Day #56
Friday October 5, 2007
Hamilton Falls, NH to Guilford, CT
252 miles today (25,599 - 25,851) 11,284 miles total
3 new states today: Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut
31 states total
Only 17 more states to go! Of course, Florida, Texas and California are 3 of those.
With no “lollygaggin’ around”, those will take a week the way I want to go through them! I have been gone 74 days now from Eugene, OR. This is “Day 56” of my “Four Corners Tour” since I’m not counting the 18 days I spent in West KY working on Nat’s mom’s property. And I’ve done over 11,500 miles if I count the 300+ I accumulated while there. Wow, what a journey. Many people, and rightfully so I’m realizing, have called this “a journey of a lifetime.” I now see it really is.
But today…was NOT a good day. It may have been the most frustrating day of the whole trip. It certainly was up to this point. I slept “ok” and my back is easing up, but again, I’m in a nice hotel and have NO internet service. Made my breakfast and coffee in the microwave and got out early.
I rode “around” Boston, MA without incident. US 1 goes right down through the heart of it. I rode US 1 for 30 minutes or more this morning until it crossed I-95. From then on it would be all freeway until Providence, RI. I got off the freeway on the west side of Boston for coffee and gas. One thing I noticed, at every construction zone there were uniformed/armed police officers directing traffic. The stoplights were working, so the only thing I can figure is the drivers just don’t pay attention enough to the construction zone, thus the police add an additional bit of seriousness to the situation. I-95 around Boston was busy, but not like it would be later in the day. At the coffee stop, one man made my picture and we talked several minutes about our country, its beauty, the people and how good it was to be here. He drove trucks in the past and had seen a lot of it, and got to fly over a lot of it in the Air Force when he was younger.
I don’t want to say I’ve “gotten lost” anywhere on this trip, and I’ve been in some very remote country. But Rhode Island is the state I have been the most “turned around” in, or as Daniel Boone would say “a bit bewildered on occasion.” Isn’t it the SMALLEST state??? The signs indicating road direction and information are BY FAR the WORST I have encountered. At many MAJOR intersections, there are just not any signs indicating which direction to go to stay on US 1 or 1A. Today alone, I have had to stop and ask directions from a policeman, a UPS driver, and the owner of a small “service station.” At the service station they were checking under the hood and pumping gas. Amazing! I rode a lot and covered little ground today, and didn’t enjoy the little I did.
And today, in Rhode Island, I had 4-5 people pull out in front of me like I was invisible (no fog present), I pulled out in front of one driver, and one lady nearly ran me out of my lane at 65mph! I don’t remember where (on a bridge somewhere) I crossed into Connecticut, but I was hoping the traffic situation would change. I got back onto I-95, tired of chasing US 1, and now discover I am only 2 hours from New York City. The traffic is thick as syrup, but it’s running at 65+ and I can barely keep up. New York City, the traffic, the rush, the big cities are all working against me to enjoy the ride today.
I rode till 4PM. The clerk referred me to a “nice” restaurant down on the waterfront. I went and it’s old, run down, expensive and just as I pulled in, the whole place was just enveloped by a thick, damp, foggy mist. It’s weird. Dinner was ok, but the place was too loud for me.
I wasn’t expecting a bad day today. In fact, on the contrary, I was looking forward to a good one, back on the road again along the shoreline. It just didn’t work out that way. Somehow, I need to regroup, refocus and recommit myself the goal and press on. Tomorrow is a new day!
Only 17 more states to go! Of course, Florida, Texas and California are 3 of those.
With no “lollygaggin’ around”, those will take a week the way I want to go through them! I have been gone 74 days now from Eugene, OR. This is “Day 56” of my “Four Corners Tour” since I’m not counting the 18 days I spent in West KY working on Nat’s mom’s property. And I’ve done over 11,500 miles if I count the 300+ I accumulated while there. Wow, what a journey. Many people, and rightfully so I’m realizing, have called this “a journey of a lifetime.” I now see it really is.
But today…was NOT a good day. It may have been the most frustrating day of the whole trip. It certainly was up to this point. I slept “ok” and my back is easing up, but again, I’m in a nice hotel and have NO internet service. Made my breakfast and coffee in the microwave and got out early.
I rode “around” Boston, MA without incident. US 1 goes right down through the heart of it. I rode US 1 for 30 minutes or more this morning until it crossed I-95. From then on it would be all freeway until Providence, RI. I got off the freeway on the west side of Boston for coffee and gas. One thing I noticed, at every construction zone there were uniformed/armed police officers directing traffic. The stoplights were working, so the only thing I can figure is the drivers just don’t pay attention enough to the construction zone, thus the police add an additional bit of seriousness to the situation. I-95 around Boston was busy, but not like it would be later in the day. At the coffee stop, one man made my picture and we talked several minutes about our country, its beauty, the people and how good it was to be here. He drove trucks in the past and had seen a lot of it, and got to fly over a lot of it in the Air Force when he was younger.
I don’t want to say I’ve “gotten lost” anywhere on this trip, and I’ve been in some very remote country. But Rhode Island is the state I have been the most “turned around” in, or as Daniel Boone would say “a bit bewildered on occasion.” Isn’t it the SMALLEST state??? The signs indicating road direction and information are BY FAR the WORST I have encountered. At many MAJOR intersections, there are just not any signs indicating which direction to go to stay on US 1 or 1A. Today alone, I have had to stop and ask directions from a policeman, a UPS driver, and the owner of a small “service station.” At the service station they were checking under the hood and pumping gas. Amazing! I rode a lot and covered little ground today, and didn’t enjoy the little I did.
And today, in Rhode Island, I had 4-5 people pull out in front of me like I was invisible (no fog present), I pulled out in front of one driver, and one lady nearly ran me out of my lane at 65mph! I don’t remember where (on a bridge somewhere) I crossed into Connecticut, but I was hoping the traffic situation would change. I got back onto I-95, tired of chasing US 1, and now discover I am only 2 hours from New York City. The traffic is thick as syrup, but it’s running at 65+ and I can barely keep up. New York City, the traffic, the rush, the big cities are all working against me to enjoy the ride today.
I rode till 4PM. The clerk referred me to a “nice” restaurant down on the waterfront. I went and it’s old, run down, expensive and just as I pulled in, the whole place was just enveloped by a thick, damp, foggy mist. It’s weird. Dinner was ok, but the place was too loud for me.
I wasn’t expecting a bad day today. In fact, on the contrary, I was looking forward to a good one, back on the road again along the shoreline. It just didn’t work out that way. Somehow, I need to regroup, refocus and recommit myself the goal and press on. Tomorrow is a new day!
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