.

So we are camping at Sebago Lake Family Campground for the night ($38.15 for power and water, free showers).  Their rate sign showed that they have a $5 per day surcharge for dogs, but they didn't charge us for some reason (we aren't complaining).  Probably because we may be the only transient campers tonight.  As private campgrounds go, this is pretty nice - lots of space between campsites set in a heavily wooded area.  It's a bit rustic, but clean.  From the looks of the check-in area, they are just now getting geared up for the season. 

Today marks 10 full months on the road!

Day 65: Wells, ME

It started out cool and rainy, and stayed that way for most of Alea's 36 miles today.  But the upside was that we got to follow the Maine coast off and on all day.  Seeing all that rocky coastline has us wishing we still had our kayak, though right now it is a little too cool to want to be out on the water.

Pit stop at Ft. McClary, ME.

At times there were significant lines of traffic heading south - folks returning to Boston and points beyond after the long weekend.  But for the most part, the roads weren't too busy along our route, though that was in part due to the wet and cloudy weather.

We've stopped for the night at Riverside Park Campgrounds ($38.15 for power and water, 75 cent lukewarm showers).  It is mainly occupied by permanent and semi-permanent residents, and is located next to both US 1 and a rail line.  So it is doubtful that we'll sleep as well as we did the past three nights, but then we'll be moving on tomorrow...

Days 62, 63 & 64: Exeter, NH

We decided to hedge our bets for the Memorial Day weekend, so last week when we were route planning we picked a place to reserve a campsite for the weekend, hoping for the best.  We had visions of so many of the other private campgrounds that we've been in, where a string of seasonal or permanent residents parade by our camper for a look.  Most won't make eye contact, and some will stop to take a picture only when they think they won't get caught.  Three days in such a place wasn't a prospect we looked forward to.

But it looks as though we've got by far the best campsite here at The Green Gate Campground ($35, power and water - 25 cent showers).  It's a huge, nearly completely screened campsite, yet close to the showers and laundry, and probably the best private campsite we've found (and $8 cheaper than most of the other campsites).  We are on our own little cul-de-sac, off of the main loop road.  It's easy for us to let Lana off her lead for some much needed ball playing, so she's ecstatic to be here.

We weren't so sure when we first pulled in.  We were told we could pick from sites 92A or 92B.  We couldn't find the site numbers at first, but we reasoned that we had the correct location.  After a bit of searching we finally found the power pedestal, but couldn't find any water.  Though we were sure that water was part of the deal, we figured that access to a water supply wouldn't be a problem for the weekend.  So we set up camp on 92B, which fronted on the main loop road.

But soon thereafter, Alea deduced the location of the water spigot on 92A.  Since the same logic was of no help in finding water on our site, we moved next door.  We are glad we did.  When we first arrived, the campground was mostly deserted, save for the more-or-less permanent residents.  But as the end of the workday approached, an constant caravan of campers and trailers began arriving, most of them setting up just across from 92B.

This is a bit of a resupply point for us, and we are using the down time to make some minor adjustments to things.  We had ordered some Site to Store items that we picked up at a Walmart in Seabrook, NH - things that we can't always find at every Walmart, and that in the past we've wasted too much time looking for.  While there, we purchased two inexpensive beach umbrellas, thinking that we'll jettison our REI Alcove shade structure before too long.  They will take up less storage space, are easier to set up and take down, and they are inexpensive enough that if we have to replace one it won't skew the budget.

Getting rid of the Alcove frees up some floor space in the back of the van, giving us more room when we unhitch the trailer and go into town for groceries.  It also makes it easier to get in the back to get at those few things that we seldom need, which we've tucked away behind everything else.

Saturday was an another awesome day: warm and sunny, and especially pleasant down by the water in Portsmouth.  We wandered around there a bit, but people were out in hordes due to the weather.  Before long we got claustrophobic, so we decided to take care of some other chores.  

If you think these three route turn left you'd be wrong.
The sign in the opposite direction is much clearer.

One was to change the oil that we had just had changed at the Ford dealer in Conshohocken.  After leaving there we saw our gas mileage steadily drop, so we suspect they didn't give us the synthetic oil recommended in the owners manual.  Sure enough, once we left Jiffy lube our calculated fuel use was immediately 15-20% better and the engine just sounds better now.  We won't let Ford change our oil again.

It was pretty much sweltering hot when we returned to the campground late in the afternoon, but it wasn't long before things cooled down for the evening.

Sunday was cooler, so it was the day that we had set aside for cleaning out the van and camper.  We also decided to remove the charging station from the van.  Since we have figured out how to charge the bulk of our electronics simultaneous in the camper's cabin, the van charging station was unnecessary.  Removing it gives us a tiny bit more space, and it makes it a little easier to access our cleaning supplies when we don't need the whole bucketful.   

It cooled off dramatically from Saturday: the afternoon high was only in the mid-50s.  So once we finished our chores we spent the afternoon huddled around a roaring fire.  We weren't looking forward to the prospect of huddling in the camper to stay warm in the evening, so we drove to Epping for dinner at 900° Neapolitan Pizzeria and then saw the move The Nice Guys.  The food was excellent and the movie was a hoot!

Dining out for a change...

We liked this wine bottle room divider.  Once we settle down again we might
do something like this.  Provided that the see-thru wine box has been invented by then.  ;-)

Day 61: East Derry, NH

Last night we had the brief pleasure of meeting Chuck and George.  Chuck, in celebration of his 60th year of existence, is circumnavigating the U.S. on bicycle, supported by George, who drives the van that they sleep in.  I'm not sure of their relationship to one another, though George has one of Chuck's kidneys.  If George had not recently had a kidney transplant, they may well be doing this together, without the van.  But this way they can share their travel adventure, while giving George's body more time to adjust to his latest upgrade.

Chuck Albert (on the bike) and George (in the van).

We also chatted with them briefly before they set off, and Alea and Chuck passed each other a few times out on the road.  It would have been fun to hang out with them for a while, but our planned Memorial Day weekend layover assures us that won't happen.  They will be far down the road by the time we enter Maine on Monday.

Chuck motoring down the road...

It was another day of "Spin the Cyclist Down the Road, Where She Goes Nobody Knows," but we're getting better at dealing with the often nameless roads.  At least it was another sunny & warm (hot, actually) day.  But the amount of road traffic increased significantly, so the prospect of missing a turn cranked the anxiety level up a bit (it is one thing to get lost down a deserted road, quite another to slog back along a busy highway).  Still, Alea managed to get through her 43 miles of hills, heat and highways without any major glitches.

We are camped at Hidden Valley RV & Golf Resort ($40, power and water).  This place has been around since 1971, and probably half of the tenants are seasonal or year rounders (nearly all are golfers).  It is showing its age in places, but it is well maintained, so we are happy enough here for one night.

Day 60: Littleton, MA

We thought we had about a 65 mile day ahead of us today, so we again decided to split the riding duties.  But at the end of the day we had amassed only 61 miles, and that included me making another unscheduled 4 mile detour.  We haven't yet figured out if that miscalculation was due to poor math on our part or some inaccurate mileage figures on our maps.  

Near Littleton, MA.

So we are in the suburbs of Boston, having ridden through Rhode Island (a total of about 6 miles) on our way here from Connecticut.  New Hampshire is probably less than 20 miles away.  Our route continues to be mainly on scenic backroads with little traffic, though we did have to ride through a few suburb cities during the day.  It was over 60 degrees at 9 am when I started riding, and it was in the lower 80s by the time Alea had finished.  We LOVE seeing 80s again, especially since the humidity isn't too bad!

We've come to the conclusion that street signs here in New England are in short supply for an unknown reason.  Perhaps it is that fabled New England thriftiness?  It is not unusual for us to turn onto a road and never see anything that indicates the name of the road that we are on (we often rely mainly upon mailboxes and business signs to figure out where we are).  Rural cross streets are generally only signed with the name of the intersecting street, and not the main thoroughfare.  That makes navigation sort of like a game of Pin-the-Tail-on-the-Donkey.  Just spin us around and blindfold us, then wait and see if we can actually get where we are going...

We are staying at Boston Minuteman Campground ($47, power and water, free wi-fi).  It is a nicer private park.  If it were busy here, we'd be in full view of neighbors, but luckily there are plenty of empty campsites around us.

Days 58 & 59: West Thompson Lake Campground, CT

We had a lot of miles to cover yesterday, so Alea wisely set off early (8 am is early for us, unless the temperature is in the low sixties, in which case we are willing to ride earlier).  It started out in the mid-50s, but it was no time before the temperatures had climbed into the sixties.  We had sunny skies and a high of at least 75 by the time we had covered our full 75 miles for the day.  It was probably the best weather we've had in close to a month.

Crossing Saville Dam in the sun!

Because we had a long distance to cover, Alea took the first shift.  She covered the first 36 miles, allowing me time to restock our pantry in Windsor, CT.  She had some moderate rollers, but not much of anything that kept her in her lowest gear for very long.  She also had the worst traffic of the day - the inevitable urban gauntlet going through Windsor Locks and Windsor.

Around noon it was my turn to take over, and immediately the hills got steeper and longer - just a bit short of falling into the roller coaster hills category.  But it was still a very pleasant ride, and it was a nice change to be sweating as much as I did, due to the higher temperatures and the sunny skies.

So we camped for two nights at West Thompson Lake Campground ($30, power and water, warm showers).  It is a Corps of Engineers campground, with spacious sites that are well spaced, and nice and level.

We were a bit perplexed by the signage when we arrived at the campground, so a woman who was standing nearby offered some assistance.  She was holding a 20 ounce can of beer, and we managed to correctly interpret her slurred speech (she was definitely lit, at three in the afternoon) as to how to proceed.  

When we checked in, the camp hosts went over the rules with us, which was basically one rule: no alcohol (we hear that a lot).  Of course as we drive to our campsite, who do we see, but our Good Samaritan at her campsite, with a fresh 20-ouncer in her hand...

It rained off and on throughout the night, but the rain had mostly stopped by about 8 am.  There has been low cloud cover all day, so it took a long time before we saw the temperature reach 60 degrees, and then just barely.  We've seen spots of sunshine within the last hour, but there are no good prospect for things to warm up much above what we are currently experiencing.  So after running around town doing errands and going for a long hike in the afternoon, now we're huddled around a large, toasty fire.  With luck our $5 worth of wood will last until it gets dark tonight, so that we can spend the remainder of the day outdoors.

Rule #2: Are We Touring Cyclists?

Let me say up front that this will be a bit of a personal rant, instigated by an unsolicited opinion recently shared with me by a volunteer at warmshowers.org.  The purpose isn't to get anyone to change their mind about the decision that has been made, it is just my way of blowing off some steam in the regard that anyone would think that we are not touring cyclists.  I want to say up front that I value the work done by volunteers, so I don't mean for this in anyway to suggest otherwise.  

What is warmshowers.org?  Their website can give you far more detail than I will, but in a nutshell it is a community that offers free worldwide hospitality exchange for touring cyclists.  That sounds like it is right up our alley, but we realized when we signed up for the service that we were a bit of an odd duck, and there might be some push back.  There was:  our account was deleted without notice, and without being advised of the reason that this occurred.  That led to an e-mail exchange with JT, who seemed somewhat indignant that we would even question such an action.  It is the last such e-mail on May 21st that is the subject of this blog post.

Before getting into the details, I'd like to point out that today is the 31st anniversary of the start of a 17,365 mile (if my memory is correct) solo, fully self-supported bicycle tour that I undertook across North America and Europe (that means I started in 1985, if anyone is math-challenged).  It's a significant date in my life, and it is a date that I remember without fail.  If I had joined warmshowers back in 1985 (or in 1983 when I enjoyed my first bicycle tour), there would be no question that I qualify for membership then (and I really wonder if they would be bouncing me out on my ear now, based upon the changes that we've made to our style of bicycle touring in order to continue to enjoy this form of travel).  Yeah, I humped 70-85 pounds of gear and food (I traveled much lighter than people do nowadays) over all kinds of mountains, vast plains, through some exceptionally dangerous traffic, along some really crappy roads, through snow, a hurricane, and just about any sort of weather you can imagine.  But most of the time it was nice and sunny (even if the wind was blowing the wrong way), and I had a blast.  Ergo, the reason why we are doing what we currently are doing.

So in JT's reply to me, he offered the following direct quote of Rule #2 (you can go to the WS website for the full list of rules):

"The WSL [sic: WSC] is for hospitality for private individuals (or couples or very small groups) touring on bicycles."

The full quote includes the following: "Please don't use it for other types of hospitality - for your large group of teenagers doing a cross-country ride, or for your large-group fund-raising event (even though it's for AIDS or cancer or some other fine cause). Please don't use it for non-bicycle travel."

He then editorialized by stating "You obviously have a different interpretation than our 75,000 members [sic: when I checked today the number was 84,814].  In the eyes of our hosts [of which there were 34,984] you are touring by car and riding a [sic] unloaded bicycle for fun."  Clearly, he feels that what we are doing is non-bicycle travel.  

Clearly (to us), we are a couple touring on bicycles.  That is the crux of the problem.  Every mile of the roughly 6,500 miles that we have traveled along Adventure Cycling routes since August 1st, 2015 has included one of us riding a bicycle.  The fact that we choose to bring our primary residence along with us is the obvious wrinkle.  But that only means that there isn't too much that we would expect from a potential host: a place to park and access to a toilet (unless they WANT us to pee in the bushes - we'd be OK with that, too).  A shower would be nice, but we can (and have) gotten by without showers before.  The main benefit we would derive from such an interaction would be the chance to talk with a local (and likely a passionate cyclist, like us), who might have some great information to share about the region (you rarely get that at a campground).  There is a bit of a hassle factor in securing these sorts of accommodations, so cost savings isn't much of a motivation for seeking to join (except in a few particularly expensive regions of the country).

I rather resent that he asserts that 100% of warmshowers members and hosts share his opinion of us.  Out here in the wild, I can assure you that many people that we have met have encouraged us to also become members of warmshowers, probably because we have given them the same sort of hospitality that they have experienced from warmshowers hosts (probably better, as they didn't have to ride out of there way to find us, and we can and do help in some pretty unique ways).  

The implication is that since we are towing our own facilities, we have no need to use a free warmshowers host (JT actually wrote that, but I'm paraphrasing).  But let's see, what are the two things that we need regularly that we don't have?  A toilet and a shower (a warm one of both would be preferable).   Sounds like a "warmshowers" service would be a pretty darn good fit for us!

So we are just like the fully self-supported touring cyclists in that regard, and in most other regards.  We have cooking gear (which we've shared with bicycle tourists that we've met), they have cooking gear.  They have a place to sleep, we have a place to sleep (sorry, we don't share - the dog is a bed hog).  Like them, we carry stuff to fix a flat or make a temporary repair (we offer the use of our floor pump to cyclists that we meet).  In a nutshell, we have the same needs.  The only difference is that after at least 25,000 miles of fully self-contained bicycle touring, I no longer feel the desire to sleep on the ground.  And I am wise enough to know that my marriage would not last long if I were foolish enough to ever again ask my wife to do so.

So, yes, we don't ride bikes that are loaded down with stuff - we've done more of that than most people that we've ever met.  But then we also don't ride with a tiny "tree climbing" gear to get those loads up steep hills.  The only real difference is that we can cover more distance in less time, leaving us plenty of energy to offer hospitality to any fellow cyclists that we might meet along the way.

So, JT, I hear where you are coming from.  But we are just not like the other folks whose memberships you (or a coworker) has vetoed.  We DO need a warm shower on occasion, and we would appreciate that hospitatily just as much as any other tourist cyclists that have the same need.

Day 57: Austin F. Hawes Campground, CT

The weather has changed.  It was a bit cooler and we had light rain off and on through early afternoon yesterday.  Despite more than half of my 37 miles being in the rain, it was quite comfortable.  The rain kept me cool on the ascents, and the body heat and wind generated on the descents kept me reasonably dry.

Probably one of the nicest directional signs that we've ever seen...

We passed into Connecticut almost immediately today.  The roads have all been wider, and many have wide shoulders as well.  Since it was Sunday, there wasn't a lot of traffic to deal with.  The areas that we rode through we very scenic.

I tend to think a lot on road, which is what leads me to miss turns.  I missed a couple on this route, both of which required me to backtrack.  It likely about 5 miles to the day's mileage.

What had my brain firing so much were Jack Turner's unsolicited comments about why my warmshowers.org account had been deleted.  I'll blog about that later.

Days 55 & 56: Copake Falls, NY

We had no further problems from the Crazy Blond at Norrie State Park.  She bugged out about 6 am, before we were up and stirring.

Alea's 30 mile or so ride to Millerton (where we left our route to camp at Taconic State Park) was mostly a repeat of the day before: warm temperatures, sunny skies, pleasant scenery and generally low traffic volumes.  The only differences were more hills and one stretch of road with a fair amount of truck traffic.  But she also had nearly 10 miles of flat, freshly paved rail trail at the end of the ride.

We lucked out just before reaching that rail trail, which was just after Alea had descended a long, steep grade.  Her front tire blew out on her, destroying the tube and ripping a hole in the sidewall.  She had stopped and was attempting to fix it, so I doubled back a short distance to lend a hand.  We were lucky because if the tire had blown on the descent, it may have been difficult for Alea to make a controlled stop.  And if it had blown out on the rail trail, trying to figure out how to get to her could have been an interesting exercise.  So like I said, we got lucky...

We are camping for two nights at the Copake Falls unit of Taconic State Park.  We have a site with water only for $24 per night, but we had to pay a $9 reservation fee (to assure that we could get a spot on the only dog loop), so it's working out to $28.50 per night.  We like the campground, as the sites are large and fairly well screened from one another.  There are mainly tent campers here (and a Scout Troop or two): Lots of families and college kids.

On our day off, I dropped my bike off at Bash Bish Bicycles.  I have been having some minor shifting troubles, so I let it to have the rear derailleur adjusted.  The owner, Grant, was nice enough to have it back to me later in the day.  

Grant pointed out that my chain was about 50% worn, which we had noticed ourselves a couple of days ago.  That had seemed odd to me, as my bike has probably only been ridden a bit more than 1,000 miles since having the chain replaced.  He said it was probably a KMC chain, which in his experience don't last nearly as long as Shimano chains.  

He also warned me to watch for erratic shifting on my bike, as that would be a sign that the shifter cables are starting to fray.  He advised to have them replaced right away if that happens, as it is a lot more costly to replace them after they snap, due to the extra effort needed to fish out all the tiny bits and pieces.  So I suspect that somewhere around Saint Louis we'll end up doing a minor bike overhaul.

We took the time to look around the park, driving to Sunset Rock, Bash Bish Falls and the old Copake Iron Works site, before heading for Hillsdale to get some shopping done.  It's a very nice area, and close to a mecca for bicycle collectors - every April there is the Copake Bicycle Auction, where hard to find antique bicycles and ephemera are sold.

On a side note, recently we signed up at warmshowers.org, a reciprocal hospitality site for touring cyclists.  The idea is that cyclists invite you into their home on the premise that you will do likewise for others in the future.  We didn't sign up for it 10 months ago when we started out, because we didn't see how it would fit our needs, since we are mostly self contained (except for the need for access to a toilet and a shower).  Well, most of the self-supported touring cyclists that we have met this year have used the service and seemed to think that we'd we a good fit.  And we thought there might be a few areas of the country where it would be nice to have an option other than an overpriced private campground.

So after signing up a couple of weeks ago (which including having to create a profile that gives an overview of what you are doing), we went back today to see what prospects there might be in western Massachusetts for later this week.  But the site didn't recognize the username that I had created, nor our e-mail address.  The confirmation e-mail that I had received from warmshowers.org said to reply if there were any questions, so I did.  I asked whether my login had been deleted, and asked for an explanation.

I received a reply that we didn't fit the description of "private individuals (or couples or small groups) touring on bicycles."  Then what the hell would you call what we've done the past 6,500 miles?

It's doubtful that we would have used warmshowers.org very much, as it is best to give potential hosts a few days heads up about when you plan to be in their area.  That only adds an additional layer of complexity to our daily planning.  But we thought on occasion it would be nice to spend some time with and get to know other passionate cyclists, and it would be a potential opportunity to meet some locals and learn about places of interest that might be under the typical tourist radar.

Day 54: Get That Crazy Blond Woman Away From Us!

Woo-hoo!  The high temperature today was over 70!  And it was even over 60 degrees when I started my ride!  It's almost enough to help us remember why we love doing what we are doing.  We're probably pushing our luck, but hopefully this will all happen again tomorrow...

The Shawangunk Mountains.

There's not much to say about the ride today.  There were good roads, reasonable traffic volumes, fair winds, fair weather and great scenery.  It's been the sort of pleasant, though unremarkable, day that we'd like to have much more frequently.

The rail-trail bridge over the Hudson River - the world's longest pedestrian bridge.

We are camping at Margaret L. Norrie State Park, which is located just north of Hyde Park (where the Roosevelts and Vanderbilts had lived).  We are in a primitive site which has cost us $22.75 for the night ($15 + a bunch of nonsense add-on fees).  The park is not fully revved up for the camping season, so we had to go down to the marina for a hot shower, as the showers directly across from us probably won't get started up until tomorrow.  The sites are all pretty unremarkable, but we're just back from a bluff overlooking the Hudson River, and there is a great river trail nearby.

We ventured into Hyde Park to pick up some supplies, and on our way back we scavenged some firewood from adjacent campsites before settling in for the evening.  We had just finished dinner and had a great fire roaring when a blond haired black woman wearing white rimmed glasses invited herself onto our site.  "Hey, I'm sorry, but you all are gonna have to move.  I reserved this site and I was here last night...blah, blah, blah, blah" (we got the full history of her last two weeks here at the park, including how people had paid her for being caught on her site).

Alea and I looked around at all the adjacent empty campsites, and then looked at each other.  I told her that if we hadn't just started a fire (with three huge logs) that we'd be happy to move, but we were in the site that we'd been assigned and there are plenty of other sites available."  That didn't sit well with her, so she went to the registration booth to stir up some trouble.

Sure enough, the poor girl there (Kathleen) came over to us with the Crazy Blond in tow.  "Is there any chance that you could move?  I made a mistake and this site was supposed to be reserved for this woman."

I reiterated what I had told the Crazy Blond, adding "We'd be happy to share the site with her, there's plenty of room for all of us."

To which CB retorted, "I can't stand all this smoke, I can't hardly breathe enough to speak.  I don't won't no smoke.  It's my site, I have a reservation to prove it."

I said, "Fair enough.  If someone can figure out a way to get our fire moved over to another campsite, we'll move.  That's my bottom line.  Otherwise, possession is 99% of the law.  There was no indication that this campsite was in use when we arrived, we've legally occupied the campsite that we were assigned, and any judge would say that you simply need to select any of the dozens of other available sites."

CB didn't take this well, and stormed off (bear in mind that CB camps in her car - there is no tent, camper, etc).  Kathleen commiserated with us for a while - this woman had been driving her nuts for weeks now.  We asked her to contact the park ranger so that he could intervene, and so that she didn't call him later in the night and try to twist the facts around.

So eventually the park ranger stopped by and talked with CB.  Undeterred, CB was on her way to confront us again when the ranger started to drive away, but stopped when the park ranger stopped his vehicle a short distance away.  CB tried to make it sound as though the ranger was confused, and those people that he needs to evict are over here in site 40.  The ranger turned his car around and talked with her some more.

Some time later, the ranger stopped by our site.  He said she'd be in a different site for tonight and she has reservations for the weekend in our site.  We said that would be no problem for us.  But if that woman steps foot in our campsite again, you can expect a call from us - she's not welcome here any more.  He went back and made it clear to her that there would be consequences if she did that.

So we spent an hour or so watching CB skulking around our perimeter, making occasional trips to the bathroom.  But she seems to be keeping to herself.

The Hudson River, as seen from the river trail near our campground.

Day 53: Bloomingburg, NY

The weather continues to improve.  We had off-and-on sun yesterday, and the temperatures were in the mid-60s when Alea reached the end of her 47 mile ride.

Alea had some tough hills early today, as there were a lot of roads that crossed over ridgelines, and most were very steep and a few were long.  One of them had her off the bike and walking to the top.

But for most of the day traffic was almost non-existent.  A lot of roads where in rough shape (as attested by their 15 mph speed limits), though one downhill was rough enough that she almost considered walking down it!

Traffic picked up toward the end of her ride, and our real adventure started once we went in search of a campground.  We at first decided to double back a few miles and check out a KOA.  They wanted $59 for a primitive site, so we weren't interested.  Next was nearby Oakland Valley Campground, but we couldn't find anyone to check us in.  Then we tried a campground in Otisville, only to find it had permanently closed.  So we've ended up at Berentsen's Campground in Bloomingburg, NY ($40 for power and water, but cold showers).

The campground is nice enough, and there are lots of downed tree limbs, so we managed to make a fire with only a single firestarter.  We had recently purchased box of firestarters on closeout (each one cost us less than 35 cents), so it is one of the cheaper fires that we've enjoyed.

Now that we are in New York, another interesting wrinkle has popped up.  There are often surcharges for pets, and you are required to provide the campground owners with proof of a rabies shot!  We are thinking of possibly picking up our pace so that we can get to where camping is cheaper and less complicated...

Day 52: Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area, NJ

The weather is improving.  It was two degrees warmer yesterday when I started riding than it had been the day before when Alea had stopped riding.  There hasn't been any sun to speak of, but the winds have died down and are mainly coming from behind us.  It looks as though we are now just north of the rain.

An aqueduct and train trestle in Phillipsburg, NJ.

We were within sight of the Delaware River much of the day, on roads with very little traffic.  We still have the occasional steep climb to deal with, though most of the riding is flat or rolling hills.

Hmmm... I wonder why we haven't seen any fifth wheels or motor coaches today?

It seems that every bridge over the Delaware River is posted to require cyclists to dismount and walk across.  So I did that a couple of times today, including along I-80 at the end of the day.

The midway point of the I-80 pedestrian path.

Our daily drama took place at Worthington State Forest Campground.  We learned when we arrived that pets are not permitted here.  Fortunately for us, the place was nearly deserted, so we were allowed to stay on condition that Lana remain in the cabin.  The sites here are all primitive, but hot showers are available.  The base price is $20, plus another $5 for being a non-resident and another $5 for a booking fee.  That's not any kind of a bargain, but it is incredibly scenic here.

We tried leaving Lana in the cabin for a while, but she couldn't understand why she had to be stuck inside the camper.  At first we drove a few miles down the road to a place where we could play ball with Lana, figuring if she was well worn out that she'd be happy enough in the camper.  But tired or not, she wanted to be outside with us.  At first we set up the screen door on Alea's side of the cabin and moved our chairs next to her.  That worked well enough, especially once we decided to leave the bottom of the door unzipped.

But after 5 pm we decided to re-position the van and camper so that my side of the camper wasn't visible from the campground loop road (in case the police or a ranger happened by).  Then we chained her up to the picnic table and we all sat out around the campfire for a couple of hours.

I suspect all these dog rules are the result of these campgrounds being located so close to so many large metropolitan areas.  The message to the locals is to board your dogs for the weekend - don't bring them with you.  Of course that doesn't work for us, so it creates another layer of complexity in our daily trip planning.  For the coming weekend, we managed to get one of a handful of sites where dogs are allowed at Taconic State Park.  The vast majority of private campsites allow pets, so we've usually got an option if we can't get into a public park.

Day 51: Another Check Engine Light

It was even colder and windier today than yesterday, though the sun was out and it warmed up later in the day.  We got to spend some more quality time at a Ford dealership in Easton, PA, in order to see what had caused our check engine light to come back on again.

Lana was pretty awesome, as we waited about two and a half hours for the verdict on the check engine light.  She curled up on a carpet under my chair and slept, except when one of us would get up and move around.  It looked as though the other customers who were waiting there were duly impressed, as she never made a peep and wasn't at all distracted by what any of them were doing.

So the verdict on this phase of the check engine light saga was that a hose wasn't adequately put back on after the gas tank replacement.  So it was a simple fix and covered under warranty.  And it worked out that we needed to spend some time doing some shopping in Easton, so it turned out well enough for us, especially since the weather was pretty unpleasant in the morning.

We stopped at a local bike shop in Easton, where we bought a replacement front wheel for Alea's bike.  The total tab was $155 for the wheel and the rim tape.  Alea's front tire was a throw-away, as it was an older Armadillo tire that was prone to delamination.  There was a section of the tire that was starting to delaminate, plus there was the area where the tire was run over where there might be cord damage.  So we cleaned up the tire that I had taken off my rear wheel while we were on the Outer Banks and put it on her front wheel.  It should last quite a while as her front tire, and that leaves us with a new spare in reserve, in case we have any additional problems over the next couple of months.

With the weather improving a bit, we decided to rack up a few bicycle miles late in the day.  The temperatures finally broke into the 60s, though the winds continued to be strong.  Alea dropped me off in south Phillipsburg, NJ, where I rode our route the 15 miles back to Milford, NJ, where Alea's ride had stopped yesterday.  We'll return to the drop off point tomorrow, to continue our ride northward.

Day 50: Ringing Rocks Family Campground, PA

The weather continues to not cooperate.  It was windy and in the 40s when we got up today, and it is due to be colder tomorrow morning.  At the end of Alea's 49 mile ride it was still only in the mid-50s, though the sun had started to be out most of the time.

A few of our camping neighbors who had booked through today had bugged out yesterday, probably due to the rain.  With the weather so cold, we decided to move across the road to one of the abandoned vacated sites with power, so that we could recharge the battery and electronics.  We also turned on the electric mattress pad so that Lana could stay warm.

Pat joined us for breakfast, and we stoked up the last of the firewood from her cabin, as well as whatever downed wood we could scavenge behind our campsite.  We made another frittata: this time it was bacon, eggs, onion, various peppers, carrots and cheddar cheese.

Once the fire was burnt down to just embers, we decided it was time to once again hit the road.  We made the hour long drive into Conshohocken, to allow Alea to pick up from where I had last ridden.

The first part of the route had literally dozens of turns, mainly to navigate through the many tiny towns along our route to the Delaware River.  Alea once again faced a bridge closing, and with the cold weather we opted to drive her around it, rather than looking for an alternative cycling route.

We crossed into New Jersey at Lambertville, which Pat had said was worth exploring.  Unfortunately, several thousand people seem to have been given the same advice, with there being a miles-long stretch of cars there attempting to cross the 15 mph bridge into Pennsylvania.

Saxtonville (NJ) tavern.  Note the colonial-era satellite dish on the roof.  ;-)

The end of Alea's 49 miles included some pretty vicious headwinds for several miles at a time, including a particularly difficult final two mile stretch into Milford, NJ.

In Milford, while Alea put her bike in the back, I went across the street to buy some wine.  A Wikipedia article about Liquor Laws in the United States confirmed that buying wine will not be as simple as walking into a grocery store for many, many states to come.  And it seems that the laws of PA and NJ are some of the most obtuse, with some New England states being very close behind.  So when an opportunity presents itself along our route, it is best to take advantage of it, rather than trying to search high and low once we finally run dry.

Alea coast to a stop in Milford, NJ.

Of course, Alea was tired and grumpy after her long, cold, windy ride.  She had pretty much gotten her gear stowed away by the time I returned from the store, so I waited for her in the cab of the van.  She soon closed the rear van doors and (since I had been parked illegally for at least 20 minutes) we got quickly got underway.  About a mile out of town she says "I didn't put the front wheel in the van!"

Alea's taco-ed wheel.

So we immediately returned to town, where we found the wheel taco-ed and the tube blown.  We are hopeful that the tire was not damaged, though we won't know for certain until we mount it on a new rim.  If for some reason we can't find a new rim right away (which shouldn't be a problem), then we'll share my front wheel until we can do so.

To continue our recent string of bad luck, the check engine light has once again come on.  We aren't too thrilled about that, as the likely cause is the gas tank repair wasn't done correctly.  I envision a Ford dealer on our route telling us that we'll need to take it back to Conshohocken to get them to fix their mistake, but we are crossing our fingers that doesn't happen.

So we've camped about 4 miles from Milford, NJ, at Ringing Rocks Family Campground ($38, power, water, and 270+ channels of cable TV).  As private campgrounds go, it's one of the better ones that we've stayed at.  Plus they have a laundromat, so that we can get caught up on that chore.

If the rain holds off we'll have salmon teriyaki stir fry for dinner, using some red salmon we bought at an Aldi a while back.

Days 48 & 49: French Creek State Park, PA

We are still at French Creek State Park.  Yesterday morning we were joined by Pat Mahan (Alea's college roommate), who came bearing gifts.  She had bought Alea a set of bicycle-themed tea towels for Christmas, but never managed to get that in the mail.  She works for Boeing and brought us t-shirts depicting some of their military aircraft, as well as various other goodies.  It was a nice contrast to the jolt we got yesterday about the cost to repair our van.

We started a campfire after she got here and before long it started to rain.  Of course our shade structure (our only defense against being outdoors in the rain) was at the Ford dealership in our van.  Fortunately, Pat brought three umbrellas: a standard umbrella, a clamp-on chair umbrella and a beach umbrella, so we managed to stay dry in our chairs by the campfire with those in hand.

I really liked the 5 foot beach umbrella, as it was large enough to keep a chair dry, waterproof, very lightweight and compact.  The pointed end helped the base stay put, and a piece of Strap-All would be sufficient to strap it to a chair to keep it from being tossed around in the wind.  Two of those would be a better alternative for us than our REI Alcove shade structure, which we've used less than a half dozen times in the past 9 months.  So we'll add those to our shopping list, as they give us a lot more flexibility in either seeking shade or shelter from a light rain.

Since it was raining, we decided to make a trip to Reading for lunch, and to get some propane and do a little shopping.  But on the way there we got a call from the Ford dealer, saying that the van was ready to be picked up (which was a huge relief to us, as we had envisioned that it could be in the shop an additional 24 hours or more).  So we headed there instead.  How we are set up, the van is pretty much indispensable in foul weather, so we were very glad to have it back.  Now, once again, there is a place for everything and everything is in its place.

Pat has rented a cabin in this park, though it is about a mile away from us (their website is not at all clear about where those particular cabins are located).  With the rain coming down we were wondering if we needed to spend the evening in her cabin, but the sun came out and we dined at our campsite, where we had a campfire (mostly from wood that came with Pat's cabin) and spent time chatting and catching up on things.

The showers here at the campground leave a bit to be desired.  They weren't clean when we got here and haven't been cleaned yet, and the showers are not consistently hot (they have been less than lukewarm at times).  So we took showers at Pat's cabin, which don't require that we push a button to get 30 seconds worth of water and the water was always hot.  It also was nice and toasty warm in the bathroom, so I took advantage of that by giving myself a haircut.  After that we returned to our campsite for a breakfast of "Potato Shit" (aka frittata): bacon, eggs, diced green pepper, diced onion, tiny carrots, diced potato and shredded cheddar cheese.

Ohh-la-la! (Eat your heart out, Cisco!)

The weather started out being quite pleasant, so we went to Hopewell Lake to look around.  Perhaps the most interesting thing we found there was a swarm of newly hatched tadpoles...

Those little dark spots are baby tadpoles!

Tadpoles?  Are they anything like chipmunks!  I LOVE chipmunks!

After that, we drove over to St. Peters for lunch at the bakery (about 6 miles away).  The village is nestled along French Creek, at a spot where the creek flows in and around giant granite boulders.  We've been here before, as the village is quaint (and touristy) and the food and scenery are awesome.  The lunch at the bakery was basic, but incredibly good - oh, to be able to live close to a bakery like this someday!  The raisin-walnut bread looked incredible, and the coconut macaroons made me think of Lester Tanaka.  I met Lester in 1984 while cycling down the West Coast, and he, Ben Van Esveldt and I would scour the bakeries along the way looking for the best coconut macaroons (it was Lester's idea, but I was a very willing participant)!

Lunch at the bakery (Thanks, Pat!)

Desert was on us!

We took some time to scramble among the boulders, and Lana availed herself of the opportunity to walk in the water.  It was fun people-watching - with people of varying athletic prowess attempting to leap from boulder to boulder.  We witnessed more than a few close calls, but no mishaps.

The weather starting getting a bit iffy, so we hastened over to Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site.  It is one of the earliest iron furnaces in America and well worth a visit.  I had stumbled across it in 1985 as I bicycled down the East Coast.  I had stopped for a while in nearby Douglasville, where I had stayed with the parents of my neighbor from South Tacoma, Diane Schurr.  It is a much more pastoral landscape today - in its heyday, the forests were cut down for making charcoal, so ash and soot would have covered most everything in the vicinity (a sign of prosperity at the time).

The furnace building.

The waterwheel powers the furnace bellows.

Pat & Alea.

The site manufactured a range of commercial goods, including the Hopewell Stove.  And during the Revolutionary War it produced Naval cannons, cannonballs and shells for the American Navy.

A fourth great grandfather, James "Leghorn" Johnston, immigrated from County Down, Ireland in the late 1780s.  He was a teamster and hauled freight from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh for nearly 30 years, before moving to what would later become Phillipstown, IL around 1818.  By the time of the War of 1812, he had several wagons and several teams of horses, most of which were commandeered by the U.S. Army to haul freight in the fight against the British.  It is easy to imagine him stopping to pick up a load of stoves to haul to Philadelphia, where they would be shipped to Europe and beyond or, in his later year there, to Pittsburgh, where they would be shipped to the expanding American frontier.

After that, it started raining, so we loaded up everything that we needed for supper and headed for Pat's cabin.  That provided a comfortable place out of the rain in order to cook dinner, reminisce and get caught up on chores.  It has turned out to be an incredibly enjoyable (though expensive, due to the van) weekend.

In Pat's cabin, plotting our escape to the north!

Many thanks to Pat for a great weekend and lots of photos!